Weekly Round Up 1st Jan to 7th Jan:

With the festive period over we were back in the action with a challenging Cross Country fixture at the familiar Temple Park.

Before we get onto Cross Country we have the Town Moor half marathon to shout about. 

Town Moor Half Marathon 

Luke Hillard showed he’s back in fine form with a 3^rd place finish on his return to half marathon running. 

Well done Luke on what i’d imagine to be a mentally challenging race. 

Link to full results

Ponteland Wheelbarrow Race

 A fun event that has been won by some of our members in the past – runners take on a 1 mile loop having to push their partner swapping when the feel the strain.

It was Luke Hillard and Sean Motsi who paired up and took on the challenge – it’s a great way to clear the head after a New Year Eve appletini.

Well done fellas – you earned a pint in the Blackbird afterwards!

Sherman Cup/Davison Shield 

Words stolen from Ken – thanks Ken.

“The Sherman Cup was donated to the local cross country league by Sherman’s football pools in 1949. In 2002 former Harrier League secretaries Pam and Ron Davison donated a trophy so that the ladies could compete in a similar competition to the men. 

All ages apart from u/11s count towards the overall points; these races differ from the Harrier League i.e. no packs – all scratch races and top three score per team.”

Despite a little football fixture and conditions, we still had an amazing turnout. 

Our juniors, as always, powered through the mud running amazing. 

Onto our ladies – 13 amazing ladies glided over the mud. Impressive runs from our leading women; Judith Nutt, Felicity Smith and Hazel Bough who finished 1^st vet team! 

Well done to you all, especially those making their debuts in Cross Country.  

Pos	Num.	Name	Club	Race Time	Pack	Cat
14	188	Judith Nutt	Elswick Harriers	27:43:00	F	FV45
23	180	Felicity Smith	Elswick Harriers	28:22:00	F	FV45
39	182	Hazel Bough	Elswick Harriers	29:44:00	S	FV45
55	202	Sara Blight	Elswick Harriers	30:43:00	S	FV45
57	201	Rachel Dodds	Elswick Harriers	30:45:00	M	Fsen
78	179	Debbie Spoor	Elswick Harriers	32:11:00	M	FV50
80	183	Heather Donald	Elswick Harriers	32:13:00	S	Fsen
82	181	Gillian Johnson	Elswick Harriers	32:16:00	M	FV35
93	198	Mary Hall	Elswick Harriers	33:14:00	S	FV45
103	196	Louise Allen	Elswick Harriers	33:37:00	S	FV50
112	1226	Ceara Herring	Elswick Harriers	33:58:00	S	Fsen
167	178	Caroline Lienard	Elswick Harriers	37:28:00	S	FV50
183	1033	Caroline Johnson	Elswick Harriers	38:39:00	S	FV40

The lads – 10 fellas followed our lasses with Callum leading the charge. Unfortunately, we were one short to make up a senior team but our old gadgies finished an impressive 4^th.

Num.	Name	Club	Race Time	Pack	Cat
262	Callum Eldridge	Elswick Harriers	36:23:00	M	MU20
257	Adam Bell	Elswick Harriers	37:02:00	M	MV40
1435	James Douglas	Elswick Harriers	37:34:00	S	MV50
265	Christopher Mason	Elswick Harriers	38:37:00	M	Msen
294	Simon Allen	Elswick Harriers	41:35:00	S	MV55
725	Roland Brown	Elswick Harriers	42:29:00	S	MV50
260	Ben Hall	Elswick Harriers	42:52:00	S	MV40
722	John Rippon	Elswick Harriers	43:34:00	S	MV55
282	Paul Taylor	Elswick Harriers	43:57:00	S	MV40
284	Peter Jobson	Elswick Harriers	59:05:00	S	MV60

Hats off to everyone that ran – the course was tough, tougher than the North Eastern’s in December. Well it was that or I had too much beer and turkey over the festive period – i must do more hill work…

Next up is Birtley Relays then the Northerns at the end of the month – get your names down if you want to run.

Click for full results

Other news

I would like to wish Mike Steven a speedy recovery, Mike felt unwell over the Christmas weekend and was admitted to hospital to have some stents fitted. I’m sure Mike will be back on the ultra trails very soon (certainly before me) – speedy recovery Mike!