Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers

THERE was a bumper club turn out for the Lightwater Valley Challenge for the latest Club Championship race.

Cameron Choules continued his fine form to come eighth out of the 250+ runners in an impressive 37.45 and the competition was hot, with Stephan Tomaszewski 11th in 38.48, Bryan Miller in another PB, 18th in 41.03, closely followed by Ken Wood 19th in 41.07 and Rob Lickley 24th in 42.21.

Graham Robinson flew along to finish 30th in 43.17, Rob Burn 32nd in 43.20, Lorraine Hiles 37th, and fourth lady finisher, in 43.54, Martyn Coy 41st in 44.29, Hilary Coventry 60th in a PB 46.51, Alan Pollock, a runner with yet another PB, 66th in 47.01, Martin Cummins 72nd in 47.51, Andy Butcher 81st in 48.50, Steven Scott 95th in 49.31, with Claire Gillan and Marc Davies fighting to the finish and given equal times, 50.46 in 107th place. Alan Harman, having a rest from his favourite half marathon distance, came 115th in 51.18, Faith Coy 143rd in 53.55, Christine Burn 183rd in 59.06, Lynne Jackson 184th in 59.15, Janet Balmain 186th in 59.29, Paul Adams 188th in 59.47, Jane Cummins 199th in 61.25, Cath Lumb 225th in 65.33, Ian Codling 234th in 68.14, Bev Davies 242nd in 72.11, Marian Codling 246th in 77.44 and Liz Stephenson 248th in 81.01.

Seven Harriers were at the 5k parkrun at Fountains Abbey. Charlotte Knowles took the advantage, finishing 21st in a new PB 21.18 with Laura Bosomworth 25th in 21.36.

Martin Cummins was next, 43rd in 23.05, Louise Knowles 53rd in a new PB 24.00, new member Emma Horner in her first parkrun, 75th in 25.07, Paul Adams 139th in 28.48 and Jane Cummins 150th out of 223 in 29.16.

It's all hands on deck at the weekend for the Thirsk 10 with several members competing and most of the others helping with the organisation.

Durham City Harriers

In the final N-E Harrier League XC Meeting at Wrekenton, Dan Jenkin bounced back from his missing out on selection for the N-E Senior men's team in the Inter-Counties Championship with another fine run.

He finished 11th overall to record the fastest time of the day 31.08, while Matt Hornsby moved up to 30th in 32.17 (8th fastest) and likewise Andy Graham up to 45th in 32.39 (10th fastest), both from the fast pack.

Veterans Dave King finished 55th in 37.50 and Peter Harrison 68th in 38.01 both from the slow pack, and Rob Eaton 110th in 33.37 also from the fast pack. The team finished sixth in Division One.

Other runners to finish were; Andy Biggs (v) 153rd in 39.03, David Hemming 160th in 39.15, Bob Hewitson (v) 330th in 42.48, Ken Bradshaw (v) 362nd in 44.02, Tony McNeil (v) 400th in 45.04, Gary Coulter (v) 424th in 46.08, Ian Graham (v) 435th in 46.34, Matthew King 462nd in 48.15, Brian Brown (v) 470th in 49.02.

Charlotte Shields was first counter for the club in the senior women's race finishing seventh from the medium pack (2min handicap) recording 26.04, with Kirstin Farquhar (v) 37th in 29.30 (s) , Kat O'Mahoney 87th in 28.16 (m) and Julia Quinonez (v) 151st in 29.09 (m). The team finished sixth in Division One.

Other runners to finish were; Audrey Christie (v) 158th in 29.13 (m), Alison Walker (v) 159th in 29.13 (m), Elise Truchi 217th in 32.39 (s), Rachel Bentley 228th in 31.11(m), Liz Lamb (v) 238th in 33.33 (s), Gemma Soulsby 258th in 34.40 (s), Paula Wear (v) 273rd in 35.33 (s), and Helen Pickering (v) 310th in 40.34.

In the U15 boys race, Mohammed Dugay was 13th in 10.30 (s), Luke Pickering 19th in 9.08 (fast pack -1.30 handicap), and Jack Watson 27th in 10.55 (s). The team finished fourth. Other runners to finish were William Morgan - Rippon 38th in 9.50 (f) and Jacob Stephenson 41st in 10.06 (f).

