ATHLETICS: Runners enjoy Muddy Boots 10k

THE Muddy Boots 10k at Ripon lived up to its name in places, but its re-routing this year meant there were fewer holdups, and a fine, glorious morning added to the enjoyment for the 437 finishers. 

Rob Lickley was first TSH runner home, 56th in 45.58,  Helen Ashworth 138th in 51.45,  Andy Butcher 154th in 52.22,  Steven Scott 177th in 53.21, Elizabeth Wordsworth 322nd in 62.19,  Chris Wordsworth 336th in 63.04, new member Sarah Jones 390th in 68.23 and Ian Codling 410th in 72.40.

Alan Harman undertook yet another half marathon, the inaugural race at Harewood, actually 13.5 miles, and very tough, though the morning was again beautiful, as was the scenery.

The contrast at Richmond in the afternoon for the NYSD cross country fixture was unbelievable.  The sun still shone but strong winds added to an already tough course.  20 members were involved in this latest club championship race, with Faith Coy first lady home in 29.59 over the 2-lap course, Christine Burn 63rd in 32.04,  Alison Butcher 65th in 32.19,  Jane Cummins 68th in 33.06,  Cath Lumb 69th in 33.35,  Gillian Crane 71st in 37.39 and Marian Codling 72nd in 41.49.

Over the same course, Geoff Bullock was 2nd M 65 in 28.15 and Alan Wikeley 2nd M70 in 34.42.

The men had to do 4 laps and Cameron Choules was 28th in 38.59,  Stephan Tomaszewski 47th in 40.55,  Ken Wood 59th in 43.03,  Rob Burn, taking part after a long injury lay-off, 72nd in 44.44,  Pete Wilkin 81st in 45.40,  Graham Robinson 86th in 46.59,  Martyn Coy 93rd in 47.52, Martin Cummins 103rd in 50.03,  Duncan Fothergill 104th in 50.39,  Alan Pollock, in his first ever cross country, 107th in 51.37 and Andy Butcher, suffering after his morning exertions, 113th in 56.41.

Martin and Jane Cummins did their almost weekly 5k Park Run at Fountains Abbey, Martin finishing 43rd in 23.25 and Jane 159th in 31.24.

Malcolm Aitken was at the Darlington event, coming 122nd in 26.46 and Graham Robinson, at the Albert Park Run, finished 33rd out of 263 in 20.59.

Shildon Running and Athletics Club

It has been a relatively quiet week for the running club with members working hard on their individual and collective training for future events, with some serious miles being logged in preparation for the London Marathon in April and the Edinburgh Marathon Festival at the end of May.  The sprint groups and the middle distance groups are also working hard as they work towards the latter part of the winter season.

Last weekend in the Stockton Trail Races on Sunday 1st February Cameron Stainsby tackle the very wet,muddy and slippery 5k course and finished in a very respectable 8th position from a field of 179 in a time of 20:25. In the junior race, Chloe Fairclough ran 6.56 in 18th position and Callum Darby in 7.52 in 31st position.

Scott Michael attended the Scottish National Senior Championships at the Emirates Arena where he continued his recent good form by achieving qualification for the 60m senior men’s final. In his heat Scott finished 3rd in a time of 7.34 seconds to qualify for the semi final where he ran a splendid 7.32 seconds to reach the final. There Scott completed a good days work by finishing 7th in 7.42 seconds. 

Rachel McHugh attended the same meeting where she took part in the Triple Jump where, despite picking up an injury which prevented any further jumps, she managed a distance of 11.33m which guaranteed her a bronze medal.

Scott was in further action in midweek in Sheffield in the Steel Cup competing at both the senior men’s 200m and 400m where his hard work and determination ensured his performances continued to improve. In the 400m Scott completed the race in 53.86 seconds just outside of his own club record but in the 200m he raced to a PB in 23.42 breaking the club record at the same time.

