Sunday 8 March
Kingdom of the North Ultra 54km and 27km, organised by Wild Deer
This is a spectacular 54km Ultra Trail Run which starts near Bamburgh Castle and takes you past many of the other historical coastal landmarks of Northumberland (formerly known as the Kingdom of Northumbria) including Beadnell Harbour, Dunstanburgh Castle, Craster Village & Warkworth Castle. The finish is at the beautiful Druridge Bay Country Park.
New for 2026, the organisers added a 27km Ultra Run starting at Boulder and finishing at Druridge Bay.
With two distances to run, Lisa opted for the 54km. Running on behalf of Gym Possible, a local charity gym that caters for people with disabilities.
Hubby Dave Allan joined Lisa doing the 54km and completed the full ultra distance.
Lisa Allan was 390th in her first ultra race. Dave Allan 13th.
Dave Jones opted for the half distance as he prepares for Manchester half marathon and finished in 5th place.
North Tyneside Trail Race, organised by North Shields Poly
A 12 km trail race which starts at Watts Slope beach and finishes at Churchill Playing Fields. Rumour has it that Maxine Cottam and Jonathan Owston ran this. Results are not available.
Friday 13 March
Sheffield Varsity 5km
Hannah Tumia ran for University of Sheffield in the Varsity Cup 5km against Hallam University, held at the Doncaster Dome Cycle Track, marking the start of the second week of Varsity competition.
Her contribution with her two teammates ensured a victory for University of Sheffield.
Saturday 14 March
Royal Signals Relays, Hetton Lyons Country Park
Postponed from February when icy conditions made the course too hazardous to use, more favourable weather conditions prevailed on this second date in March. It was sunny and still – a rare treat on this course. The Royal Signals incorporate the Northeast Counties AA Relay championships, so it’s generally a very competitive event.
The four leg senior women, veteran women and V50 men’s race commence the proceedings. The original team line ups weren’t all available, so the team captains did a great job in recruiting substitute runners. We had one senior women’s team, one veteran women’s team and one V50 men’s team. The men finished in 5th place out of 15 teams – a stunning result considering three out of the four were V60 or V65 and our last leg runner John Rippon was carrying an injury. Well done to Rob Lambert M60, 14.50, Mark Turnbull, M55 13.21, David Walton M65, 14.38 and John Rippon, M60 15.00. Elvet Striders took the gold in the M50 men’s race.
The two women’s team had a complete overhaul. Despite that, they both achieved bronze medal positions. Imogen Bungay, 13.36, Sarah Platten, 14.05, Erin Blight, 15.29 and Justina Heslop (V45),12.59 finished in a total time of 56.09, only a minute behind the winning team from Crook. Our veteran team included two V50 and a V60 runner. The youngster of the team Gillian Johnson got them off to a fine start in 14.58, with Bella Arnott 16.55, Lynne Michelson and Andrea Banner 16.07 bringing the team home in 1.06.23. The team was awarded bronze medals on the day but the results suggest they were fourth. We have not received clarification on this, so can only assume that the published results are incorrect. Both the senior and vet women’s races were won by Crook.
The final race of the day was the 6 leg senior men’s and veteran men’s race. We had a mixed aged team which competed as a senior team. Luke Hilliard got the team off to a great start (11.18), handing over to David Jones (M40), 12.55, Paul Taylor (M40) 13.51, Aiden Jones (Under 18), 12.53, Joe Green (Snr) 13.04 and our anchor man Andrew Ball (M40) 11.31 to provide a total time of 1.15.32. They finished in a very respectable 9th place. The winning team from Middlesbrough Mandale AC finished in 1.09.20 with Tynebridge in second place and Gateshead in third.
Sunday 15 March
Barcelona Marathon
Having had a family holiday which allowed him to take in the half marathon in February, Kirk Haddon returned to Barcelona for the full marathon clocking 2.49 on his way to an impressive 7 minute PB. Clearly a very competitive marathon with a high calibre field. Kirk was 166th V40 out of 2948 and was 1003rd overall out of the field of 31,774 finishers.
Saturday 21 March – 6th and final NEHL fixture, Eltringham Farm, Stocksfield
Typically the harrier league series concludes on the first weekend of March at Alnwick, so it felt strange to be heading off for a cross country fixture so late in the month. A brand-new venue so the curious amongst us headed to Eltringham Farm to see what delights it had in store. Could it be any more uneven than the starting field at Druridge Bay or the Thornley death trap?
Well yes there were a few knobbly bits, some short stretches of thick uneven mud, a woodland, a narrow wooden bridge, a style and two steep hills. It was a proper farm essentially, and the general consensus amongst the runners was that it was the most challenging course ever.
The setting was certainly beautiful to look at, but it provided one hell of a workout for those taking part. We had a brilliant turn out for the event in spite of many being unable to attend because of other race commitments looming, particularly marathons. Both the men and women finished the season in third place in the second division, just missing out on promotion to the first division.
Well done and many thanks to our hardy team who took on Eltringham to secure a strong finish to the season.
Justina Heslop, Rachel Dodds, Gillian Johnson, Caroline Johnson, Mathilde Barker, Laura Shepherdson, Sydney Bungay, Andrea Banner, Heather Donald, Lynne Michelson, Lisa Allen, Tracey Beaumont, Imogen King, Daniel Spoor, Joe Green, Nathan Pugh, Daniel Edgar, Mark Turnbull, Lee Coulson, David Walton, David Allan and John Rippon.
Sunday 29 March
Sheffield Half Marathon
Hannah Tumia ran a brilliant half marathon, finishing in a time of 1.31, the route takes in the hilliest part of Sheffield which make her time even more impressive!
Roland Brown struggling with a hamstring injury finished in 2.04 – time to get that hamstring sorted.
Northumberland Half, organised by Run Nation
Starting and finishing at Matfen according to Chat GPT, we had three Elswick runners. Luke Hillard finished in 2nd place in a time of 1.13.57, 16 seconds behind the winner who was an unattached runner. Hopefully, Luke tried to recruit him. Fantastic to see Mr and Mrs Banks back in action. Tony finished in 1.34.51 (2nd V50) and Andrea in 1.41.05 (3rd V50).
Sunday 29 March
Town Moor Half
Fresh after the celebration night, Joe Horner ran an impressive time around the town moor, finishing 8th place with a time of 1.28.
Joe was joined by Andrea and Tony Banks – both look to be over their injury woes. Tony finished 11 on the also running 1.28, Andrea ran 1.39 finishing
7th female.
A busy month of March – well done to all our competitors. We get April off with a bang with our very own Good Friday Relays on 3 April when we we host junior races for under 12s to under 16s and senior relays for everyone else, with prizes for the fastest teams in the senior category, V40 and V60 categories.
The first club championship race for 2026 takes place on Sunday 12 April – Blyth 10km. The following weekend is the start of the track and field league (NESDL) with our first fixture on Saturday 18 April at Shildon.