Fran Brown (U20) had a fine run in the combined U17 and U20 women's race, finishing fourth overall, third U20, recording 24.57 from the fast pack. Izaac Taylor had a fine run in the U13 boys race, running from the fast pack (handicap 1.30), and finished 13th recording 9.23, with Chris Milburn (f) 44th in 10.24, and James Garraghan (f) 49th in 10.48. The team finished 11th.

Lucy Walker was the club’s sole competitor in the U13 girl’s race finishing 33rd recording 10.57. In the U11 girl’s race, Heidi Walton was 50th in 9.11, Harriet Coxon 52nd in 9.37 and Emma Walker 54th in 10.19.

Meanwhile, at the English Schools AA XC Championship at Witton Park, Blackburn, seven members from the club earned the right to run for Durham County and take part in the most eagerly anticipated event of the winter for young athletes.

City Harrier athletes were very well represented in their various age groups. Senior Boys: Oliver Watson 90th in 26.57, Alex Brown 149th in 27.55. Senior Girls: Alice Campbell 220th in 19.44: Intermediate Boys; Joseph Grehan- Bradley 177th in 20.18, Michael Wade 201st in 20.26, Cameron Allen 316th in 22.24. Intermediate Girl’s: Rebecca Mott 321st in 16.26.

Aycliffe Running Club

Two members took part in the Lightwater Valley 10K. John Surtees had another outstanding run, finishing ninth in a field of nearly 250 runners in 37:47 and Tracy Surtees did equally well and was seventh female finisher in 44:45.

On the previous day club athletes were busy in parkruns. At Sedgefield, Lee Wren came in second in 19:54 and it was first time for Mick Beadle, 21:20. The following all achieved PBs: Vivian Pow, 24:17, Mandy Heywood, 26:28, Judith Porter, 26:38 and Amanda Jane Garvey Kovac, 35:28.

Meanwhile at Shildon, the Hackworth parkrun celebrated its second birthday.

Sandra Collins was presented with a certificate for female with the most points and Trish Kay achieved another PB of 24:53.

For more information about Aycliffe Running Club and their training visit ayclifferunningclub.org.uk

Darlington Harriers & AC

With the London Marathon only six weeks away, two seniors tackled 20-mile warm-up races last weekend.

Paul Cook travelled to West Yorkshire to test himself at the hilly Spen 20 and was rewarded with a PB of 2hrs 10mins 31secs. Meanwhile, Peter Armstrong chose the Locke Park 20 at Redcar, a multi-lap route that had the advantage of being flat. He came home in 2:28.

Colin Taylor was at the front of the pack again in the latest 5k parkrun at South Park. He finished third in 18mins 5secs. Dave McKenna was as consistent as ever, finishing 10th in 19:19.

Junior Liam Brittle was also well up the field, finishing 17th in 20:33, a second ahead of Juris Silovs. James Roberts was 20th in 20:43 and Tom Leighton was 28th in 21:09.

Another junior, Emma Hart, was 53rd in 22:54 and Lesley Miller was 76th in 24:15. Keely Scott was 80th in 24:35 and Peter Armstrong was 84th in 24:46.

Dave Weston was 129th in 27:58, a second ahead of Brian Burdon. Steve Dauber was 157th in 30:30.

With the North Yorkshire and South Durham Cross-Country League over for another season, Harriers are celebrating a glut of series medals in many age groups. Well done to the following:

U-13 Boys – Liam Brittle, bronze; U-13 Girls – India Pentland, silver; Megan Noble, bronze; U-15 Girls – Stella Jones, gold; U-17 Men – Ben Lambert, gold; Jamie Wood, silver; V45 Women – Linda Noble, silver; V55 Women – Val Clarke, gold; V50 Women – Sue Phillips, gold; V60 Men – Graham Bell, gold; V75+ Men – Ian Barnes, gold.

Harriers train on Tuesday and Thursdays at Eastbourne Sports Complex at 6.15pm when new members are always welcome.

Shildon Running and AC

THE final event in the Winter Grand Prix Series for Minor Athletes took place at Monkton Stadium.

