Shildon AC: Shildon Athletics Club provided 12 athletes for the Durham County schools team at the recent Inter Counties fixture at Jarrow.
Warren Roberts proved to be the pick of the bunch with an outstanding run in the Junior Boys 1500m. He beat a good quality field en route to a schools national champs qualifying time of 4:20.4, knocking five seconds off his personal best. Taking the race on after 800m, Warren eased away from his competitors and won by a good margin. In the same race, Khalil Thompson improved his personal best to 4:33.4.
Earlier in the day, Matthew Lomax added the inter counties title to his county title with a superb piece of running in the Inter Boys 3000m. Tracking the leaders for a number of laps, he produced a sustained burst of pace with three laps to go, and never looked in danger. He recorded a personal best of 9:09.8, which was good enough for him to make the team for this weekend's nationals.
Another athlete combining inter counties and county titles was Stepahnie Thompson. In her first competition year, Stephanie produced a club record performance to win the Inter Girls Triple Jump with a leap of 10.21m.
In the Junior Boys 100m, county champ Alex Todd finished second in a time of 12.0 seconds. His time from the previous week booked his place on the team bus this weekend. In the Senior Boys 100m, county champ Adam Rogers finished with a time of 12.4 seconds. In the Inter Girls 100m, county runner up Catherine Turner had to settle for silver placing again with a time of 13.5 seconds.
In the longer sprint events, Chris Stappard (Inter Boys 200m) produced a time of 23.3 seconds, whilst Gemma Morgan recorded 43.4 seconds in the Inter Girls 300m.
Natalie Owens improved her time from the previous week in the Senior Girls 1500m to 5:09.4, whilst Abby Wilson had a good run in the Junior Girls 800m, finishing fourth in a time of 2:26.5.
County Champion Michael Wilkinson completed an excellent day for the club in the High Jump with a leap of 1.69m. He just missed out on the qualifying mark for the national event at Sheffield.
Quakers RC
The next White Horse Handicap will be held on Tuesday, July 15. Registration is at The White Horse Pub, Harrogate Hill, Darlington. Registration closes at 6.45pm, race commences 7.15pm. The course covers 5.5 miles over footpaths and bridleways north of Darlington. Prize to all competitors.
The next Durham Dales fell race will be held on Sunday, July 27. Monks Moor Fell Race consists of 13.5 miles over 3413 feet. Registration is from the side of road one mile above Middleton in Teesdale, GR 948 264. The course is partially marked. Experience/local knowledge/navigation skills essential. Full kit compulsory. Kit checks will be in force. Over 18's only. Start time 11:00 am. Toilet facilities one mile from start in Middleton in Teesdale. Monks Moor also includes two mile Junior fell race start time 11.15 am.
* The Quakers Running Club train on Tuesdays and Thursdays evenings, 6.30 pm from Hummersknott School, Darlington. All ages and abilities welcome. For further details see www.quakersrunningclub.co.uk.
James Askew ran an excellent 800m to win the B race for Under-13s in 2min 44secs. In the A race Chris Gaffney came a very good second for his 2min 35secs, with Mark Baldwin running 2 min 53secs and Nick Baldwin 3min 16secs.
In the sprints Amy Flemming was in top form to take first place in the Under-13 girls 100m in 14.6 secs, with Lewis Elwood third in the boys race also managing 14.6 secs.
In the Under-17 boys race Neil Robinson finished fourth for the 800m in a time of 2mins 14secs. Lewis Moses, although eligible for the Under-17 category, opted for the senior men's race and stormed round to win, even outpacing his talented training partner John Nunn to finish close to his seasons best time of 2mins 2secs.
Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers
The Rainton 10K attracted 16 Harriers out of a total of 267 finishers on a day which was again very hot for running.
This was the latest race in the Black Sheep Series and the course was fairly flat. R Wilson of Scarborough was the winner in a time of 33.20 minutes.
Harriers: Stephan Tomaszewski 47th in 41.11, Alan Somers 66th in 42.52, Alan Harman 76th in 44.11, David Shorrocks 93rd in 45.24, Kaye Mechie 141st in 49.06, Catherine Lumb 171st in 51.11, Nicola Thorpe 172nd in 51.25, Ian Codling 187th in 52.27, Judith Seaton 191st in 52.28, Lesley Welford 200th on 54.15, Fiona Wilson 216th in 55.49, Sarah Somers 218th in 56.22, Jo Fambely 223rd in 57.01, Chris McAleenan 230th in 58.42, Marian Codling 244th in 61.28 and Pamela Sherlock 248th in 62.18.
The last runner to finish was Reg Aylesbury of Pudsey Pacers who, at the age of 89, completed the run in 103.16 minutes!
In comparison to Rainton, the course for the Burn Valley Half Marathon was anything but flat, but conditions were cooler and much better for running through very beautiful countryside. Barry Stephenson of Quakers won the event in a time of 1.14.34 and the first lady to finish was Erika Johnson of Swaledale Road Runners in 1.29.06.
Harriers: Kaye Mechie 183rd in 1.57.07, Nicola Thorpe 184th in 1.57.16, Steve Harrison 211th in 2.01.30, Fiona Wilson 226th in 2.06.49, Ian Codling 232nd in 2.08.29, Karen Hudson 257th in 2.18.25, Jo Fambely 268th in 2.23.00, Chris McAleenan 269th in the same time as Jo, and Marian Codling 282nd in 2.34.14. The 288 finishers enjoyed a superb tea and hospitality afterwards.
Ernie Huck was the only Harrier to compete in the Otley 10 Mile race and finished in 113th place out of 348 finishers in a time of 1 hour 11.28 minutes.
The Fell Race Series continued with the Gribdale Gallop in which there were 84 finishers. Paul Lowe of Mandale was the winner in 48.10 minutes. Caroline Pollard finished 32nd in 60.00, Alan Somers 36th in 60.40, Cameron Choules 39th in 60.54 and Alan Wikeley 51st in 65.30.
Morag McDonnell was sixth at the Cork City Games in her first track performance running for England.
The Bishop Auckland English Teacher said: "I got detached early on in the race and ran most of it on my own, which at first I was disappointed with.
"On reflection I ran only one second slower than my personal best so I am pleased."
The event is front page news in Ireland with Sonia O'Sullivan, their national hero, narrowly winning the 1500m race just before Morag stepped onto the track in a packed stadium which produced an amazing atmosphere
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