ALNWICK HARRIERS

It is now just five weeks until the Great North Run and Alnwick Harriers have booked a bus for the event. The bus will leave Alnwick Rugby Club at around 7.30am on Sunday 11th September and return from South Shields at around 3.00pm.

Booking is now available via the link https://www.theentrypoint.co.uk/events/gnr-bus-alnwick-harriers-0P5AbeKW6e73WEo?fbclid=IwAR3L8h99n9Ext3ILPpSOc9-KUEaM8DiTolEY6Inaqmk9kjH9GNch8n7Ar-c and is open to Alnwick Harriers and Non-Harriers.

Many thanks to all the competitors to our event on Sunday what a wonderful day, albeit rather windy.  As we say in our notices “this is not a fun run” it is really tough over the sand and different terrains with the added factor of head on wind.  Well done to you all for taking part and making the day such a success. The added extra mile, I am sure, was something that was not expected…sadly due to the National Trust not allowing us to run past the bird sanctuary.  Our winners this year were amazing to come in such a quick time with all that wind well done to  Jarlath McKenna of Bristol & West AC in a time of 1.23.05 and Elswick Harriers’ Judith Nutt in 1.45.40 respectively. 

All details for the results can be found on the Results Base Website http://www.timingupnorthresults.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16576&RId=6223

Our first Alnwick Harriers home were Jim Allen and Jo Gasgoine-Owen…well done to you both.

A big thank you to all our helpers both on the day and leading up to the event.  Start Fitness made a fab job of our prizes this year and our design for the T-Shirt was kindly provided by The Duchess High School competition and the winner was Nico Mackenley… we all loved the Puffin

Thanks to our Medical Team…Rapid Reaction and the Coastguards had managed to be present, after having a busy lead up to the event with lots of incidents to sort out. Thankfully we did not need much or either of their time as we had very few medical issues to deal with.

A huge thanks to all our Marshalls as without them we can not make this event such a success.  We really do appreciate all the time you have all given to the event. A big thank you to our Referee and Adjudicators Bill McGuirk, Archie Jenkins and Lynne Marr who without their expert advice and guidance ensuring we are keeping everything safe and in line with all England Athletics rules.

We very much appreciate all the support from those not mentioned including land owners and residents in our area.

We hope you all had a wonderful day and we would really appreciate feedback and any photos you would like to share with us please post on our facebook  page.

Alnwick Harriers committee are all ready to welcome you along to our 41st event on the Northumberland Coast from Beadnell to Alnmouth.

Water: A final reminder to everyone is to make sure you bring any  water  you want to carry. There are two water stations along the way, but with the warm temperatures it is recommended to take your own.  Please be responsible for your hydration.

Car Parking:  There is even more limited parking in Beadnell this year as our new route has to go across the car park.  Please try and get a drop off rather than parking, if not using our buses.  There are no spare seats on the buses, so please do not turn up asking for space we will not be able to accommodate you.

New Route:  Please listen to the marshalls along the way…they are there to guide you and keep you safe.  There are a few bottle necks at the early  stages of the race but please be patient and do not deviate from the marked route.

We hope you all have the best experience and we recommend the golf club for a few drinks to celebrate at the end and to watch  those  speedy  runners receive their prizes.  We also have a cake stall so bring a few bits of spare cash to help raise money for our local charity North Northumberland Hospice Care.

See you all Sunday, don’t be late, the tide does not wait for us!!!

After an absence of three years, there are now only four weeks to go now until the 2022 Coastal Run! The race committee has been working hard behind the scenes and a race pack has now been prepared for athletes taking part. Please read the information provided (via the links below) carefully, to ensure a positive, enjoyable and safe racing experience. Note in particular this year’s changes to the first part of the route, also changes to water stations as part of Alnwick Harriers environmental policies.

Coastal Run Guidance Notes 2022

General Race Information 2022

Prize List 2022

Coastal Run 2022 Route Map 1

Coastal Run 2022 Route Map 2

Coastal Run 2022 Route Map 3

Coastal Run 2022 Route Map 4

Jim Allan used the June events to extend his lead at the top of the table, now with 541 points. Jennifer Knight has held on to the second place spot with 379 points, and its all change at the third spot with Tess Allan jumping up from fifth place. All of the top 3 have 7 scoring events.

There are still plenty of scoring events coming up so plenty of time to get your name on one of the top spots. Remember there are prizes and trophies for the top 12 places!

