Race Round Up 9th May to 15th May 2022
Wednesday 11th May 2022
Gordon Smith Memorial Relays @ Cobalt Business Park hosted by Wallsend Harriers
Oh, what a night, mid-May back in 2022
Gordon Smith was a former chairman of Wallsend Harriers and made a distinctive mark on the club. He and his good friend Terry O’Gara (also a former chairman) both had an acute sense of the social and communal benefits of sport and possessed the famous Geordie values of ‘work hard, play hard’.
A quick turnaround for our runners as many also raced various distances over the weekend at the Sunderland City Runs event.
A blustery sunny evening awaited our squad of 24 runners that were split into 8 teams, 3 female and 5 males. Think the ladies had the worst of the gusts when their race began at 7pm as by the time men went off at 7.50pm it was noticeably less windy. In both races the start was ferocious with Robyn and Imogen taking it out hard and leading the way for the ladies and Lewis hitting the front straight away for the men’s race.
Ladies note written by Andrea
On the previous two occasions when I’ve been captain for these relays, I had an air of uncertainty and anxiousness. Not all the prospective runners were particularly well known to me and I was unsure whether they would all turn up on the night. Not this year though – it could not have been simpler. Volunteers came forward, teams were declared, everyone turned up – no questions. We even had people volunteer to be reserves. The team spirit could not be stronger – thank you everyone.
So the first race of the night was the women’s race at 19.00. We had three very strong teams made up of a lovely mix of relative newcomers and seasoned veterans. Our third team was led out by Joanne Brown in her favourite first leg position and providing a strong start in 13.07, 14th place. Brimming with confidence after achieving a half marathon PB at the weekend, Joanne Webber (15.16) took on the second leg and handed to Kim Matthews (16.03), just back from her holiday, to finish in a cumulative time of 44.26 in 28th position out of 61 teams. Impressive result for a team made up of all vets. Our second team got off to a brilliant start with Robyn Naylor finishing in 12.36 (5th position). She had the support of two super reliable and increasingly speedy teammates – Bella Arnott (13.05) and Felicity Smith (12.51) to finish in a cumulative time of 38.32 and in 6th position overall.
If you were a betting man, your money would have been on our women’s first team. Opposing team managers were telling me they’d won before the race had even started. It was an exciting race nonetheless with Imogen Bungay (11.28) showing true grit and wisdom to stick closely with Morpeth’s NEHL champion Catriona MacDonald – only five seconds separated them at the end of the first leg. Katarina Bonner in the second leg easily overtook the Morpeth runner who started ahead of her and handed over to Justina Heslop who had to run her leg out in front. Even without anyone to chase, Justina managed to achieve the fastest leg by a veteran woman (11.23) matching the fastest senior woman’s time (Catriona MacDonald). The cumulative team time of 35.40 was 1.50 quicker than second place team Tyne Bridge. A pity I didn’t place a bet, but winnings all round for Imogen, Katarina and Justina and another piece of silverware to display. Just need the cabinet – thoughts Committee?
Mens’s note written by Richard Houghton
The men’s race was a little more nail biting with Lewis finishing 2nd and handing over to Andrew Ball who managed to retain that position after running a powerful leg before handing over to Andrew Bell. With about 700m to go Andrew was overtaken by Gateshead’s Lucas Sutherland who quickly created a big gap to go down to 4th place. From there it looked like that was it but then as Ben, Lewis and I ran back towards the finish line we heard talks of an amazing sprint finish. The word on the street was how on earth did Andrew make up that ground in such a short distance left to cross the line, just unbelievable finishing 1s ahead.
Throughout all the men’s teams each runner from senior to vet ran their absolute socks off for their team and club. The B team containing Daniel who is now looking very strong, Scott a work horse and Steve whose form is now the best he’s been in for years were all solid. The team C team of Mark, Mike and Chris, these guys are all vets, but you wouldn’t think it by their performances. D team of Rich who is slowly coming back to fitness, Shaun who has a dodgy knee but always grafts and Martin who is as strong as an ox, this was a good team performance. E team with Ben who I think is in for a good year and the ever-smiling Alan Thompson put in another good shift as he continues to rebuild. Finally, Micky Shore who loves a relay and is always prepared to muck in bought our final team in 46th position. 3rd to 46th is a very good night from 72 teams.
But the best thing about all this is our team camaraderie and the way our members offer various ways of support to one another; this then creates a quality team and togetherness. Absolute brilliant night of running, well done to you all that represented Elswick Harriers, running, taking photos, spectating, and officiating, you were all amazing.
