LAMBTON
PARK HL, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2024
STORM
ASHLEY DOES A RUNNER
THE threat of extreme heavy
rain and high-risk winds of Storm Ashley proved unfounded as over 1,300 hardy
souls turned out for the second fixture of the Start Fitness North East Harrier
League in Lambton Estate all eager to make up for lost time after the previous
scheduled event at Druridge Bay was postponed due to parking problems.
Despite
a few reservations there were no difficulties this time round with parking
thanks to the landowners’ assistants who were on hand to see that vehicles were
parked up in an orderly and tidy manner despite the post code for the venue
causing a few dilemmas!
Once again it was an early start for the marshals and
course builders from the Low Fell, Birtley and Washington clubs who braved the
worst of the weather before the venue changed to glorious sunshine much to the
delight of the senior athletes.
SENIOR MEN
THE final event on the
programme proved to be a battle between athletes from two of the major local
universities as the three-lap multi-terrain contest unfolded. At the completion
of the first circuit a group of half-a-dozen or so were locked together as they
exited a narrow gate with Newcastle University’s Patrick Davis just heading
Gosforth’s Al Johnson, Blackhill’s Ashley Slaven and Durham University duo
Miles Brierley and Jake Black.
All the while Birtley’s new acquisition from
Leeds City, Alex Bellew, was cutting back a 2min 58sec handicap from the medium
pack while likewise, the leading fast pack group, which included Newcastle
University’s Luke Davis, Birtley’s Adrian Bailes, Jarlath McKenna (Tyne Bridge)
and Birtley’s Lewis McConnell steadily cut into the start of 5min 15sec.
Davis
continued to cut out the pace entering the penultimate circuit with Johnson in
second place followed by Brierley and Black, the Durham Uni pair contesting the
HL for the first time this campaign. Going into the final lap Davis had opened
up a significant gap and looked strong as Bellew moved through into the top 15
and fast-lappers, Davis, Bailes and McKenna were now just outside the top 20.
As the athletes came into view before taking in the 150m-long finishing
straight it was the multi-coloured-vested Davis who appeared first, however, it
was to be a close encounter for Brierley was hot on his heels but an exciting
finish saw Davis hang io claim victory by just three seconds with Bellew coming
home in bronze medal position a further eight seconds adrift. Meanwhile, Bailes
proceeded to get the better of his fast pack rivals to cross the line in a
superb seventh position followed by Luke Davis, one place and nine seconds behind
with the pair posting the two fastest overall times of 35:54 and 36:03
respectively. Third quickest on the course was India-bound McKenna who finished
in 10th place in 36:22.
There were 451 finishers. The team results –
Div One: 1 Tyne Bridge 91pts; 2 Birtley 104pts; 3 Durham City 120pts. Div Two:
1 Newcastle Uni 44pts; 2 Jesmond Joggers 90pts; 3 Wallsend 168pts. Div Three: 1
Durham Uni 78pts; 2 South Shields 154pts; 3 Blyth 186pts.
SENIOR WOMEN
WITH under-20s now lining up
with the seniors it was pleasing to see four of that age group finishing inside
the top five. Victory went to Durham City’s Lucy Storey who crossed line in
27:48, 29 seconds clear of fellow under-20 rival Imogen Bungay of Elswick with
Morpeth’s Holly Lawrence the first senior home in third place nearly a minute
adrift.
Fastest overall on the course was Charlotte Dillon (under-20), running
from the medium pack with a 2min 31sec penalty, the Houghton athlete finishing
just outside the medals in fourth place with an actual time of 26:47. Second
and third quickest overall were former Stevenage athlete Storey and Bungay
respectively with Sunderland’s Grace Carroll posting the fastest time from the
fast pack with 28:56 on her way to finishing in 23rd place.
There
were 365 finishers. The team results – Div One: 1 Durham City 18pts; 2 Jesmond
Joggers 52pts; 3 Morpeth 66pts. Div Two: 1 Tynedale 33pts; 2 Wallsend 36pts; 3
Gateshead 50pts. Div 3: 1 Newcastle Uni 19pts; 2 Birtley 72pts; 3 Houghton
81pts.
MASTERS OVER-65
AT THE opening fixture at Thornley Hall Farm there were only 11 competitors, however, this time round there were nearly double that number. Once again the two quickest on the course were Ponteland pair Mick Meaney and former Olympian Ray Smedley with Crook’s Geoff Hewitson, who missed Thornley, third best.
UNDER-17 MEN
A QUARTET of Jamie Lonergan
(Blaydon), Sunderland’s William Young, Lucas Powell (Tyne Bridge) and Durham
City’s James Omerod were setting the pace at the completion of the opening
small lap before going off into the country to face a long circuit.
As the
field came back into view approaching the finishing field it was Lonergan who
had moved into a comfortable advantage to cross the line in 19:34, 13 seconds
clear of Young with Omerod claiming the final medal position a further six
seconds adrift. North Shields Poly’s Daniel Watson, giving away a 2min 34secs
start worked his way through into fourth place with the day’s fastest overall
time of 17:54; Alnwick’s Liam Mcdonough, in fifth place, was second quickest
with 18:03 and Tynedale’s Arthur Di Lullo was third best in seventh spot after
recording 18:17. There were 35 finishers.
