DRURIDGE FIXTURE POSTPONED - 13 OCT 24
ENTRIES for Druridge and Lambton
ACTION
RESUMES DOWN ON THE FARM
AFTER two cancellations last season at Thornley Hall Farm the Start Fitness North East Harrier League returned to action at the County Durham venue for the opening fixture of the 2024-25 campaign.
After heavy rain prior to the weekend the weather could not have been kinder with bright sunshine the order of the day. Thanks to landowner Jon Taylor the car parking facilities were deemed fine with the £3 charge once again going to a local charity.
The course, laid out by Stewy Bell and his team the previous day was in excellent condition though it had been tinkered with due to a huge lake appearing at the lowest part of the start and finish field. Stewy was more than happy that the day’s proceedings went well though he was not so overjoyed at losing his car keys somewhere round the 2-mile circuit! However, the passionate Toon supporter and season ticket holder – as is the NEHL treasurer Alan Elders who also missed the game due to officiating duties – loss of his keys wasn’t the be-all-and-end-all as his beloved Newcastle’s well-earned point against champions Manchester City eased the disappointment somewhat! With a number of weary athletes taking advantage of the on-site bar facilities – the only income for the landowner – it certainly is a date to pencil into the diary for next season.
SENIOR/UNDER-20 WOMEN
IT WAS a delight to see Birtley’s Lydia Turner back to something like her old self as she eased into an early lead from the off taking full advantage of a 2min 20sec start over the medium pack and a 5-minute advantage over the fast pack. Tracking the former GB&NI international were under-20 athletes – taking part in senior action for the first time – Houghton’s Charlotte Dillon and Blaydon’s Ellie Fellows. Turner kept on cutting out a lone furrow at the head of affairs over the two testing circuits to eventually cross the line in 23mim 03secs - a time which proved to be the fastest overall figures of the day - and 23 seconds clear of Dillon (2nd Fastest overall) with Fellows completing the one-two-three over a minute further adrift.
A beaming Turner said after receiving her award: “Naturally I’m delighted with my run for I didn’t know what to expect as it was my first cross-country race for six-years. Now I can’t wait for the next one to come around!”
Wallsend’s Jenny Berry was quickest from the fast pack and third overall quickest after a race-long tussle with Morpeth’s Jane Hodgson while Sunderland’s Grace Carroll was the best from the mediums after working her way to finish in 10th position.
With five fixtures to go North Shields Poly are the early leaders of Division One followed by Sunderland and Elvet Striders; Washington head Division Two closely followed by Tynedale with Wallsend in third place; Birtley lead Division Three closely followed by Newcastle University with Gosforth in third spot.
MEN OVER-65
Ten competitors lined up contesting two circuits and it was Ponteland’s Mick Meaney who claimed the bragging rights followed by Robert Hewitson (Durham City) with Crook’s Mark Standbridge next fastest ahead of former Olympian Ray Smedley (Ponteland).
SENIOR MEN/UNDER-20 MEN
ENTRIES were down on previous years possibly due to Newcastle’s early kick-off, however, it turned out to be stroll in the park for Morpeth’s Josh Fiddaman who led throughout the contest.
The former Blyth athlete and former NE County champion at under-13 level, not only won handsomely from Birtley’s Alex Below and first under-20 Rory Hart (Crook) but his winning time of 30min 16secs was the fastest overall time of the day.
Second quickest was Tyne Bridge’s Jarlath McKenna who worked his way through to 20th place from a five-minute penalty to cross the line with an actual time of 30:46.
Third quickest on the course was Newcastle University’s Monte Watson who finished one place behind McKenna, also running from the fast pack. In the team section, prolific champions Morpeth, got off to a good start with victory in Division One followed by Durham City and North Shields Poly while Newcastle University top Division Two by two points from Wallsend with Crook back in third. In Division Three Blyth lead the way followed by South Shields and Wearside Tri.
UNDER-17 WOMEN
THIS season this age group ran on their own rather than with the under-20s and it was a convincing win for Jarrow and Hebburn’s Emily Boot whose time of 20:15 was the second quickest overall, the fastest being Chester-Le-Street’s Lucy Buckle who recorded 19:05 working her way through into second place from a 1:15 handicap. Durham City’s Grace Carter crossed the line in third place while Elswick’s Erin Bright, running from the fast pack, was third quickest on the course. Durham City topped the league placings followed by Tynedale and Elswick.
