It felt like we were back to the good old pre-Covid days this weekend with two days packed with sport fixtures and training.
Club Championship 10,000m
Saturday got off to a brilliant start with our third Club Championship race for 2021 – our second 10k race of the year. With a dearth of race options, the captains opted for an internal Elswick only event. Blaydon track was booked as our venue for our first ever 10,000m track race. We weren’t quite sure how it would pan out with the prospect of football matches taking place on the 3G pitch situated within the centre of the track and our time frame of 90 minutes to see two race groups complete their runs. However, we had the timekeeping support of Tom Hanson and Jim Scott (regular official at many local races), and marshalls Simon McEnaney and Ian to make the event run smoothly.
The participants were divided into two waves. First off were the runners who were anticipated to comfortably achieve times well within 40 minutes – and they didn’t disappoint. Lewis Liddle was aiming for a time as close to 34 minutes as possible and set the pace for the first wave of runners. He achieved his goal in a time of 34.49. New dad Luke Hilliard, showing no signs of baby induced sleep deprivation stormed home in 35.22. In third position was Scott in 35.40, adding to his long string of consistently impressive performances. Taking time out of his preparation for the Tri X long distance triathlon next month, Mark Turnbull took first place in the M50 group in 36.56. Amy was lone female in the first wave of runners and sliced off 20 seconds from her PB at Dalton 10k with the pacing assistance of captain Rich Houghton. All of the finishers in the first wave were well within 40 minutes as we expected. Here’s the full list:
Lewis 34.49
Luke 35.22
Scott 35.40
Mark 36.56
Amy 37.09
Rich 37.12
Adam 37.29
Mike 38.34
Robb 38.42
Martin 38.51
Paul Jones 38.57
Wave 2 runners were warmed up and ready to go before the end of the first race, so their race started promptly at c. 9.40. The first three home achieved sub 40 times and were delighted. PBs for Simon in 38.48 Paul Taylor in 39.02 and Dave Jones in 39.07, who took off six minutes from his previous best time. Elswick training is obviously having a very positive effect. First lady and first F50 was Joanne Brown in 40.10. Despite clinging on to her heels for 24 laps, I wasn’t able to get past Joanne given her stronger kick for the finish. Susanne remained focused as she found herself stranded between groups of runners and was rightly pleased to achieve 42.46. There was an unfortunate moment of confusion as Felicity and Lindsey completed their 39th lap. Football players crossing the track meant that Felicity and Lindsey’s lap count was overlooked. However, the error was quickly realised and they were able to complete their final lap and have their times recorded. A lesson learned for next time – race numbers will be supplied. Here’s the full list of wave 2 finishers:
Simon 38.48
Paul Taylor 39.02
Dave Jones 39.07
Joanne 40.10
Andrea 40.11
Susanne 42.46
Felicity 43.29
Lindsey 43.48
Bella 45.02
Peter 46.04
Robyn 47.05
Melisa 49.03
Mary 51.30
Running 25 laps round a track is no easy endeavour – hats off to everyone who took on the challenge. Commiserations to Ryan Davison and Ben Hall who didn’t quite finish the full quota of laps. And to Steven Naylor who had to pull out due to injury. Prize for snazziest shorts goes to Bella for her lovely floral hot pants; prize for rock solid consistency goes to Melissa Bateson; most figure hugging Elswick vest wearer goes to Robb Young; and for uber determination -six months pregnant Robyn Naylor.
Delighted to see the return of Mary Hall, Ben Hall, Adam Bell, Ryan Davison, Paul Jones and
Martin Connelly in their first championship appearances of 2021.
Many thanks to Tom, Ian, Simon and Jim Scott for officiating and marshalling. The variance in GPS watch recordings demonstrated how unreliable individual timings can be on a circular track, and hence the importance of an independent time-keeper. Thanks also for the spectator support from Dave Armstrong, Jayne Cuskern, Chris Pearce, Cath and Jonny Lowes.
There’s still time to complete your 10,000 metres around a track – deadline is 23 May. The updated table of results and championship standings will be published that day.
Gordon Smith Virtual Relays
Wallsend brought their popular relay event back to life by way of a virtual race. Each runner had to run 2 miles on a course with no more than a 20 ft elevation between 9 May – 15 May. The senior coaches devised the training session on Tuesday 11 May to incorporate a 2-mile effort sandwiched between two 600 metre efforts. The plan seemed to work a treat as some superb times were recorded and consequently we were able to submit results for 5 male and 3 female teams. Thanks to everyone who took part – special mention to Debbie Spoor and Micky Shore who responded to a late plea for two additional runners to make two incomplete teams. Great team effort.
The headline results from Wallsend revealed that our first male team of Andrew Ball (10.43), James (Jiggsy) McLeod (10.45) and Adam Bell (11.02) took silver position, with Andrew and Jiggsy finishing in 5th and 6th positions in the male rankings. Very well done indeed.
In the absence of any race fees, Wallsend Harriers were seeking donations to its chosen charity, St. Oswald’s hospice. The committee were delighted to make a contribution from Elswick Harriers to support this worthy local charity, in addition to the donations made by individual Elswick participants. Many thanks for your generosity in supporting Wallsend Harriers in their efforts to organise a virtual race and in their fundraising.
Track and Field – North East Youth Development League – Sunday 16 May – Churchill Playing Fields
From 11.00am to 4.30 pm on Sunday, there was back to back track and field competition for our juniors attending the first NEDYL event in two years. The league was sorely missed last year so it was brilliant to have so many of our juniors entering this event and competing in all manner of disciplines including 100m, 200m, 300m, 800m, 1500m, long jump, shot putt, javelin and the 4 x 100m relay.
The NEYDL allows juniors to try as many events as they would like in a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The officials guide the athletes through the events and offer advice and tips on technique and rules. Due to Covid, the spectators were not permitted track side, but instead could gain a good view of the competition from the peripheral fence. All the teams were allocated a marked out pitch on the adjacent field where they could set up camp with club pennants flying and the usual array of gazebos and deckchairs.
It’s a mammoth task to organise the team, not least because of the strict rules on numbers relating to Covid and also because Elswick competes as a part of a joint team with South Shields. Huge thanks and round of applause to Kerrie Old for taking on the role of team manager, collating and submitting our junior entries as well as working hard all day to distribute numbers, ensure athletes arrived in the holding pen at the right time and generally ensuring we had athletes competing in as many events as possible. The athletes score points by way of their performance in each event and the scores are added to create a team total. Elswick were mid table (out of six teams) during the middle of the day. We await the final scores which we’ll publish in due course.
Congratulations and well done to all our juniors for taking part and thanks to the parents providing positive support and of course to team manager Kerrie Old. No junior event would be the same without the Heslops. Jan and Ken were present throughout the day giving advice coaching the relay teams and in Jen’s case, generally keeping everyone amused. Good day out had by all.