Alnwick Harriers

On Sunday 13th May 3 Harriers took part in the Sunderland City Half Marathon. First home in an amazing 12th place overall was Dominic HARRIS in a superb personal best at the distance, 1.20.43! Another Harrier to celebrate a pb at the half marathon distance was Laura McLEAN Jr in 1.55.40, whilst Jayne McKENNA was home in 2.19.15. Well done to all 3!

Further down the country another 3 of the club took part in the Leeds Half Marathon. Annabel LILLICO ran with her dad Jim and crossed the line in a splendid 1.45.48, the same time as Jim. John ROSS also ran, finishing in 2.13.27.

The day before at Druridge Bay a number of Harriers were in action in the 5k parkrun. In 5th overall in a personal best of over 40 seconds was Allan FOGGON, clocking a brilliant 19.36. Next home in 11th and winner of the male 55 category was Tim FALCONER, whilst Jason DAWSON was back in action finishing 21st and David BARNES and Harry ELLABY ran course pbs. For our ladies Alice TETLEY-PAUL was 2nd finisher just outside her course best, whilst Carole PAGE won the 55 category, Jo POWELL ran a pb and Lorna STEPHENSON knocked another huge chunk off her course best!

Results:

5-Allan FOGGON 19.36 (65.82%)

11-Tim FALCONER 20.45 (74.06%)

21-Jason DAWSON 21.40

22-David BARNES 21.42

24-Neil HAMILTON 21.46

30-Alice TETLEY-PAUL 22.17

38-Jo POWELL 23.26

45-Harry ELLABY 23.43

46-Chris FRIEND 23.44

47-Carole PAGE 23.59

52-Euan FRIEND 24.18

56-Ian STEPHENSON 24.27 (63.94%)

77-John ROSS 26.16

84-Robert STEPHENSON 26.28

101-Kim BRONZE 27.55

108-Eleanor HEELEY 28.18 (58.78%)

113-John CUTHBERT 28.33

151-Lorna STEPHENSON 31.03 (52.71%)

180-Mark HUME 34.40 (52.93%)

Also that morning Jim and Annabel LILLICO warmed up for the half marathon the following day at the Woodhouse Moor Parkrun in Leeds. They ran together with Annabel finishing 105th in 22.58. Jim was 1 place and 1 second further back.

Finally for the day Rachelle FALLOON took part in the North East Counties Athletics Association 5000m event at the Middlesbrough Sports Village. Rachelle was winner of the silver medal in a splendid 19.07!

Photos are of Dominic HARRIS after Sunderland, the LILLICOs at Leeds and Allan FOGGON en route to a huge course pb at Druridge Bay.

Four Alnwick Junior athletes competed this weekend at the North East Track and Field Championships at Middlesbrough Sports Village. The athletes are all in the first year of their age groups so were aiming for good performances rather than medals.

Ollie TELFER raced first in the U17 men’s 800m finishing 5th in a personal best time of 2min 15s, a new club record. Lauren BROWN competed next in the 1500m running an excellent race finishing strongly in 6th place. This improved on her own club record with an excellent time of 5min 0s. Later in the day Lauren also ran a personal best time of 46.95s in the 300m

Finlay TELFER had a slow start in the hammer with two no throws, however, he held his composure and managed a super personal best of 16m 93cm in round six to win the bronze medal. A fantastic achievement.

Talia THOMPSON continued her excellent season by throwing 8.35m in the shot put just short of her own club record. Talia finished in 4th place. The Junior Harriers had an excellent day competing at the highest level, they are sure to continue to improve through the season.

On Wednesday 9th May 9 Harriers travelled down to the Silverlink to take part in the Wallsend Harriers organised Gordon Smith Memorial Relays. We sent out 2 mens and 1 ladies team with each runner tackling a very fast 2 mile course. Well done to all the runners and a massive thank you to Jocelyn BOLAM who was a late replacement!

The ladies race was first up with Bev BLYTHE going out on the first leg. She handed over to Jocelyn BOLAM, with Angie EMBLETON on the final leg. The team performed admirably finishing 40th of the 70 teams:

40-Ladies “A” Team-Bev BLYTHE 15.18, Jocelyn BOLAM 16.55 and Angie EMBLETON 13.53. Overall 46.06.

For the mens teams the first leg runners were Jon DUFFY and Denis KERR, with the B teamer Denis finishing his leg ahead of Jon. However Shaun LAND quickly overtook Mark DOCTOR on the 2nd leg meaning that the A team were quite rightly ahead. The final leggers were Dominic HARRIS and Jon ARCHER, both running well to give our teams decent final positions on the night out of the 83 teams:

34-Mens “A” Team-Jon DUFFY 13.00, Shaun LAND 11.55 and Dominic HARRIS 11.09. Overall 36.04.

