JUST LIKE in Rio, the first place finishes kept coming last week, when once again the black and white vest came home first in a race.

This time it occurred midweek up at the Stamfordham 10K near Newcastle, when Alex Kiel crossed the line first to win the race there in 34:05.

The majority of runners headed over to Billingham at the weekend in search of points at the latest league race, the Ray Harrison 10K. Michael Parry was first home for the club over the fairly flat, but windy course, in 36:41, closely followed by Paul Dalton (36:50 and third in his age category), Marc Ellis (37:06), Dave Jones (38:14), Gary Read (42:09), Stephen Moore (48:18), Sam Joblin (50:42), Jeff Marriott (52:50), David Ledgerwood (54:09), Michelle Boshier (55:01), Lewis Boshier (55:01), Steven Johnston (55:06), Wendy Noble (56:18), Andrew Dixon (56:30), Clare Stradling (56:54), Colin Smith (56:55), Darren Alderson (59:24), Darryn Wood (1:02:33), Lucy Bendle (1:02:38), Sharon Carr (1:05:10, PB), Alan Prest (1:07:02), Hannah Robinson (1:07:19) and  Lisa Alderson (1:23:54). The placings of our first three runners home were also enough to secure Quakers the men’s team prize on the day.

Taking place almost simultaneously, and not that far away, was the Wynyard Woodland 10K trail race, which saw Richard Payne and Lyn Hatch complete the off road route in 1:00:45 and 1:02:09 respectively.

Over at Seaham, Joanne Dewar was the sole Quaker at the Branches and Bays 10K race, finishing a route which took in both woodland trail and coastal paths, in 1:19:32.

Midweek had also seen the fifth race in the Stockton Summer 5K trail series was held at Pinchinthorpe, near Guisborough. Jill Clapp completed the undulating one lap course in 21:56, along with Danny Gordon (27:46), Lucy Bendle (32:06) and Gill Wallis (33:24).

In the Saturday morning parkruns, Dave Jones finished at South Park in 18:23, followed by Kyle Cook (20:21), Phil Clarke (22:51), Nick Wadd (23:02), Peter Rowley (23:50), Gavin Armstrong (24:09), Rebecca Bowes (24:51), Michelle Boshier (25:15), Anna Hardy (25:25), David Ledgerwood (25:45), Lewis Boshier (25:47), Gary Read (25:48), Julie Whinn (25:50), Iain Clyde (26:00), Ian Hamond (26:53), Brian Dixon (28:48), Sally Singleton (29:06), Alec Cinamon (29:25), Lee Morris (29:36), Fiona Dixon (30:44), Lisa Jenkins (30:46), Michelle Scruby (32:33), Michael King (33:55), Adrian Dent (37:25), Lisa Alderson (38:16), Linda Harrington (41:43) and Neil Harrington (41:44).

Over at Sedgefield, Katherine Hackett ran there in 22:36 along with Richard Payne (25:39), Mark Colling (28:09), Diane Adkins (28:57), Sandra Cass (29:11), Nicola Howe (30:42), Wendy Colling (30:42), Gill Wallis (33:16) and Julie Remmer (38:25). In Middlesbrough, Alex Kiel finished at Albert Park in 16:06, as did Michael Joyeux (16:10) and Stephen Moore (23:19), while at Stewart Parkrun, Andrew Vernon and Sarah Watson did the run there in 21:54 and 25:32 respectively. Further north, Michael Thompson completed the Newcastle run in 19:54, while Paul Dalton ran at Gateshead in 31:38.

Quakers Running Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm at Abbey Road Playing Fields. For more information visit our website: www.quakersrunningclub.org.uk

Submitted by Rob Dent (photo by Karen Newton)