Saturday 14th March saw the last of the 2014/15 North East Harrier League cross country series, sponsored by Start Fitness. Going into this final event at Wrekenton it looked as though the Senior Men needed a great result to stay in Division 2, whilst the Senior Women needed a good performance and some luck to gain promotion to Division 1. On the day only one of those happened. Well done to the Senior Women for promotion and commiserations to the Senior Men for their relegation!
Prior to this final event the Senior Women were lying in 3rd place, some way off 2nd placed Morpeth Harriers. It would have taken a good result from us and some poor results from the likes of Morpeth to give us a chance of getting that 2nd promotion spot. On the day we finished 4th of the 37 teams in Division 2, but with results going our way we managed to finish 2nd overall, thus will take part in the 2015/16 season in Division 1! For the women our 2 Fast Pack runners performed superbly once again, with captain Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS finishing 16th and a slightly under the weather Ella BROWN 28th. 3rd counter was one of the heroes of the season, Lesley MILLER. Lesley is the only female to have taken part in all 6 races and has done extremely well on each occasion, managing to finish just outside the Medium Pack promotion places each time! 4th and final counter for the 2nd race running was Ruth DOCTOR, who just held off a fast finishing Diana WEIGHTMAN who has more than held her own in the Medium pack all season. Also well done to non counters Sheona DUFFY and Claire SAPWELL, the latter running for us a 2nd claimer. Well done to everyone who has raced this season for helping us to go up!
Alas, now for the men. Going into this final race our destiny was still in our hands as we were just outside the relegation zone and only needed a reasonably good result on the day to stay up. Sadly due to injuries, work and family commitments we finished bottom of the 11 team in Division 2 on the day. Overall we finished 10th of the 11 teams and find ourselves down in the bottom tier of the Harrier League, the 3rd Division. But lets not be too downhearted, lets remember where Manchester City were just a few years ago! On the day Graham SYERS followed up his good showing at Alnwick with a 33rd place finish which sees him promoted to the Medium Pack for next season. Graham SIMPSON, from the Fast Pack, was next home just outside the top 100, with Richard AGAN not far behind. During the race there was a great battle with our final 3 counters with Stuart MORRIS just heading off Micky AISTON and Graham CROW. A special mention should go to Adam FLETCHER who has taken part in most of the races this season and has travelled further than any other Harrier to race for us. He started off the season in the Slow Pack and has worked his way up to the Fast Pack. Also a mention to Micky AISTON who is the only man to have taken part in all 6 races, and who has improved throughout the course of the season. Well done to everyone who has taken part during the season and the only consolation is that we can’t fall any further!
Only a handful of Juniors took part in this final event, with the headline act being Lauren BROWN who once again finished 2nd in the Girls Under 11’s race, again showing that she is a great prospect. Adam SHAFIQ put in his usual consistent performance in the Boys UNDER 17’s race.
Results:
Senior Women:
16-Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS 28.49 (F)
28-Ella BROWN 29.21 (F)
47-Claire SAPWELL 29.31 (S)
58-Lesley MILLER 29.31 (S)
185-Ruth DOCTOR 31.41 (S)
194-Diana WEIGHTMAN 31.59 (M)
312-Sheona DUFFY 41.48 (S)
Senior Men:
33-Graham SYERS 37.21 (S)
109-Graham SIMPSON 38.37 (F)
133-Richard AGAN 38.47 (S)
235-Stuart MORRIS 40.25 (S)
238-Micky AISTON 40.28 (S)
239-Graham CROW 40.29 (S)
257-Adam FLETCHER 40.46 (F)
318-Mark DOCTOR 42.25 (S)
319-Jim LILLICO 42.27 (S)
354-Gary COWELL 43.45 (S)
496-Stuart BRUCE 56.14 (S)
Under 11 Girls:
2-Lauren BROWN 6.30
22-Millie BREESE 7.51
Girls Under 15’s:
24-Amy THORNE 12.30 (F)
25-Jenny BOLAM 12.51 (F)
Boys Under 17’s:
5-Adam SHAFIQ 26.09 (F)
Full results from the fixture are here http://www.harrierleague.com/results/2014-15/wrekenton/, whilst the final league table are here http://www.harrierleague.com/results/2014-15/teams/. The Harrier League Grand Prix standings show that Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS was 2nd in the overall Veteran Womens standings and Rosie MURTON was 2nd in the Under 17/20 league , whilst Adam SHAFIQ, Adam FLETCHER and Ella BROWN also finished well up in their tables http://www.harrierleague.com/results/2014-15/grandprix/.
Earlier that day a good number of Harriers took part in various Parkrun’s. Star performance was at Druridge Bay where Sarah SYERS, making her debut at the event, was 1st female finisher! Sarah took time out of her London Marathon preparation to clock 21.30 over the 5k course. 3rd female finisher was Jackie PROUSE, Jocelyn BOLAM ran a course pb and Holly MOSCROP made her Harriers debut! For the men Mark COCKBURN made his 1st appearance since an injury in the autumn to finish 12th overall. Elsewhere Peter GREY won the male 55 category at Newcastle, whilst at the same event new Harrier Dominic HARRIS benefited from training in Jackie and Kim’s group with a 5k pb. Richard and Gay EASTOE won the age 60 categories at Workington, whilst Dave HINDMARSH finished off his festival festivities with a trot round the Cheltenham Parkrun.
Results:
Druridge Bay:
12-Mark COCKBURN 20.18 (64.94%)
18-Sarah SYERS 21.30 (73.18%)
23-Jackie PROUSE 21.51
50-Kim BRONZE 25.33 (59.17%)
67-Mike HENRY 28.27
76-Jocelyn BOLAM 29.40 (57.92%)
82-Holly MOSCROP 30.51
85-Karl BAXTER 31.00
106-William FORTUNE 34.05
Newcastle:
31-Peter GREY 19.22
58-Dominic HARRIS 20.57
Workington:
22-Richard EASTOE 21.39
43-Gay EASTOE 24.38
Cheltenham:
61-Dave HINDMARSH 22.18
Finally for Saturday across the pond John ROSS was taking part in the Washington DC Rock and Roll Marathon! John finished the race, held for the most part in heavy rain, in 4.38.53. Brilliant effort John!!!
On Sunday 15th March Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS, fresh from her Harrier League heroics, was racing again in the Locke Park 20 Mile Race at Redcar. On this multi lap course Jo, training for the London Marathon, was 3rd female finisher in a splendid 2.14.43. She was 16th overall of the 117 finishers. Its not been looked into yet but this is probably the fastest 20 miler by a female Harrier!
Above photos of Graham SYERS and Micky AISTON courtesy of George ROUTLEDGE, Ruth DOCTOR courtesy of Paulo’s Running Pictures, Sarah SYERS and Mark COCKBURN thanks to Bob GUNSON and Jo GASCOIGNE-OWENS again by George ROUTLEDGE. More photos from the weekend are on our Flickr page.