UNDER-17 MEN
GATESHEAD’S in-form Alfie Cook led throughout to win in 15:51 which proved to be the quickest overall time of the day. Tynedale’s Arthur Di Lullo finished in second place in 16:04 which was the joint second fastest, the other being Alnwick’s Liam McDonough who worked his way through into 13th place running from a 2:30 handicap. Third across the line was Durham City’s William Jardine. Durham City topped the league placings followed by Tyne Bridge and Sunderland.
UNDER-15 GIRLS
BIRTLEY’S Kitty Graham led the 45-strong field home crossing the line in 12:49, 13 seconds clear of Morpeth’s Faye Heatley with Tynedale’s Emelia Stobbart completing the medal places. Fastest on the course was Houghton’s Holly Robison who finished in fourth place from a 1:40 handicap. Second quickest was Darlington’s Matilda Owens followed by sister Charlotte with the sisters leading Darlington to team victory ahead of Houghton and Gateshead.
UNDER-15 BOYS
WALLSEND’S Kasper Pearson comfortably won from Tynedale’s Wilfred Pugh with Dominic Lee (Durham City) finishing in third place.Pearson was second quickest (10:52) on the course behind Darlington’s Rowan Steel (10:47) after working his way through into 15th place from a 1:40 handicap. With 11:00 Heaton’s Alex Smith was third quickest. Blyth, led home by eighth-placed Dexter Heatley topped the team placings ahead of Elswick and Low Fell.
UNDER-13 GIRLS
MORPETH’S Heidi Wilkinson held on to win (13:27) by just three seconds to claim victory over Prudhoe Plodders’ Martha Carr (13:30) with Sedgefield’s Jess Davis four-seconds adrift in third place. Birtley’s Izzy Hall was fastest on the course (12:30), working her way through the field from a 1:20 handicap to finish in seventh place. Elswick’s Ayla Bright was second quickest (12:44) followed by Wilkinson. North Shields Poly came out on top in the team stakes followed by Elswick and Wallsend.
UNDER-13 BOYS
MORPETH’S Mason Gaylor proved a comfortable winner crossing the line in 11:41, 26 seconds clear of Gosforth’s Jack McManus with Low Fell’s William McClean just two seconds further adrift in third place. Fastest on the course was Durham City’s Henry Engleheart who posted an actual time of 11:31 on his way to finishing in 14th place from a 1:20 handicap. Second fastest was Gaylor and third quickest McManus. An excellent team victory by Low Fell followed in second place Gosforth with Elswick third.
UNDER-11 GIRLS and BOYS
A TOTAL of 131 youngsters toed the line in the “Try Cross-Country” and the enthusiasm and enjoyment was to the fore all supported heartedly by parents and grand-parents whether their child was at the sharp end, mid-field or at the rear, of course, that’s the way our sport is noted for.
In the boys’ section, in which there were 75 finishers, first home was North Shields Poly’s Matthias Gheorghiu (6.00) closely followed by Jarrow and Hebburn’s Jacob Hopper just one second adrift with Aycliffe’s Will Allison completing the one-two-three.
In the girls contest over the same one-mile course, Ada Penfold made it a double for the Poly club crossing the line in 5:23. Gosforth’s Ruby Colins (Gosforth) came home in second place followed by Penfold’s team-mate Ellie Nelson. Thanks go to the tail runners for making sure the contest went off smoothly.
**THANKS go to NEHL league
sponsors Start Fitness, to landowner
Jon Taylor, to all the technical officials, course builders and marshalls, to the first aid team, the new chip timing squad Timing Up North and to the chuck waggon personnel, who unfortunately ran out of food as the day progressed. After contesting the most southerly fixture on the calendar harrier League action continues with a trip up the Northumberland coast on Sunday, October 13th to Druridge Bay followed a week later when Lambton Estate is the venue.
Photos - Stuart Whitman Photography
Hello lovely people, and welcome to another season of mud & mayhem in the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League.
The fixtures are finalised, and we have some new and exciting news: A new fixture at Eltringham Farm, a new chip-timing solution, and the Under 20 women will be running with the Senior & Masters Women for the first time this year.
So, get ready to dust off those spikes & trail shoes, and prepare to get muddy!
THORNLEY FIXTURE 13th APRIL
1st Charlotte Dillon Houghton AC 1000 0 1000 1000 0 0 3000 2nd Iona Johnstone Gateshead Harriers 997 1000 0 996 0 0 2993 3rd Ellie Fellows Blaydon Harriers 995 997 995 999 0 0 2991 3rd Imogen Bungay Elswick Harriers 998 999 994 994 0 0 2991
CALUM AND CO ROUND OFF A GREAT DAY FOR THE REGION
Leading up to the final event of the day at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, the North East had already tasted some success in the earlier races with Thomas McCartie picking up an individual bronze medal in the under-13 boys contest and the under-13 girls and under-17 women mounting the podium in third place in their respective events. However, the best was yet to come with the senior men set to bring down the curtain on an excellent day’s competition and it couldn’t have ended on a finer note with Calum Johnson racing home to victory as well as leading the North East team to a comfortable 116 points success in the six-to-score over second-placed Yorkshire as well as having a 200-point cushion over Surrey in the overall nine-to-score result.