The third match in the Minor Athletes Winter Indoor Grand Prix took place on Sunday 8th February. Six of Shildon’s U11s took part with each of them gaining a medal in the 60m sprints and a further 3 medals were won in the longer distances. 

In Race 1 of the U9 Boys 60m heat 1 Aidan Barrass came second in a time of 9.7 but qualified for a place in the final as fastest loser. Jake Bewley won heat 2 in 10.1 seconds. In the final Aidan finished in second place with an improved time of 9.5 and Jake came third with a time of 10.1. Sam Tall qualified for the final in Race 2 of the U9 Boys 60m by coming second in his heat in a time of 10.4. In the final he came third again in a time of 10.

Cody Hall competed in the U10 girls 60m finishing second in her heat in 10 seconds and came third in the final in 11.1 seconds. In the U11 Girls 60m Kayleigh Readman won heat 2 in 9 seconds and Isabel Forster won heat 4 in 9.5 seconds. In a hard fought final Kayleigh came second in 9 seconds and Isabel was third in 9.4 seconds. In the U9 boys 300m race Aidan Barrass was second in 1:03.9, Jake Bewely was third in 1:05.7 and Sam Tall was eighth in 1:08.8. In the U10 Girls 450m race Cody Hall completed the race in 1:58.1. Last to compete in the distance races was Kayleigh Readman who ran in the U11 Girls 600m coming third in 2:21:4

Darlington Harriers AC

There was double cross-country duty for many of the club’s leading junior athletes last weekend as the season reaches its climax.

On Saturday, they competed in the Northern Schools Inter-Counties Championships at Temple Park, South Shields, and achieved some impressive results. Representing the junior girls, Stella Jones was fourth for Durham, followed by ninth-placed India Pentland and Ellie Phillips, who was 32nd.

Megan Noble was fifth in the minor girls’ race and Ryan Wells was 56th in the junior boys’ race. Also wearing the Durham vest, Ben Tinkler was 40th and Ben Lambert was 54th in the intermediate boys’ race. Katie Noble was 11th in the intermediate girls race, followed by Mikayla Jordens in 39th place.

The following day saw most of the same group take part in the final round of the North Yorkshire and South Durham League at Richmond. The surface at the old racecourse was good  but a stiff headwind made it hard going on the home straight.

If some of the athletes were running on tired legs, it certainly didn’t show. Winner on the day was Stella Jones in the U-15 girls’ race, with fourth-placed Katie Noble and eighth-placed Keely Scott backing up well to win the team competition. The U-13 girls maintained their immaculate record in the series with another team win. They were led home by India Pentland in second place and playing key supporting roles were Megan Noble (third), Ellie Phillips (fifth), Emma Hart (sixth) and Jasmine Sharp (11th).

Liam Brittle also had a good run in the U-13 boys’ race, finishing second. Charlotte Rutter was fourth for the U-11 girls and representing the U-11 boys were fourth-placed Jacob Rutter and seventh-placed Luke Hall.

The U-17 boys’ triumvirate of Ben Lambert, Jamie Wood and Ben Tinkler were third team in their race. Ben Lambert was fourth, Jamie eighth and Ben Tinkler 10th.

In the senior women’s race, Sue Phillips rounded off a very consistent series by finishing in 11th place. Linda Noble was 22nd, a place ahead of Val Clarke. The combined men’s veterans race also saw 80-year-old Ian Barnes in action for the second time in two days, having competed in the North-East Masters Championships at Darlington Education Village 24 hours earlier.

The senior men were delighted to field a full team of six counters. Jamie Rutherford was up with the front-runners, finishing in eighth place, ahead of Colin Taylor (16th) and the in-form Simon Rogers (18th). Backing up were Dave McKenna (50th), Peter Armstrong (64th) and Graham Bell (76th).

The previous week saw three seniors take part in the Dewsbury 10k, which is always a popular race because of its fast course. Simon Rogers did it justice by achieving a new personal best with a time of 36 mins 17 secs for 65th place, ahead of Paul Cook (97th in 37:12) and Peter Armstrong (234th in 40:48).