Three of the sprint group’s younger members took part in this event. In the U10s 60m, Cody Hall set a PB in her heat finishing in 9.8 seconds and in the 450m finished in a time of 1.50.3.

In the U11s 60m, Kayleigh Readman qualified for the final finishing in 9.4 seconds in her heat while Isabel Forster also secured a final place by setting a new PB in 9.3 seconds. In her final Kayleigh finished second in 9.1 seconds while Isabel set a further PB in her final to finish second in 9.2 seconds.

In the 600m Kayleigh finished 4th in 2.21.9 seconds. This was enough for Kayleigh to finish joint first overall in her age group in the Grand Prix Series.

The Last North-East Harrier League took place and saw Joshua and Thomas Wraith run in the U13 Boys. Joshua was first home in overall 31st position in a time of 10.01, (20th position on times), while Thomas followed in hot pursuit finishing in a time of 10:18 in 38th position overall (27th fastest on times).

Lizzie Cramb ran an excellent race in the U15 Girls finishing in 10:26 in 8th position but with the third fastest time.

Lizzie Wood ran in the senior women’s event and finished in a brilliant 25th position from a field of 319, gaining promotion to fast pack.

Lizzie came eighth in the individual Grand Prix tables running from the bottom end of a huge age group. She started the season in the slow pack, was promoted to the medium pack after one race and finished the season by getting promoted to the fast pack.

Last weekend saw the second anniversary of Hackworth parkrun with four club members running and the majority of the event volunteers coming from Shildon Running Club.

Well done to all involved. Congratulations to Emma Flynn on posting her first sub 30 minute parkrun at Tees Barrage.

Bedale and Aiskew Runners

The Lightwater Valley 10K Challenge attracted nearly 250 competitors, including 13 Bedale and Aiskew runners with some running their first races for the club.

Club champion, Nick Norris, kept pace with the leading group to break the 40 minute barrier, and finish 13th in a time of 39-51. Former club champion, Paul Ellis, was in close pursuit to finish 21st in a time of 41-37, with training partner Wil Goldsworthy next in 31st in a time of 43-17.

Tom Hauxwell was well up with these three when he sustained a leg injury and had to reduce his pace finally finishing in 92nd in a time of 49-23. Paul Bainbridge and Andy Gibb spurred each other along to finish 73rd and 76th respectively in times of 47-55 and 48-01. Chris Appleton in 109th and Rob Haw in 120th ran within themselves as they then set off running 12 miles back to Bedale to supplement their marathon training for Edinburgh and London respectively.

Helen Shields led home the ladies finishing 111th in 50-54, with Amy Hall next in 118th in 51-27, and third was Sue Brown, running her first event for the club, finishing 182nd in a time of 58-57.

Chris Lees was also competing for the first time and was pleased in 113th position in 50-58, and Mark Stewart ran well to record 56-46 for 165th position.

Phill Brace ran the Silverstone half in a superb time of 1:37:21 to be placed 712nd out of 10,000 finishers. Another top club runner, Neil McNish, having been stationed to the West Country, ran the Cornwall Fire and Rescue half marathon, finishing in a slightly disappointing time of 1:45:43 for 74th out of 319 competitors.

Frank Webster competed in the Liversedge half finishing in a time of 2.40.39 for 475th position. Marathon training Chris Appleton flew over to Barcelona to compete in the city half marathon with 12,500 athletes, to finish half way up the field in 1:51:20.

Crook and District AC

WITH promotion assured from the North-East Harrier League Division Two it came down to a shootout between Crook AC and Tynedale Harriers as to who would win the title at the final fixture at Wrekenton last Saturday.

A fabulous effort from the men saw them top the division with Tynedale finishing down in eighth, duly collect the title overall.

Results: U11 Boys - 55 Ashton Bridgewater 9.11, U13 Girls - 19 Jessica Hague 12.09, Senior/Vet Ladies - 41 Joanne Raine 29.31 - 25.31 F, 107 Helene Pratt 30.34 - 28.34 M, 132 Natalie Byrd 30.46, 183 Jayne Henderson 31.41, 188 Lynsey Manifold 31.54, 198 Malou Lonsdale 31.59, 249 Joanna Wilson 34.17, 311 Victoria Manifold 41.17.