47-Mens “B” Team-Denis KERR 12.31, Mark DOCTOR 13.22 and Jon ARCHER 11.58. Overall 37.51.

There is 1 relay to go, the Weetslade Relay organised by Claremont Road Runners. More details will be announced soon……..

Photos are of Jocelyn in action as well as Mark, Jocelyn, Angie, Jon D, Dominic, Jon A and Shaun after the race.

A big number of Harriers were in action on Saturday 5th May at the Druridge Bay Parkrun, where almost 250 runners turned out no doubt partly due to the glorious weather. First Harrier home in 21.00 and 1st in the male 50 category was Tim FALCONER. He was 30 seconds ahead of Neil HAMILTON who was a minute ahead of John CUTHBERT. Also for the lads there were course personal bests for Chris STEWART and Junior Harrier Harry ELLABY.  For the ladies Jo POWELL continues to get faster as she bagged another pb as well as the 3rd placed female slot.

Results:

13-Tim FALCONER 21.00 (72.54%)

17-Neil HAMILTON 21.30 (63.95%)

27-John CUTHBERT 22.37 (57.33%)

39-Andy SQUIRES 23.23

43-Jo POWELL 23.35

48-Chris STEWART 24.00 (56.46%)

60-Cris ATWELL 24.41 (63.34%)

63-Harry ELLABY 24.47 (55.28%)

65-Chris FRIEND 24.59

75-Hannah TAYLOR 25.54

116-David HINDMARSH 28.39

120-Eleanor HEELEY 28.49 (57.72%)

126-Colin McLEAN 29.04

137-Alison HUTCHINGS 29.54

144-Nell GAIR 30.23

153-Linda PATTERSON 30.50

201-Mark HUME 36.01

In other events that morning Ian and Lorna STEPHENSON were in action at the Rising Sun Parkrun, where Ian clocked 24.51 and Lorna 32.35. Finally over the 5k distance Kim BRONZE and John ROSS were at the Sheffield Hallam Parkrun, with Kim finishing in 26.17 and John 29.01.

Also that day Adam SPILLER took part in the latest of the superb Lakeland Trails races, the 17k Staveley Trail Race. Adam was 97th finisher in 1.42.43.

The following day Mel STEER was also over in the Lakes tackling the tough Keswick Half Marathon. Mel put in her usual good shift to finish 141st in 1.49.55.

Photos are of Harry ELLABY and Eleanor HEELEY at Druridge Bay, and Adam SPILLER at Staveley.

Alnwick Harriers has to ensure we are General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliant by 25th May 2018. Whilst we do feel that we are already complying with the spirit of the regulations we have updated our membership forms, but we also need to inform all our members as to how we protect their data. To this end, below is a number of statements of what we collect and what we would and wouldn’t share.

In becoming a member of Alnwick Harriers, the club will collect certain information about you which will include your name, date of birth, gender, URN number, email address, address and telephone number. When you become a first claim member of Alnwick Harriers, the club will automatically affiliate you to England Athletics (EA).

In becoming a member of EA, EA will collect certain information about you which will include your name, date of birth, gender, URN number, email address, address, telephone number, names of the EA affiliated clubs that you are a member of and details of any coaching or officiating licenses you hold.

There are certain other times when the club may use your data which you have provided as set out below but currently you have to sign up separately to get the newsletter, and the membership secretary does not provide the committee with any data not already publicly available on the membership website. Any communications sent out to the club would be sent out through the membership secretary.

Training and competition entry

On Saturday a healthy contingent of Harriers descended on Druridge Bay to take part in the weekly 5k parkrun there. First home for us in 2nd overall was new Harrier Dave RICHARDSON in a splendid 17.07, a course pb for him. Another course pb came courtesy of James WILLOUGHBY who was 5th in 18.29, whilst Denis KERR was 8th home. For the women there was age category success for Laura McLEAN Sr in the female 55 category, whilst Lorna STEPHENSON was over the moon with her 5k pb, knocking over 30 seconds off her previous best. Also of note Colin McLEAN was taking part in his 1st parkrun, whilst David MILNE raced round the course pushing a buggy in a scary 20.59!