SENIOR MEN (10k)
The long uphill start saw Cameron Allan (Houghton) quickly showing among the leading group with Calum Johnson (Gateshead) swamped around 25 metres adrift as the 300+ strong field made it’s way round two small laps before embarking on two large circuits of the relatively dry park. At the completion of the first lap Allan was still in the leading bunch with Johnson making slight headway just ahead of Morpeth’s Carl Avery. Even at this stage all North East interest was focusing on which members of squad would be back-up to the trio ahead in the six-to-score team contest.
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| Senior Men's start |
Going into the first of the long laps Johnson had joined the leaders as Allan started to drift off the pace. Johnson, who won the title two years previously in Loughborough, was tracking every move as one by one his rivals dropped away until he was one of just three practically going stride-for-stride with just over a kilometre to go. With spectators lining the final steep climb before a sharp turn into the long run down to the finish Johnson found another gear and quickly opened up a significant gap of nearly 30 metres at the top which saw him extend his advantage all the way to the line to finish with a seven-second cushion over Leicestershire and Rutland’s Tom Evans and Scott Stirling, representing Scotland East, both athletes credited with the same time.
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| Senior Men - 1st place Calum Johnson |
It was a tougher victory this time round for the Tynesider who admitted later:
“The course was extremely dry but the steep hill on each lap was a real test so, while I was reasonably confident going up the final hill when there were only the two us I knew I had to make a break just in case the lad had a fast finish so I just went for it and it paid off.”
Johnson, who kept his feelings to himself this time round after breaking the tape, added:
“Naturally. I’m over the moon to have won the title for a second time and earn my place in the World Championships but I’m just as happy for the North East to win the team race, the rest of the lads ran really well.”
Really well the rest of squad certainly did
with Allan plugging away to finish 10th, Avery moving through to
finish 13th, first year senior Chris Coulson (Houghton) 30th,
William Cork (Morpeth) 60th and Adrian Bailes (Birtley) 68th being
the back up to Johnson while late call-ups into the squad certainly didn’t
disappoint with Steven Jackson (Sunderland) finishing 68th, Ellis
Hetherington (Blyth) 93rd and Phil Wylie (Western Tempo) 98th.
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| Senior Men's winning gold medalists |
UNDER-13 BOYS (2.9k)
Earlier in the day Middlesbrough Mandale’s Thomas McCartie
also made it into the podium after producing a storming run to finish in third
place. The Northern champion was always in touch with the leaders and at the
line was just 10 seconds adrift of the gold medallist. In a close team contest
the NE finished in fifth place with Kasper Pearson (Wallsend) 34th,
Ollie Curran (Darlington) 50th and Henry Englehart (Phoenix) 62nd
backing up McCartie while Dominic Kelso (Elswick) 69th, Wilfred Pugh
(Tynedale) 167th, Thomas McCann (Wallsend) 212th and
Louie Heslop (Darlington) 216th were the non-scorers.
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| Under 13 Boys - Thomas McCartie |
UNDER-13 GIRLS (2.9k)
This was the second event on the 10-race programme and it
was an excellent result with the NE team finishing in third place out of the 40
counties. Led home by Olivia Murphy (Birtley) in 12th place, with solid
packing behind by Gabrielle Pinder (New Marske) 16th, Poppie
Phillipson (Birtley) 36th, the youngest member of the squad, and
Emilia Waugh (Alnwick) 54th saw the team finish on 118 points behind
an exceptionally strong Essex quartet who totalled just 38 points with
Yorkshire claiming the silver awards with 77 points. The NE non scorers were:
Izzy Hall (Birtley) 61st, Ayla Bright (Elswick) 70th, Emma Blackburn (Gateshead) 101st
and Ellie Bradley (Durham City) 103rd.
