NEHL – final fixture – Alnwick – Saturday 4 March 2023
Not sure how that happened – the NEHL season has come to an end. With the threat of the beast from the east arriving on our shores, it was a relief to find that the temperatures weren’t too bad and there was little wind. The course only had small patches of soft mud and the tricky track through the woods was far easier to travel along now that the top stones have been worn into the ground.
The junior races seem to be over in a flash with plenty of runners in every race category to look out for. Then the senior races. We had it all to play for. For the men it was the last chance to pull themselves off the bottom of the first division and for the women, the opportunity to cement their place in the middle of the first division. We had a great turnout – 15 men and 17 women.
The women were joined by Justina Heslop for her first harrier league race in many years. Not surprisingly, she found herself out in the leading trio who were all outstanding runners yet starting from the slow pack. Justina finished in second place. Our second scorer was Bella Pearce finishing in 41st out of 431 gaining promotion to the fast pack for the first time. Continuing her rapid improvement, Rachel Dodd was our third scorer running from the medium pack, with Louise Allen, showing the same good form as at Thornley Hall Farm, claiming the fourth scoring place. This team of women claimed fourth place with our B team of Sara Blight, Felicity Smith (fast pack), Mary Hall and Andrea Banner (fast pack) finishing in 17th place. Blessed with 17 runners we had C and D teams. Joanne Brown (fast pack), Joanne Webber, Jayne Cuskern and brand new joiner Gillian Johnson were our C team; Kim Matthews, Caroline Lienard, Jess Donnelly and Sarah Muparutsa were our D team; and just behind was Kate Taylor. The women finished the season in sixth position in the league. With such great participation this season and plenty of other women yet to get involved, we will have a very competitive squad in September.
There was a field of 499 runners in the men’s race. Running from the medium pack, Mark Turnbull was first home (103rd) followed by Rich Houghton, Andrew Ball (fast pack), Scott Brady (medium pack), Daniel Spoor (fast pack) and Simon Allen. Fantastic performances by all six of our scorers, but the competition was tough and our men’s team were placed ninth with our B team finishing in 18th place (Chris Pearce, Jon Rewcastle (medium pack), Mike Russell (medium pack), Ben Hall, Paul Taylor and Peter Sloan). We had an incomplete C team of three – James Sunley, Peter Jobson and Sean Motsi. We had a comprehensive team with a mixture of relative newcomers to XC and some stalwarts. The men’s team will return to the second division next season where they will excel. With growing numbers of male participants from the club, we will be in strong contention to return to the first division next season.
As has become customary at Alnwick, a little celebratory tipple was had with savoury and sweet nibbles courtesy of our bakers Felicity and Mary. Thanks to them and to all who helped with the tent and of course to our 32 runners.
Here are all the Elswick results
| 103 | 1492 | Mark Turnbull | (1) Elswick Harriers | 45:26:00 | M | MV55 | 42:56:00 |
| 106 | 380 | Richard Houghton | (1) Elswick Harriers | 45:30:00 | S | MV40 | 45:30:00 |
| 128 | 355 | Andrew Ball | (1) Elswick Harriers | 45:53:00 | F | MV45 | 40:53:00 |
| 153 | 385 | Scott Brady | (1) Elswick Harriers | 46:21:00 | M | MV35 | 43:51:00 |
| 165 | 360 | Daniel Spoor | (1) Elswick Harriers | 46:33:00 | F | Msen | 41:33:00 |
| 190 | 386 | Simon Allen | (1) Elswick Harriers | 46:55:00 | S | MV55 | 46:55:00 |
