Harrier League Race 5 – Alnwick

 

[3rd-Mar-2012]  Cross Country athletics action returned to The Pastures in the grounds of Alnwick Castle for the first time in several years on Saturday 3rd March, with the holding of the penultimate and fifth Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting.

Against the spectacular backdrop of Alnwick Castle, teams from across the North East battled it out on a long and challenging cross country course which included fields, woodland and plenty of hills (and molehills!). Despite terrain that was often difficult underfoot, the pace was fast in all of the age categories due to the relatively dry conditions. The event proved to be a success on the organisational front for the local club Alnwick Harriers, who were heaped with praise for their skills in selecting a scenic, yet tough course for all, which provoked acclaim despite its testing terrain.

Text Box:  As usual, once the Blyth tent/flag had been erected the runners from Blyth mysteriously appeared and we had runners in nearly every age category. The first race was the under 11’s and Connor Marshall finished in seventh position with Jessica Locker finishing as sixth girl, despite falling and twisting her ankle. Elliot Taylor was the sole Blyth runner in the U13 boys and finished in the top half of the field. Erin Scott and Alice Dungworth both had strong runs to finish in the top 30 in the U13 girls race. In the U15 boys race all the boys finished in the top 30 with Joseph Dungworth first back, followed by James Young, Joseph Woods, Karl McClean (making his debut), Chris Sheffer and Mark Nicholson. In the U15 girls, running from the fast pack Charlie finished in 12th position. The U17 boys had the best result as they finished as first team on the day and are now in second place in the league, with James Brown in 7th and Jake and Scott having their own personal race, with Jake finishing one second in front of Scott, while Calum finished in 14th.

In the men’s race, Peter Holmback was first back for Blyth in 102nd position out of 350 finishers , with Robbie next back (the only Blyth man running from the medium pack), with Graeme one second behind Robbie. Ricky Davidson was having a good strong run as part of his marathon training, followed in by Steve Cairns, with Dave Bradley next as the sixth counter. Ignoring jibes that Phillippa was just in front of him, Ian ran each lap quicker and finished in front of Kevin Freeman and Martin Scott finishing in the top 300, while newcomer Brian Singleton just beat club secretary Ralph Dickinson. All the men were grateful for the loud, raucous support of the junior girls who gave them very vocal encouragement

The ladies just managed a team, as Phillippa continued her good recent form to finish as first Blyth lady home in 36th position out of 130 finishers. Helen was net followed by newcomer Karen Singleton who I believed had cycled to Alnwick from Newbiggin.

The women now lie third in their division behind Gateshead and Tynebridge as do the men behind Tynebridge and Houghton.

I think only Charlie and Phillippa from the ladies can now qualify for the free T-shirt, not sure about men/boys.

 

Blyth Results

 

Senior Men

 

 

43:32

102nd

Peter Holmback

44:53 (42:23)

145th

Robbie Barkley

44:54

146th

Graeme Stewart

45:43

173rd

Ricky Davidson

46:23

191st

Steve Cairns

48:27

2236th

Dave Bradley

49:43

262nd

Ian Baxter

50:31

273rd

Kevin Freeman

51:55

294th

Martin Scott

53:11

314th

Brian Singleton

54:01

318th

Ralph Dickinson

 

 

 

U17 Men

 

 

28:54

7th

James Brown

29:17 (26:37)

9th

Jake Jansen

29:18 (26:38)

10th

Scott Povey

30:38

14th

Calum Storey

 

 

 

U15 Boys

 

 

14:44

19th

Joseph Dungworth

15:10 (13:40)

24th

James Young

15:30

31st

Karl McClean

15:35 (14:05)

33rd

Joseph Woods

15:49 (14:19)

34th

Chris Sheffer

15:50 (14:20)

35th

Mark Nicholson

 

 

 

U13 Boys

 

 

15:47

24th

Eliot Taylor

 

 

 

Senior Women

 

 

32:58

36th

Phillippa Baxter

34:34

64th

Helen Morris

36:58

92nd

Karen Singleton

 

 

 

U15 Girls

 

 

16:25 (14:55)

12th

Charlie Hedley

 

 

 

U13 Girls

 

 

18:03

25th

Erin Scott

18:32

29th

Alice Dungworth

 

 

 

U11's

 

 

5:27

7th

Connor Marshal

6:02

22nd

Jessica Locker

 

Full results on Alnwick Harriers web site.