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| Under 13 Girls - Olivia Murphy |
UNDER-17 WOMEN (5k)
A superb run by Charlotte Dillon saw the North East team
make it onto the podium once more. The Houghton athlete was always in touch
with the leaders and at the line her eighth-place finish saw her just miss out
on an individual medal by 20 seconds. The team finished in third place (103pts)
behind a strong Scotland West foursome who totalled just 31 points with
Berkshire claiming second place on 56 points. Backing up Dillon were Zara Jones
(Darlington) 16th, Ellie Fellows (Blaydon) 38th and Aoife
Bell (Gateshead) 41st with Poppy Old (North Shields Poly) 54th,
Ania Stobbart (Tynedale) 81st, Iona Johnstone (Gateshead) 97th
and Hattie Stead (Blackhill) 106th being the non-scorers.
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| Under 17 Women - Charlotte Dillon |
UNDER-20 MEN (8k)
This race opened the day’s action and Morpeth’s Joe Dixon was notable among the leading group in the early stages. Despite dropping away midway through the contest the Northumbrian finished a creditable 18th in a highly-competitive contest with places in the forthcoming World Championships up for grabs. Backing up Dixon in the team stakes with the North East finishing sixth place were fellow Morpeth team mates William De Vere Owen (31st), Bertie Marr (39th) and Ethan Phillips (61st) with Zak Kettle (Tyne Bridge) 73rd, Ethan Bond (Gosforth) 74th, Thomas McKie (Middlesbrough Mandale) 76th and Ben Brunton (Tynedale) 83rd the non-scorers.
SENIOR WOMEN (8k)
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| Senior Women's start |
Just as she was last year (23rd) North Shields Poly’s Charlotte Penfold was the region’s leading finisher, this time just three places further back in 26th place. The former Commonwealth 800 metres finalist has turned her attentions to longer distances since moving to the region and is the one to beat in local contests when she takes her place on the start line. Unfortunately, the six-to-score event saw the North East go agonisingly close to making it onto the podium but the squad had to be content with fourth place with Catriona MacDonald (Morpeth) 44th, Shona Haston (Gateshead) 50th, Louise Mitchell (Durham City) 59th, Amy Fuller (Kenilworth) 66th and Nicole Burlinson (Durham City) 71st backing up the Poly runner. The non-scorers were: Anna Pigford (Houghton) 90th, Jennifer Berry (Wallsend) 113th and Ellie Reed (Heaton) 146th.
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| Senior Women - Charlotte Penfold |
UNDER-15 BOYS (4k)
Unfortunately, the
region lost North East champion Davit Asmelash at the 11th hour due
to illness but nevertheless the team did well to finish 13th out of
the 41 counties to close in. An excellent run by Gateshead’s Alfie Cook saw him
finish in 15th place with Freddie Palmer (Tyne Bridge) 76th,
Charlie Jones (Middlesbrough Mandale) 79th and Zander Gribbon (New
Marske) 116th supporting Cook as Noah Williamson (NE Project) 137th,
William Jardine (Durham City) 169th and Alex Smith (Heaton) the
non-scorers.
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| Under 15 Boys - Alfie Cook |
UNDER-17 MEN (6k)
North East champion Elliot Kelso (Morpeth) was the region’s
leading finisher in 32nd position as the team closed in in 11th
place with Liam McDonogh (Alnwick) 55th, Joseph Close (Morpeth) 93rd
and Jacob Brown (Middlesbrough Mandale) 98th backing up Kelso. The
non-scorers were: Ben Sproats (North Shields Poly) 101st, Rory Hart
(Crook), 104th, Oliver Tomlinson (Morpeth) 137th and
Alfie Bower (Darlington) 177th.
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| Under 17 Men - Elliot Kelso |
UNDER-15 GIRLS (4k)
This was the penultimate race on the programme and still the
course was in excellent condition and it was Houghton’s Holly Robinson who led
the North East team home in 31st place followed by Durham City duo
Grace Carter 84th and Evie Hall 97th with Houghton’s
Kathryn Pye the final counter in 122nd position to close in the team
in 17th spot. The non-scorers were: Anna Johnson (North Shields
Poly) 155th, Charlotte Owens (Darlington) 156th, Frances
Elliott (Gosforth) 168th and Matilda Owens (Darlington) 175th.
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| Under 15 Girls - Holly Robinson |
UNDER-20 WOMEN (6k)
Millie Breese (Morpeth), the NE champion, led the region’s charge crossing the line in 28th place - an improvement of nine positions on last year - as the team finished in 10th place. Backing up the Northumbrian was: Imogen Bungay (Elswick) 35th, Katie Francis (Birtley) 63rd and Katie Joslyn (North Shields Poly) 90th. The team’s non-scorers were: Macy Kelly (Darlington) 117th, Mili Diddee (North Shields Poly) 122nd, Sophie Johnstone (Gateshead) 128th and Lauren Blyth (Gosforth) 132nd
Under 20 Women - Millie Breese