| 199 | 358 | Chris Pearce | (1) Elswick Harriers | 47:09:00 | S | MV50 | 47:09:00 |
| 203 | 368 | Jonathan Rewcastle | (1) Elswick Harriers | 47:13:00 | M | Msen | 44:43:00 |
| 206 | 374 | Mike Russell | (1) Elswick Harriers | 47:17:00 | M | MV50 | 44:47:00 |
| 207 | 356 | Ben Hall | (1) Elswick Harriers | 47:19:00 | S | MV40 | 47:19:00 |
| 307 | 376 | Paul Taylor | (1) Elswick Harriers | 49:53:00 | S | MV40 | 49:53:00 |
| 348 | 379 | Peter Sloan | (1) Elswick Harriers | 51:13:00 | S | MV65 | 51:13:00 |
| 387 | 365 | James Sunley | (1) Elswick Harriers | 53:40:00 | S | Msen | 53:40:00 |
| 484 | 378 | Peter Jobson | (1) Elswick Harriers | 63:31:00 | S | MV60 | 63:31:00 |
| 486 | 1331 | Sean Motsi | (1) Elswick Harriers | 63:54:00 | S | Msen | 63:54:00 |
| A | 48-Turnbull 51-Houghton 60-Ball 67-Brady 72-Spoor 80-Allen | ||||||
| B | 84-Pearce 86-Rewcastle 88-Russell 89-Hall 124-Taylor 136-Sloan | ||||||
| C | 151-Sunley 177-Jobson 178-Motsi |
| 2 | 230 | Justina Heslop | (1) Elswick Harriers | 28:58:00 | S | FV40 | 28:58:00 |
| 41 | 220 | Arabella Pearce | (1) Elswick Harriers | 35:36:00 | M | FV50 | 33:16:00 |
| 50 | 238 | Rachel Dodds | (1) Elswick Harriers | 35:48:00 | M | Fsen | 33:28:00 |
| 55 | 981 | Louise Allen | (1) Elswick Harriers | 35:52:00 | S | FV50 | 35:52:00 |
| 62 | 240 | Sara Blight | (1) Elswick Harriers | 35:59:00 | S | FV45 | 35:59:00 |
| 80 | 225 | Felicity Smith | (1) Elswick Harriers | 36:24:00 | F | FV45 | 31:24:00 |
| 169 | 236 | Mary Hall | (1) Elswick Harriers | 37:50:00 | S | FV45 | 37:50:00 |
| 171 | 219 | Andrea Banner | (1) Elswick Harriers | 37:52:00 | F | FV50 | 32:52:00 |
| 199 | 227 | Joanne Brown | (1) Elswick Harriers | 38:24:00 | F | FV50 | 33:24:00 |
| 220 | 228 | Joanne Webber | (1) Elswick Harriers | 38:53:00 | S | FV50 | 38:53:00 |
| 241 | 226 | Jayne Cuskern | (1) Elswick Harriers | 39:28:00 | S | Fsen | 39:28:00 |
| 246 | 1248 | Gillian Johnson | (1) Elswick Harriers | 39:38:00 | S | FV35 | 39:38:00 |
| 299 | 233 | Kim Matthews | (1) Elswick Harriers | 41:41:00 | S | FV60 | 41:41:00 |
| 304 | 221 | Caroline Lienard | (1) Elswick Harriers | 41:53:00 | S | FV50 | 41:53:00 |
| 314 | 232 | Katie Donnelly | (1) Elswick Harriers | 42:18:00 | S | FV40 | 42:18:00 |
| 363 | 241 | Sarah Muparutsa | (1) Elswick Harriers | 45:44:00 | S | FV45 | 45:44:00 |
| 377 | 231 | Kate Taylor | (1) Elswick Harriers | 48:00:00 | S | FV40 | 48:00:00 |
| A | 2-Heslop 23-Pearce 26-Dodds 29-Allen | ||||||
| B | 35-Blight 45-Smith 94-Hall 96-Banner | ||||||
| C | 110-Brown 118-Webber 125-Cuskern 127-Johnson | ||||||
| D | 149-Matthews 150-Lienard 155-Donnelly 165-Muparutsa | ||||||
| E | 167-Taylor |
Full results can be found on the NEHL website:
Harrierleague.com
Trionium Leith Hill Half Marathon, Surrey – Sunday 5 March 2023
Our multi-talented coach Luke Hilliard was on his travels again over the weekend. Mixing running with socialising, Luke fitted in a Park Run, finishing second and a half marathon the following day. The 15th Leith Hill Half Marathon is an off-road race which starts in Dorking and goes to the highest point in southeastern England – Leith Hill, and back down again. It’s a climb of almost 1,000 ft, with some competitors electing the most direct route to the top, which entailed some climbing on hands and knees.
Despite the climb, and the lead swapping several times between the first three runners, Luke came out in first position in 1.21.49, ten seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
Surprisingly, Luke and his wife Hannah didn’t compete in the Wife Carrying Race which took place on the same day – maybe he can complete the hattrick next year.
Trionium.com