Harry Matthews – Chairman
A member of Elswick since 1959 when he was just 12 years old, Harry is certainly one of our longest serving members. Over the years he has taken on various roles including boys, youths and veterans captain, chairman, vice chairman and president.
Harry continues to train regularly and to and compete to an excellent standard – quite an achievement. He is passionate about Elswick Harriers, which is all too evident from his 59 years of involvement with the club during which time Harry has seen many changes.
Harry has commented, “In my role as chairman I would like to think I could support the committee members in taking the club to the next level. We have an enormous amount of skill and talent on our committee.”
Graham Bell – Events Coordinator
Graham has been a member of the club since 2006 and joined the committee in 2012. Very soon Graham took on the role of the minutes taker before moving to his current role.
In 2013, by popular demand, he was elected to Men’s Team Captain. Around the same time, Graham stepped into the breach when our senior coach Colin Bolton was hospitalised and became a temporary coach. Temporary turned into 3 years! Graham’s role continued to expand.
Event co-ordinator for the Good Friday Relays, the Newburn River Run, and the Norman Woodcock Memorial Race.
Graham started on a long road to full distance ‘Ironman’ competition in 2014 and continues in his quest to qualify for Kona, Hawaii. Graham is certainly a blue-sky thinker…
Andrea Banner – Welfare Officer
Andrea joined the club in 1999 having run in road races including marathons for five years as an “unattached”. She made huge improvements within months of training with the senior section of the club, taking off over 30 minutes in her marathon time.
She was lucky enough to enjoy lots of team success with other females in the club like Jude Nutt, Susanne Stephenson, Yvonne Swinhoe and Kim Matthews.
Andrea took around 5 years away from the club after the birth of her second child but returned in 2013 and took to training once again.
She competes whenever she can when family commitments permit and continues to enjoy everything from cross country to marathon.
Joining the committee in 2017 Andrea says, “The number of women joining Elswick increases year on year, and we have lots more females entering races. I’m delighted to be giving something back to the club, by doing whatever I can to help the other committee members to ensure the club continues to thrive.”
Louise Allen – Membership Secretary
The Membership Secretary keeps our membership with England Athletics up to date with new members and resignations.
Louise ran as a child in her home country of New Zealand but didn’t keep it up for long after coming to the UK. However, having completed the Couch to 5K programme on 2020, and then joining the club, she now is a regular running competitor in various distances from track races to marathons.
Lee Coulson – Committee Member
A member of Elswick Harriers since 2007, Lee joined the club as a means to improve on his inconsistent training.
“Back then I only ran in The Blaydon Race and Great North Run, but after joining soon realised how lucky we are in the North East to have the sheer variety and number of running events on offer.”
Lee doesn’t have a particular favourite race or distance but cross country, with its camaraderie and team spirit, is always a highlight for him – even if he does have a love/hate relationship with it!
“As a way of giving something back to the club, and after completing the Run Leader course in 2019, I joined the Juniors Coaching Team.”
This coincided with Lee’s son starting his own running journey with the Club and Lee looks forward to seeing how he progresses with Elswick Harriers.
Ben Hall – Men’s Captain
A member since 2014, I’ve always loved my sports. I guess I take after my dad who was a keen runner.
He wouldn’t say he’s competitive but Ben loves to race and is always aiming to better his dad’s old times. Turns out he is a bit competitive after all!
He likes all disciplines, from track to fell running – Ben doesn’t feel he excels at any and is always looking to improve.
“My favourite race is the Northumberland Coastal (Phoenix 14), the most picturesque run you’ll ever do. On the roads I like a good old fashioned 10 miler – none better than Brampton to Carlisle.” Ben goes on, “Nothing beats a good old Cross Country though, a full day out supporting our juniors, ladies then us gadgies. People say I only go for the chocolate treats but it’s that whole Elswick spirit that gets me there and round each course – I just love it… It might not look like it but I do”
David Jones – Secretary
Having started running in 2015, David likes to set himself personal time challenges for each of the distances – 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon.
Trying relentlessly for 5 years to break a sub-22 5k without success and after a period of solo running during the first lockdown, he joined Elswick Harriers just after the second lockdown and has never looked back since.
He says, “A fantastic and supportive group of runners of all abilities where nobody is left behind and with this support and hard work I have managed to set new PBs across all distances over the last 12 months – looking forward to see what the next year brings and in addition taking on this role will allow me to contribute to the future development of Elswick Harriers.”
Maxine Cottam – Committee Member
Committee members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to bring many benefits to the club and its members.
A member who came through Elswick Harriers’ None to Run programme, Max has a unique insight into progressing from total beginner to seasoned competitor.
Gillian Johnson – Committee Member
When Gillian first joined she had no interest in entering races. But it’s amazing how being part of a team and joining in with your running friends can change things. Gillian is now a keen racer in the Elswick vest.
Since joining the committee Gillian has been working on improving the experience of new club members. This includes setting up a “buddy” system to help new joiners become familiar with finding out what’s going on, where sessions are being held, and general help with how things happen within the club.
Scott Brady – Treasurer
Ahead of his wedding in 2012, deciding to shift a few pounds ahead of the big day he took to running by himself and really enjoyed the personal challenge and headspace that came with running.
Moving to the North East in 2014 Scott became intrigued how his friend Jonny Lowes seemed to keep getting faster whilst he always ran similar times. Apparently, the secret was Elswick Harriers.
In the space of a year of training with the club Scott saw great improvements in his running and became aware of something called the World Marathon Majors via Richard Houghton: along the journey his marathon PB has improved to 2:54 which he couldn’t even comprehend when he joined the club.
Scott joined the committee in 2019 to support the Men’s Team Captain. Scott says, “I’ve learned so much since joining the club I was happy to try and help give something back and encourage others to take part in races. What I love about the club is the fantastic sense of togetherness there is and the support you get along the way. There is always someone faster than you to chase after at training, or some new training tips you can pick up from more experienced runners to help you improve and I’ve made some great friends since joining the club.”