Darlington Harriers

MARTIN Grainger recorded one of his best road race performances of recent years when he finished fifth out of 1,000 runners in the big Brass Monkey Half-Marathon at York last weekend.

Marty was just a few seconds outside his personal best in a high-quality field, clocking 71 mins 53 secs. Men's winner was Thirsk and Sowerby's Gary Dunn in 68:50 and women's winner was Scottish international Hayley Haining in a new course record of 72:07.

Conditions were good for fast times, with only light winds, and nine other Harriers completed the course starting and finishing at the racecourse. Jack Mason came home in 39th place with 81:22 ahead of Graham Bell (226th, 92:59). Linda Noble was 246th in 93:43 and Nigel Wilkinson 296th in 95:33.

Emma Morley was 490th in 1:45:06 and Shirley Gibson won the women's veteran 60 category for 594th place in 1:50:13. John Brant - competing in his 70th half marathon - was 639th in 1:52:34, Brian Burdon 792nd in 2:00:21 and Steve Dauber 938th in 2:16:41.

Harriers train on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Eastbourne sports complex when new members of all ages are always welcome.

* www.darlingtonharriers.co.uk

Darlington Schools

THE Darlington Schools cross-country team excelled themselves in the County Championships held at Meadowfield Sports Centre in Durham on Saturday, January 20.

In challenging weather conditions including strong winds and very cold temperature 22 athletes from Darlington gained county selection for the Inter-County championships. At these championships the teams will be selected to represent Durham in the English Schools Championships to be held in Leeds in March. The best eight runners in each age group will be taken.

Abby Wilson from Queen Elizabeth College was Darlington's only winner, followed home by Scarlett Gray from Darlington College in second place in the Senior Girls event. Nicole Burlinson (Carmel) finished in fourth place in the Junior Girls despite being a year young.

"All of the athletes were a credit to their schools and to the Town. They were a pleasure to take to the championships," said Simon Hannaford, Darlington Schools Cross Country team manager.

Richmond and Zetland Harriers

THE busy race calendar continued on Sunday, January 14 with the fourth NYSD Cross Country fixture at Caedmon School, Whitby.

The earlier strong wind had thankfully almost abated and the course proved to be firmer underfoot than during previous meetings. The Under-13s boys got things started and kept their fantastic record with yet another victory.

Fergus Roberts was first Harrier, taking second place overall, only 8 seconds behind the leader. Marc Scott claimed a well-deserved 5th place with a strong run and brother Rob crossed the line to take an excellent 12th. Paul Harmsworth then claimed 14th position to bring the winning team home.

The Under-13s girls had a stronger contingent on this occasion, with 4 competitors on the start line. Maddy Winzer was 2nd overall, just being pipped at the post by Grace Rodgers of Loftus, who managed to overturn the results from the previous week's Yorkshire Championships.

Amy Coulson meanwhile kept her composure she has shown in previous events, finishing in 11th place, while team-mate Rosie Stirr had a strong run to clinch 24th overall. Kerry Robson put in a fine performance to take 35th position and bring the team into 5th place. The Under-15s Boys had the dynamic duo of Thomas Allen and Sam Wood out in force once again, pacing each other round the course, with Thomas finishing just ahead in 4th position and Sam close on his heels in 5th.

There were no representatives in the Under-15s Girls or Under-17s Men's races, meaning no scores on the doors towards the aggregate team total, so the Ladies were the next up for Richmond and Zetland. With some regular athletes missing from the line-up, in addition to Katie Roberts having to withdraw midway through the race, the team were down on past performances and had to settle for 6th place this time round.

Kelley Haniver produced another great result, finishing 6th overall to ensure that the team got off to as good a start as possible, while Sarah Gregory was next team counter across the line in 22nd place, with a pleasing run. Fiona Hughes continued with her strong form, bringing her into 28th position, while Jane Thornton and Jenny Fenwick conquered the course admirably to complete the team line-up in 45th and 46th place respectively.

The men managed to improve on their previous team standing and move up to 4th overall, with some excellent performances and 4 athletes finishing in the top 25 places. Rich Hunt and Jon Orange battled it out over 3 laps of the course, with Rich taking the honours by 9 seconds, finishing in 8th and 9th, while Jon also claimed a win in the Vet 1 category. Next across the line was Ken Harker, making a welcome appearance and taking the points for 19th overall, with Shaun Purkiss not too far behind, having another excellent outing and claiming 24th position in the process. Tad Zaranko was the 5th team member along the finishing funnel, with a strong run in 46th, while Darren Cox rounded of the team scoring in 65th with a fine performance.

Jim Robinson was once again the clear winner in the Men's Vet 3 category, by almost 3 minutes from his closest rival, proving that he is on target to take the league title, along with 70th place on this occasion. Ray Robson clearly enjoyed the event and continues to gradually climb the results table, finishing in 95th, while Neil Piper rounded off the day's racing with a good performance in 98th position and 3rd place in the Vet 3 category.

RZH Results: U13 Boys - 2nd Fergus Roberts, 5th Marc Scott, 12th Rob Scott & 14th Paul Harmsworth, Team 1st. U13 Girls - 2nd Maddy Winzer, 11th Amy Coulson, 24th Rosie Stirr & 35th Kerry Robson, Team 5th. U15 Boys - 4th Thomas Allen & 5th Sam Wood. Senior/Vet/U17 Ladies - 6th Kelley Haniver, 22nd Sarah Gregory, 28th Fiona Hughes, 45th Jane Thornton & 46th Jenny Fenwick, Team 6th. Senior/Vet Men - 8th Rich Hunt, 9th Jon Orange (& 1st Vet 1), 19th Ken Harker, 24th Shaun Purkiss, 46th Tad Zaranko, 65th Darren Cox, 70th Jim Robinson (& 1st Vet 3), 95th Ray Robson & 98th Neil Piper, Team 4th.