Darlington Harriers
Harriers win prestigious award
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| Harriers chairman Robin Rutherford receives the Clubmark cheque from Richard Hunter of England Athletics North East |
Harriers have been awarded a prestigious Clubmark award from England Athletics North East to purchase equipment and help their young athletes compete further afield at national level.
Chairman Robin Rutherford received a cheque for £500 from Richard Hunter, Regional Manager for England Athletics. "We are very grateful for this support," he said. "It will help us to develop the skills and performances of our younger athletes over a wider range of competition."
Clubmark is a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections and is aimed at developing the skills and optimising the talents of young people, as well an encouraging healthy, active lifestyles.
The national scheme has been in place since 2002 and there are now 2,500 accredited clubs across 25 sports. This figure is expected to double this year. Harriers pride themselves on their work with junior athletes at Eastbourne and the club has had considerable success at schools and regional level, particularly in the last 12 months.
One young athlete who is certainly enjoying impressive results is talented middle-distance runner Lewis Moses. Last weekend the Loughborough University student was shown in Harriers strip at the televised UKA indoor trials at the English Institute of Sport at Sheffield.
Lewis ran 3 mins 48.6 secs in the final of the 1500m after running two seconds quicker in the heats. This was a highly promising debut for an athlete who has never run indoors before. The shorter, 200m tracks represent a different kind of challenge to outdoors, where he has recorded a personal best of 3:46.0.
Harriers were also well represented in the regional schools inter-counties cross-country championships. Chris Gaffney finished an impressive third in the intermediate boys' race.
He was followed by Josh Phillips in fourth place and Paul Clifford in 29th place.
Fiona Dewar was ninth in the preliminary girls' event and Jamie Rutherford finished 13th in the senior boys' race. In the senior girls' race, Scarlett Gray was seventh and Emma Clifford 30th.
The muddy fields of Blakeston School in Stockton attracted its own devotees on Sunday for the penultimate round of the North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League. Cyclists would probably term it "technical" in that there are several sharp twists and turns, with short and sharp inclines.
One bonus was sunny, mild weather and Billingham Marsh House Harriers did an excellent job on marshalling and organisation. Harrriers are usually represented by the same hardy breed from race to race, and Sunday was no exception.
Pride of place must go to the girls. Fiona Dewar ran an excellent race to finish second in the U-13 girls' event. At U-15 level, the dynamic duo of Rosie Clarke and Beth Ward were as competitive as ever - Rosie finishing an impressive third and Beth not far behind her in 11th place.
The senior men had the luxury of seven runners, again mostly regulars. Jamie Rutherford was again first counter with a well-placed 26th in what was a very competitive field at the sharp end.
Ronnie Read, who is enjoying a tremendous cross-country season, powered home for 30th place on the 7.5k circuit of four laps. Graham Bell was next home in 48th place, and in 51st position was Kevin Grainger. Geoff Ward was 66th,, Brian Hannah 68th, Ian Barnes 76th and John Brant 82nd. The team finished in fifth place.
On the roads, Steve O'Neil and Paul Kelly took part in the popular Dewsbury 10k in West Yorkshire. Steve finished 26th in 34 mins 42 secs and Paul was 145th in 39:50.
Shirley Gibson and Emma Morley ran in the Liversedge Half Marathon last weekend, Shirley finishing 173rd place in 1 hr 47 mins 38 secs and Emma placing 231st in 1:53:9. Ian Barnes was second M70 veteran at the NE Veterans Cross-Country Championships at Acklam Grange, Middlesbrough. He also won his category in the Saltwell Park 10k in 47 mins 6 secs.
4:01pm Wednesday 13th February 2008
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