With the NEHL fixture at Thornley cancelled, we had to make the choice of training or finding other races to occupy ourselves with, something we do quite well… It was good to see lots of parkruns completed and others taking to the track prepping for our first track and field fixture next week – see Eric if you want to know more.
Lakeland Trails Hawkshead 16km Trail Race:
Our roundup starts in Cumbria with the first race of the Lakeland Trail series.
For those that aren’t aware of Lakeland Trails events – they’re brilliant events with scenic routes and a choice of distances to choose from.
With all the rain of late, the car park was closed due to it being waterlogged so busses were put on for all competitors who parked in Ambleside. This meant there was a bit of replanning required for Jonny Lowes who took on the 16km trail race.
Hawkshead was Jonny’s first event of the weekend, a nice warm up for Sundays aquathlon. Jonny, improving week to week after lengthy lay off due to injuries. The course was hilly, wet and muddy but it didn’t slow the owld darg down as he complete the distance in 1.31, a 31 minute PB for Mr Lowes – well done Jonny!
Staveley is next up in May with Conniston in June, both events i’d fully recommend.
Tyne Tri Lakeside Aquathlon
It was an early start at Killingworth Leisure Centre for our multi sport members. Ayla Blight setting the scene with a dominating swim and run to be the first home in her age group.
That brilliant performance spurred on adults Imogen Bungay, Susanne Stephenson, Mary Hall and Jonny Lowes.
Start times depend on an individual’s predicted swim time with 3 ‘waves’ separated the competitors. Susanne exceeded her expectations with an amazing swim from wave 1. Jonny and Mary were next up in wave 2, Mary first out the pool between them (i’ll not mention Jonny miscounted and swam two more lengths than everyone else 🤐). Imogen, having a lane to herself in wave 3 had an outstanding swim, finishing 20 seconds ahead of anyone else in the wave.
Onto the run…. Susanne ran an impressive 5km time to round off a brilliant day. There was a healthy battle between Jonny and Mary, Jonny managing to claw back the time he lost in the pool to come home ahead of little legs.
Imogen was just awesome flying past runners from the earlier waves to finish 2 minutes ahead of the full field, fastest swimmer in the pool, 2nd fastest on the run to finish 1st athlete overall and 1st female – brilliant 🙌
Well done all!
Manchester Marathon
We had two marathon debutants in Mark Crowe and Paul Taylor, unfortunately Lee Coulson and Rob Emson were unable to make it due to injury.
Both Mark and Paul were running well and tracking to their target times for the first half. Mark continued on to record a cracking time of 2.58 and bag a good for age at London if he wishes to take them up on the offer. Paul eased off in the second half, struggling with a cold over the last few weeks, he done the sensible thing choosing to soak in the atmosphere and come home with an impressive time of 3.39.
*update: we had a 3rd runner who completed the 26.2 miles around Manchester. Joe Horner, one of our newer members had a superb run crossing the line in 3.37.
Well done all!
Wild Deers Bamburgh Duathlon
We had brothers David and Andrew Bell going head to head at the Bamburgh Sprint Duathlon.
It was David who won the battle finishing 2nd overall with Andy coming in just behind in 3rd.
Future Fixtures:
With marathons on my mind, I would like to wish Andrea Banner and Mike Russell all the best for Monday as they take to the streets in Boston to claim their 6th marathon major medal (Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, New York and Boston).
They’re looking to join Richard Houghton and Scott Brady on the Abbott World Marathon Major Hall of Fame. It was Richard in 2019 who became the first Elswick member to complete all 6 when he ran Tokyo, good friend Scott Brady followed him in 2022 rounding his 6 off with a run around New York.
Click for more information on the marathon majors.
Relays:
1st May – Jarrow Relays (v35+) Felicity is taking names – see facebook post.
8th May – Wallsend (limited to 10 teams per club) Andrea is taking names – see facebook post.
Club Champs:
May – Pier to Pier Sold out but transfers are allowed
18th June – **Elswick internal 5km
July – Sunderland 5km
August – *Watergate 5km
September – Internal 10km
October (weekend) – **Internal 10 mile
November – Heaton Memorial 10km
Useful website for races: http://www.northeastraces.com
*Update 5/3/24: Watergate 5km has been included following the withdrawal of the March fixture due to rearranged XC fixture.
**Updated 19/3/24: internal 10 mile and 5km switched so we can utilise the light nights and run the 5km on the closed section of OneNE. The 10 miler will now take place in October on a weekend.
Track and Field:
Athletics Senior league fixtures – see Eric for more information…
Match 1: 20th April Shildon (Saturday)
Match 2: 18th May Whitley Bay (Saturday)
Match 3: 29th June Morpeth (Saturday)
Match 4: 14th July Shildon (Sunday)