Durham City came out on top in the
team event with 31pts; Sunderland finished second with 40pts and North Shields
Poly were third with 55pts.
UNDER-17 WOMEN
IT WAS a North Shields Poly
one-two with victory going to slow pack runner Anna Johnson (23:26) who was
followed across the line by Darcey Tullis (24:18) who had given her team-mate
1:20 start running from the medium pack. Chester-le-Street’s Lucy Buckle, also
running from the medium pack, finished in third place in 24:30.
Fastest on the
course was Blackhill’s Hatti Stead, who worked her way through the field from a
fast pack penalty of 2:35 to cross the line in fourth place in 24:42 (actual
22:07). Johnson was second fastest and Tullis third quickest.
There were 31
finishers. The team resulted in: 1 North Shields Poly 16pts; 2 Tynedale 34pts;
3 Durham City 39pts.
UNDER-15 BOYS
THE podium places were all
filled by slow pack runners who took advantage of a 1min 44secs start over
their fast pack rivals. First home was Tynedale’s Adam Bell who had a
13-seconds cushion over Elswick’s Dominic Kelso with Blaydon’s Jacob Hendry a
close-up third just two seconds further adrift.
Fastest on the course was North
Shields Poly’s James Sturman who worked his way through the field to finish in
fifth place with an actual time of 12:42. Second fastest was Wallsend’s Kasper
Pearson, 10th in 13:09 with Darlington’s Rowan Steel 13th
in 13:27. There were 40 finishers. The team resulted in: 1 North Shields Poly
26pts; 2 Elswick 44pts; 3 Blyth 75pts.
UNDER-15 GIRLS
ALNWICK’S Maria Moore claimed
a notable victory winning by six seconds ahead of Birtley’s Nell Graham with
Gateshead’s Iona Murray completing the one-two-three a further 22 seconds
adrift.
Fastest on the course was Houghton’s Holly Robison who worked her
through to finish in fourth place from 1min 44sec penalty to record an actual
time of 14:00. Gateshead’s Emily Collingwood posted 14:54 to be second quickest
with Robison’s Houghton team-mate Kathryn Pye next best with 14:57. There were
45 finishers. Team Result: 1 Gateshead 18pts; 2 Birtley 21pts; 3 Houghton
31pts.
UNDER-13 BOYS
IT WAS a Poly one-two with
victory going to Noah Penfold who crossed the line 19 seconds clear of
team-mate Peter Davies with Gosforth’s Will Hester completing the medallists.
Fastest on the course, running from the fast pack 1min 44secs handicap, was
Durham City’s Henry Engelhart with an actual time of 13:47 after working
through the field to finish in seventh place. Second quickest was Penfold
(13:52) with Davies third best with 14:11.
There were 52 finishers. Team result:
1 North Shields Poly 7pts; 2 Gosforth 35pts; 3 Elswick 55pts.
UNDER-13 GIRLS
POPPIE PHILLIPSON defied 1min
45secs handicap to come home in pole position (16:12, actual 14:27), to claim
victory by 30 seconds. Eleanor Maxwell (Tyne Bridge) was second across the line
with Tynedale’s Hattie Williams third a further 10 seconds back. Second
quickest on the course was Phillipson’s Birtley team-mate Izzy Hall, who
finished in fourth spot (15:25) with Morpeth’s Heidi Wilkinson next best with
15:56.
There were 54 finishers. Team result: 1 Elswick 31pts; 2 Wallsend 33pts;
3 Morpeth 45pts.
UNDER-11 BOYS AND GIRLS
THE youngest age groups faced
the worst of the weather though it didn’t deter a total of 152 hardy souls
facing the starter in the “Try Cross-Country”, many of whom taking part for the
very first time despite Lambton being one of the toughest on the harrier league
circuit. In the boys contest, where there were 74 finishers, victory went to North
Shields Poly’s Matthias Gheorghiu in 7min 33secs closely followed by Jacob
Hopper (Jarrow and Hebburn) in 7:38 with Juan Figueroa-Gazmuri (Phoenix Flyers)
in 7:56.
In the girls event it was a double celebration for the Poly with Ada
Penfold claiming victory to add to Gheorghiu’s success, winning in a time of
7:26. Second girl home was Gosforth’s Ruby Colins (8:07) with Elodie Soward,
also of NSP, third in 8:29. Overall an excellent turnout considering the
weather with 30 of the region’s clubs represented.
**THANKS to sponsors Start
Fitness for their continued support; to the landowners and it’s staff,
especially those on car parking duties; to the first aid team and to the course
builders and marshals together with the technical officials for making the
fixture another highly-successful event. The Harrier League breaks new ground
for the next fixture on Saturday, November 23 which takes place at Eltringham
Farm and hosted by Prudhoe Plodders when a huge turnout is expected.
BILL McGUIRK
Photos by Stuart Whitman Photography