Senior/Vet Men, 10 Mike Simpson 35.55, 37 Dave Best 37.27 - 34.57 M, 59 Graham Spowart 37.54, 63 Jason Bridgewater 37.58, 66 Carl Chapman 37.58 - 32.58 F, 89 Craig Downs 38.16, 150 Chris Auld 39.03 - 34.03 F, 179 Sam Beckett 39.30 - 34.30 F, 194 Craig Wren 39.45, 265 Kev Saville 40.57, 291 Geoff Hewitson 41.30, 347 Jason Marr 43.30, 361 Michael Dufton 44.02, 366 Paul Smith 44.09, 386 Gerry Hehir 44.44, 423 Darren Fairclough 46.07, 427 Eric Moore 46.14, 458 Percy Parkin 47.55, 469 Steve Manifold 48.57, 479 Matthew Hargraves 50.20, 498 Allen Purdham 60.54. Final Tables - Ladies Division 2 - 10 Crook AC 58.

Men Division 2 - 1 Crook AC 15, 2 Tynedale Harriers 20, 3 Gosforth Harriers 31

On Sunday Rob and Caroline Teasdale took part in the Locke Park 20 mile race as part of their training for the London Marathon. Rob finished eighth overall in 2.09.33 while Caroline was 27th and fourth lady in 2.22.24.

At Durham parkrun Paul Smith ran a time of 30.04 to cross the line in 216th place. David Goodfellow was present at Blackhill parkrun and ran a time of 24.25 in 15th position. At Sedgefield parkrun Michael Lloyd finished 34th in 24.00. Riverside parkrun saw Jason Allison finish fourth in 18.03, son Alfie was 145th in 30.05 with wife Elizabeth just behind in 146th and 30.07. Caroline Teasdale took overall victory at Hackworth parkrun with her time of 20.50.

Richmond and Zetland Harriers

On Saturday the juniors were in action at the English Schools Cross Championships.

Four juniors qualified for these finals and the made the trip down to Blackburn. Anna Harrison was the first harrier to run on the course in the junior girls’ race. Anna (Cleveland), who is a young athlete in this age group didn't give up and finished the race in a highly respectful 345th place.

In the intermediate girls Laura Kirkham (North Yorks) had a good run and was rewarded with 238th place and only a minute outside the top 100. Reece Dalton (North Yorks) was 168th in the intermediate boys and again less than a minute separated him from the top 50 runners. Last to go was new boy Liam Rabjohn (North Yorks) who has only been training with the club for the last month showed his undoubted class with 77th place in the senior boys and again a minute quicker would have brought him into the top 20.

Douglas Roberts ran the Alloa half marathon in 69:27 for fifth place, setting a PB in the process.

Jacqui Keavney returned to the hills and dales in the Dentdale run and was the 5th lady and second in her age group. Ronnie Corbett finished strongly in 10th place and 4th in his age category at the Carlisle duathlon.

At the weekly parkrun in Darlington, Luke Hack finished 4th in 18:07, Jeremy Pattison was 8th in 18:49 and Dave Hack the elder in 9th (19:03). Andy Everard (23rd) is getting back to his best in 20:48, followed by Simon Withers in 21:13 (30th) and the first lady was another Richmond athlete Alexandra Sutherland in a new PB of 21:30 and 31st place.

Joe Withers was 117th in 27:26. Ken Harker and Shona Fletcher headed across to York parkrun for a loosener with Ken finishing in 4th overall in 17:40, Shona not far behind in 17:47, First Lady and 10th overall.

Sunday saw harriers spread across the country with a few heading to Minchinhampton 10k in the Cotswolds. Mark Crawford came home in 38:16 and 5th, just outside the medals. Mrs Crawford also produced a fine performance to break the hour barrier in 59:54 and 277th place.

The infamous Spen20 was the venue for a few harriers getting some long runs in for marathon preparation. Shona Fletcher tore the ladies field to pieces and finished nearly three minutes ahead of the next lady runner.

She reclaimed the title she won last year and ran another massive PB in the process. Ken Harker finished strongly and was just behind in 18th place and again another PB from last year.

Richmond second claim runner Sharon Barlow was second lady with another second claim runner Tori Green in third. Donna Riddler was seventh and another PB, showing that her preparations are on course for the Rotterdam Marathon in April.