Events for July:Pastures or Druridge Bay Park Run on 2nd, Coquet Half Marathon on 3rd, Chopwell Woods 10K Trail on the 9th. As usual the full table is posted below:

On a hot sunny evening Linda, Jen and Diana took part in the relays each running 2.6miles over a multi terrain course with a slight incline thrown in for good measure! The trio came 86th out of 100 teams in a time of 1:04:32.

Following last year’s successful event, the Anne Allan Trail Run returns to the Ingram Valley for the second year running. The run is a charitable event in memory of Anne Allan, a popular and dedicated member of Alnwick Harriers. Anne was a passionate and competitive runner who always wore her Alnwick harriers vest with pride. She was an enthusiastic stalwart at the club, former club secretary for many years and heavily involved in the organisation of club events.

The senior run is approximately 9 Km and is an undulating circular route. It is held in the picturesque Ingram Valley over a mix of road and trail. There is also a junior fun run which is approximately 3 Km. This is also a circular route over a mix of road and trail.

Entry through the links below, all of your entry fee will go to the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association:-

https://www.theentrypoint.co.uk/events/anne-allan-trail-run-senior-Yn5bZ9gNx4VGlN2

https://www.theentrypoint.co.uk/events/anne-allan-junior-fun-run-j6d5P987R4qRADn

A beautiful balmy evening welcomed the 136 runners for the Wild Deer Alnwick Trail 10K in Hulne Park on Wednesday June 1st 2022, with a route that incorporated rarely run sections under the Peth and around the sawmill. The course was definitely a “Jekyll and Hyde” with the first 5K incorporating three challenging climbs, including a gruelling slog up the grassy bank to The Hulne Priory, which has a 23% gradient at its steepest. In contrast, the second half was a relatively flat(ish) jaunt back along to banks of the river Aln to finish in front of the castle.

Jim Allan was the only runner to finish under 40 mins (38:16), claiming the race victory for the Harriers. Next Harrier home was Nick Biggers (42:49, 6th) who romped up the Priory bank at an astonishing pace, recording the third fastest time ever (with only our very own Ross Wilson and Daniel Leng having run it faster, according to Strava.) Andy Bulman (48:07) and Mike Henry (51:40) completed the male Harriers contingent, with the latter comfortably winning the V70 age group.

Jennifer Knight finished fourth overall in the women’s race (52:15), just missing out on a podium place but leading home the V40 age-group. Jennifer was followed in by Linda Patterson (1:06:26) and Tess Allan (1:07:08), who also recorded strong runs on a challenging course.

Alnwick harriers enthusiastically lined up along The River Tyne whilst looking up at the iconic Tyne Bridge to await the start of the 40th running of The Blaydon Race.

Excellent and slightly cooler conditions prevailed after the earlier warm sunshine.

Well done to all the harriers who took part in the welcome return of this well established and extremely popular race where places go so quickly you have to wait in a queue of thousands online to try and bag an entry early in the year.

This year entries were rolled over from the last cancelled events due to Covid 19.

Runners were welcomed with a great atmosphere, closed roads and rewarded with a ham and pease pudding butty and a can of beer in their drawstring shoe bags at the finish in true Geordie style!

Well done to everyone who took part in this year’s slightly longer route which was a whisker short of a 10k.

Race report by Jo Powell

A stunning performance by the Alnwick Harriers women saw them monopolize the podium at the Druridge Bay 10k on the 29th of May 2022. Leading the way was Carole Page (46:46, F60) with yet another world class performance, closely followed by Rosie Davison (47:52, FSen) and Lisa Baston (48:28, F40). There were also strong performances from the remainder of the women’s team, including Rachel Davidson (51:09, FSen), Jennifer Knight (52:57, F40), Linda Patterson (59:14, F40), Tess Allan (1:06:53, F50) and Lorna Stephenson (1:22:33, F50), with all the runners pushing hard up the beach into a very spicy headwind!

The Alnwick Harriers men also posted strong runs with Steve Carragher (38:22, M40), Steve Patterson (39:12, M40), Liam McDonough (40:01, MU16) and Euan Friend (44:47, MSen) finishing third, fourth, sixth and thirteenth, respectively. Alnwick Harriers Masters made up the remainder of the team, with good runs from Paul Dellbridge (55:05, M50), Steve Cowell (55:48, M50), Ian Stephenson (57:52, M60) and George Williams (1:01:55, M60).

In the juniors 2.5K race, Alnwick Harriers Aimee McDonough (12:03, FU14) and Harry Knox (08:51, MU16) both posted very impressive runs to win the female and male races respectively.

Race report by Jim Allan