Results:

2-Dave RICHARDSON 17.07

5-James WILLOUGHBY 18.29 (70.60%)

8-Denis KERR 20.15

12-David MILNE 20.59

31-Graham SKIRROW 22.45

36-Neil HAMILTON 23.28

44-Jo POWELL 23.52

47-John CUTHBERT 24.12

83-Laura McLEAN Sr 26.59 (66.21%)

86-Colin McLEAN 27.30

94-Laura McLEAN Jr 27.58

119-Nell GAIR 29.58

133-Eleanor HEELEY 31.07

142-Lorna STEPHENSON 31.59 (51.17%)

In other parkruns that morning Tim FALCONER was 21st home at Folkestone in 20.57, winning the male 50 category in the process, whilst Bev BLYTHE won the female 40 category at the tough Gibside Parkrun in 25.37. Finally for the morning Gay and Richard EASTOE took part in the Plean Parkrun as a warm up for the Stirling Half Marathon the following day. They ran together and finished in 32.50, with Gay winning the female 60 age group.

The following day Lorna STEPHENSON notched her 2nd pb in 2 days at the Sand Dancer 10k in South Shields. Lorna was 345th finisher in 1.08.56 to round off a superb weekend. Fellow Harrier Mark HUME was 5 places further back in 1.11.53.

Also in 10k action was Chris STEWART at the Chase The Kite 10k on the banks of the River Derwent near Swalwell. Chris was home in 58.17 and was glowing about the race and its cracking scenery.

North of the border Gay and Richard EASTOE ran the Stirling Half Marathon together, finishing in 2.04.32.

Andy STEPHENSON was in action at the Wainstones Trail Marathon in the Cleveland Hills. This was just a short jog for Andy as he prepares for the 160 mile (yep, 160 miles) Hardmoors Ultra in 4 weeks time. No times are out as yet but Andy was home in about 5 hours 27 minutes to finish 28th. What a guy.

A number of Harriers were in action in the Kirk Yetholm to Wooler Trail Race also on Sunday. Dave BARTRUM was first home for us in 44th in 2.25.35, followed by Ian STEPHENSON in 2.29.22. Maureen BARTRUM was our sole female competitor and finished in 2.43.09.

Photos are of Laura McLEAN Sr and Denis KERR at Druridge Bay, Lorna STEPHENSON overjoyed at South Shields and Ian STEPHENSON/Dave BARTRUM/Maureen BARTRUM at Kirk Yetholm.

A record breaking 35 Alnwick Harrier Junior athletes represented the club at the first North East Youth Development League fixture of the season at Whitley Bay on Sunday 29th April. As well as an experienced core of regulars the team has been boosted by a strong group of younger athletes who are now old enough to compete at this higher level. Alnwick joined forces with Blyth Running Club for this competition and the combined enthusiasm of all the athletes contributed to a very successful day.

The throwers made an excellent start to the season with Ailsa BATLEY and Antje HALL managing 1st and 2nd place in the U15 Javelin and Gregor BATLEY was first in the boys category. Talia THOMPSON had a good day winning the Shot Put and discus with Maddy HALL securing second place in both just behind her. Finlay TELFER was the clubs only hammer thrower but threw a respectable 16.12m to finish in third place.

In the high jump Lauren BROWN managed a personal best of 1.30m immediately after crossing the finish line of the 1500m to gain a well-earned joint 2nd place. In the long jump Thea SCOTT placed highest in the U15 Girls event managing a good jump of 4.08m.

On the track there was most success in the middle distance races. Max MURRAY JOHN ran a good 1500m to win his race in 5 min 16s. Lauren BROWN ran a personal best time of 5 min 9s setting a new club record in the girls 1500m to finish second in her race. Ollie TELFER, racing at U17 now, placed 2nd in the 800m in a good 2 min 18s. Millie BREESE (U15) also took a club record in the 800m finishing fourth in 2 min 34s.

In the sprint events Lauren BROWN set another new club record winning her 300m race in an excellent time of 47.5s. There were also strong heats in the 100m and 200m by Thea SCOTT and Thomas DAVISON.

The day always concludes with the 4x100m relay race. Alnwick had excellent representation with their team mates from Blyth to almost fill every available age category. This commitment to the team highlighted the good spirited nature of the athletes involved.

In the final score at the end of the match Alnwick and Blyth finished in second place of the six composite teams just behind Gateshead Harriers, an excellent result.

On Sunday 22nd April 5 Harriers lined up for the London Marathon in sweltering conditions. All 5 performed excellently with John CUTHBERT first back on his marathon debut in a splendid 3.32.19. Mega consistent Mel STEER was next in 3.45.38, followed by Sarah CROSS in 4.28.32 and marathon debutante Laura McLEAN Jr in 4.38.43. Last Harrier home was David HINDMARSH in 5.07.39. What was remarkable regarding Davids performance was that he did a 10 mile warm up beforehand as he prepares for the Comrades Marathon in June!