Ladies team of 3 which must include at least one v35 or older that all run a 2-mile leg
Field size 61
Justina ran the fastest vet leg in 11.23 the same time as the fastest senior Catriona McDonald of Morpeth Harriers
1st team total time 35.40 consisting of Imogen Bungay 11.28, Katarina Bonner 12.49, Justina Heslop 11.23
6th team total time 38.32 consisting of Robyn Naylor 12.36, Arabella Arnott 13.05, Felicity Smith 12.51
28th team total time 44.26 consisting of Joanne Brown 13.07, Joanne Webber 15.16, Kim Matthews 16.03
file:///C:/Users/richa/Downloads/2022-Gordon-Smith-Relays-Ladies-Results%20(1).pdf
Mens team of 3 which must include at least one v40 or older that all run a 2-mile leg
Field size 72
Lewis Liddle ran the 4th Fastest leg in 9.55
3rd team total time 30.45 consisting of Lewis Liddle 9.55, Andrew Ball 10.41, Andrew Bell 10.09
11th team total time 32.43 consisting of Daniel Spoor 10.45, Scott Brady 10.49, Steve Robertson 11.09
24th team total time 34.54 consisting of Mark Turnbull 11.15, Mike Russell 11.48, Chris Pearce 11.51
37th team total time 37.20 consisting of Richard Houghton 11.56, Shaun Connelly 13.11, Martin Connelly 12.13
46th team total time 39.12 consisting of Ben Hall 12.15, Alan Thompson 13.38, Micky Shore 13.19
file:///C:/Users/richa/Downloads/2022-Gordon-Smith-Relays-Mens-Results.pdf
Saturday 14th May 2022
NECAA Track and Field Champs @ Middlesbrough Sports Village
A hot afternoon down in Middlesbrough Katarina Bonner take on the 5k in NECAA Track and Field Champs. Well done on finishing 3rd in which must have been challenging running 12.5 laps with the sun bouncing of the tartan track.
5k field size 8
3rd Katarina Bonner 19.38
http://harrierleague.com/tandf/necaatandfchamps2022/results63.htm
Saturday 14th May 2022
Night of the 10,000 Pbs @ Parliament Hill Athletics Track, Hampstead Heath, London
Established in 2013 with the goal of improving British racing standards. Over the years the atmosphere developed as spectators took ownership of #Lane3BeerNCheer ethos, circus entertainment, lactic tunnels of love, home straight pedestrian bridge, infield spectating, live music, back straight DJ and their annual Legends Seminar. Whilst Danielle Hodgkinson of Wallsend Harriers competed in the Ladies championship race alongside some very fast stars which was won By Jess Judd. Our own Amy Fuller who was invited down ran in race 3 again lining up against fast talented females on a very warm evening in North London. What a great experience and learning opportunity this has been for her to race on a track against some very strong women at a national event with live streams being available throughout the day. The club are very proud of Amy who trained hard behind the scenes for this opportunity on the national stage however unfortunately Amy thought she had finished as was told so by the judges however as it conspires, she was 1 lap short and as you can imagine she is absolutely gutted but has had lots of support following the event. Danielle in race 7 was also listed as a DNF however hopefully they will be back next year to race 25 laps on the Highgate track as they are true ambassadors for Northeast running. I’m sure Amy and Danielle will inspire our faster runners to participate in the future and if you have the opportunity and can run qualifying times then the club would love to see you there.
Sunday 15th May 2022
Pier to Pier 7m hosted by Sunderland Strollers
This very popular run starts on the beach at South Shields Pier and follows a superb scenic route along the cliff paths past Marsden Rock and Souter Lighthouse. It re-joins the beach at Whitburn and finishes at Roker Pier in Sunderland. On a 12-degree cloudy morning with a 6mph ese wind our runners took on this run which was around 6.85 miles. This race has one of the best goodie bags going!
55th Chris Pearce 46.40
76th Paul Taylor 47.56
84th Lee Coulson 48.39
87th Ben Hall 48.53
252nd Andy Middleton 56.24
255th Robyn Naylor 56.27
299th Cath Lee 57.16
310th Debbie Spoor 57.37
311th Mary Hall 57.37
312th Arabella Pearce 57.37
313th Andrea Banner 57.37
314th Felicity Smith 57.37
788th Robb Young 57.38
547th David Hodgson 1.04.34
890th Jackie Avery 1.14.53
https://my.raceresult.com/141844/results?lang=en
Sunday 15th March 2022
Children’s Cancer Run Newcastle
Well done the adults that attempted to keep up with their children at the Cancer run on Sunday at Newcastle Racecourse. Adults and children chose from distances 1,3 and 5 miles which raises money for the North of England Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Events are not timed and are ran over missed terrain which much being off road. Each participant receives a medal, A Greggs snack pack and a limited-edition t-shirt for all runners aged 16 years and under. Throughout the day Metro Radio are on location alongside food and drink stalls, live music, inflatables, fairground rides and stalls and much more.