Top parkrun performance of the weekend goes to Diana WEIGHTMAN. Not long after cheering her daughter Laura to Commonwealth bronze Diana was 1st female at the Taupo Parkrun in New Zealand! Diana was home in 24.41.

At the Druridge Bay Parkrun Dominic HARRIS was back in action 2 weeks after his Manchester Marathon effort, finishing 4th in 18.26. Robert BADDELEY was our 2nd athlete home in a course pb of 20.54, which also saw him win the male 50 category. Another race category winner for us was John ROSS in the male 60 age group. Highlights for our women include Jo POWELL who was 2nd female finisher in a course best of 23.43, Carole PAGE was victorious in the female 55 category and Lorna STEPHENSON was not far off her course pb! Results:

4-Dominic HARRIS 18.26 (17.47%)

14-Robert BADDELEY 20.54

33-Jo POWELL 23.43

42-Ian STEPHENSON 24.31 (63.77%)

43-Chris FRIEND 24.32

48-Andy SQUIRES 24.53

63-Carole PAGE 26.34

77-John ROSS 27.32

78-David COOPER 27.42 (62.94%)

79-Peter EMBLETON 27.43 (61.64%)

121-Nell GAIR 31.10

130-Euan FRIEND 31.58

135-Lorna STEPHENSON 33.03 (49.52%)

143-Mark HUME 35.07 (52.25%)

Elsewhere Kim BRONZE was back at the Sheffield Hallam Parkrun where he was 333rd in 26.25, whilst Alice TETLEY-PAUL was home in 34.22 in a big field at Whitley Bay.

Above photos are of John CUTHBERT in London and Dave COOPER/Peter EMBLETON at Druridge Bay.

Talia THOMPSON was the only Alnwick Junior athlete to compete in the annual North East Throws Festival on Sunday 22nd April. Talia entered the Shot Put, javelin and discuss, and despite wet and windy conditions had an excellent morning. Although not quite matching her recent excellent performances a good throw of 8.09m gained Talia second place in the Shot. A new personal best of 17.07m in the discus earned her third place and a solid performance in the javelin left her just outside the medals in 4th. A great set of results.

Earlier in the week four Juniors competed at the first North East Grand Prix Athletic Meeting on the evening of Wednesday 18th April. Talia THOMPSON and Antje HALL were 1st and 2nd in the javelin, Talia won the shot put and Finlay TELFER was runner up in the boyss category. Both Ollie and Fin TELFER competed in the high jump and managed close to personal best performances. On the track Ollie ran in the 1500m managing a good personal best time of 4.44 seconds.

The athletes produced a good set of results for a competition so early in the season.

On Saturday 14th April there were two race wins for Harriers at parkruns, thanks to Dan LENG and Rachelle FALLOON. Dan was in action at the Gladstone Parkrun in north west London where he was first across the line in a splendid 17.46. Meanwhile further north at the Rising Sun Parkrun near Wallsend Rachelle FALLOON was 1st female finisher in 20.19, clocking the fastest 5k by a female Harrier so far this year and finishing 10th overall.

Shaun LAND has had a spell out injured recently so it was great to see him back in action at the Newbiggin Parkrun where he was 6th home in 20.06. Up at Aviemore there was male 60 success for David HENDERSON where he clocked 22.56. Meanwhile at Sheffield Hallam Kim BRONZE was 284th in a large field in 26.05.

At the local event, the Druridge Bay Parkrun, John CUTHBERT was 1st Harrier across the line in 11th. John clocked 20.57 as he continues to prepare for the London Marathon. Harris HALL was 2nd Harrier followed by Chris STEWART. For the ladies Ruth DOCTOR was first of our trio taking part. Results:

11-John CUTHBERT 20.57 (61.89%)

33-Harris HALL 23.40 (64.65%)

35-Chris STEWART 24.15 (5.88%)

43-Ian STEPHENSON 24.59 (62.58%)

53-Derek GUTHRIE 25.56 (57.78%)

55-Euan FRIEND 26.16

70-Ruth DOCTOR 27.52

104-Eileen GUTHRIE 32.09 (54.85%)

125-Lorna STEPHENSON 36.22 (45.00%)

Finally for the weekend 5 Harriers took part in the Cragside 10k. Neil HAMILTON was 1st back for us on this undulating course in 46.06, whilst Mel STEER was our 1st female to finish. Results:

70-Neil HAMILTON 46.06

149-Mel STEER 51.07

269-Phil LEE 57.24

293-Helen DICKINSON 58.46

335-Peter LINDLEY 1.01.39

###Please note that there’s a glitch with the website. At present i’m unable to add photos. Some may say that’s a good thing!###