Richmond and Zetland Harriers

On Saturday 13th, six of their younger athletes were at Mote Park, Maidstone, Kent for the English Schools X-C Championships, on the same day there were two Vets competing at Dent, North Yorkshire and on Sunday 14th there were a gang-of-five in Redcar for the Half Marathon.

Working upwards from the younger age groups: Douglas Roberts was one of 320 competing in the Junior Boy's race over 4.2K, he was 6th counter in 239th place and team finished 21st; there were 330 runners in the Junior Girl's race over 3.2K and the North Yorkshire team finished 10th; there were 325 runners in the Intermediate Boy's race and Philip Fitzpatrick finished the 5.2K course as 5th counter in 161st place and the NY team finished 27th Jessie Roberts and Leah Jackson both ran for North Yorkshire in the Intermediate Girls, placing 3rd counter in 124th place and 7th counter in 299th place respectively and the team was also 27th; Nick Zissler competed in the Senior Boy's race over 6.7K and was 4th counter in 110th place for the Co Durham team that finished 17th.

The Dentdale Run from Dent Village also enjoyed good weather, better than last year when the heavy rain conspired to turn part of the route into a watercourse. 276 finishers from all over the country speaks volumes for race popularity and loyalty. Steve Littler of Wesham Road Runners won for the second year running in 1:18:52 and Bridget Coomber of Denby Dale Travellers was first woman in a time of 1:33:48. Colin Sewell was first Harrier home in 86th place clocking 1:48:52, exactly 30 minutes behind the winner and almost seven minutes slower than last year - a time that cemented his decision not to accept the golden noose (a charity place) to compete in the London Marathon. Neil Piper's time was also well down on his best but his 227th place in 2:11:07 was still 49 places and more than 35 minutes ahead of the last man.

Sunday's Redcar Half Marathon included the N E Counties Championships and entries were taken on the day, which all helped boost the number on start line close to the thousand mark. The day was fine and dry but the wind off the North Sea was enormous. In the absence of Stephen Hepples, ex-Loftus runner, Terry Wall of Morpeth Harriers was a clear favourite and ran away from the field to "take the money" with a creditable time of 1:09:12. Ken Harker the first of five runners from RZH, is more at home on the track over 800m and 1500m; he made an unusual decision to run but found it heavy-going and opted to settle-in for "a long run with company", finishing 41st in 1:22:48. The remaining four runners were all using the race to test their London Marathon preparations and were all happy with their efforts. Mike Brooks toughed-it-out to finish 64th overall (5th MVO50 & 2nd MVO55) in 1:25:18; Tony Hewson looked at the clock and sprinted to the line to finish in 1:30 exactly and his 117th position gave the Club 222 points to place 16th team. Sarah Gregory was looking to improve on her 1:37:37 PB but the wind blew her chances away so she ignored the pace notes on her wrist and ran a comfortable 1:43:03 for 337th overall and 13th Senior Woman. The last Harrier (but never least) was Grete Buck who finished 3rd LVO60 in 670th place in 2:03:09, 152 places and more than 46 minutes in front of the last finisher and more importantly, six and a half minutes better than the Brass Monkey result.

On Saturday, there is a choice between the splendour of the Lake District in the 23rd edition of the Coniston 14 and the more rugged delights of the North Yorkshire Moors in the Cleveland Search & Rescue Survival 2004 Multi Terrain Race over 26 miles and a lot of hills. On Sunday, there is the Ackworth Half Marathon, including the AAA, Inter-Counties and Yorkshire Championships and, more importantly for the Club, the NYSD Road Relays at Locke Park, Redcar from 12.

British Masters Cross Country Championships

Selected results and leading North-East finishers - Men 40-49 (10K): 1 B Rushworth (Sunderland NE40) 36 mins 11 secs; 2 G Amos (Norwich M40) 36.16; 3 R Hand (Durham City NE40) 36.36; 12 T Doughty (Sund NE40) 37.45; 16 B Foster (Blackheath NE45); 20 P Merrison (Wallsend NE45) 38.26; 49 A Dent (Blaydon NE45) 40.41. BM Teams: 1 Cambusland 2:33:04; 2 (1NE) Sunderland 2:33:31; 7 (2NE) Durham City 2:40:43; 11(3NE) Wallsend 2:55:03.

Men 50-69 (10K): 1 N Gates (Brighton & Hove M50) 37.03; 2 R Halley (Telford M50) 40.04; 3 B Lloyd (Telford M55) 40.11; 7 J Bell (Elswick NE55) 40.29; 11 G Williams (Riverside Runners NE50) 40.38; 30 M McNally (Elswick NE55) 42.46; 35 S White (Elswick NE55) 42.57; 48 K Sanderson (Teesdale NE50) 43.54; 56 J Dennis (Crook NE50) 44.35; 55 S James (Southport M65) 44.31; 81 W Ryder (Morpeth NE65) 46.29. BM teams - M50 1 Telford 2:02:20; 2 Oxford 2:05:50; 3 (1NE) Elswick 2:06:12; 10 (2NE) Teesdale 2:17:00; 11 (3NE) Sunderland 2:17:28. M60: 1 Bingley 2:17:36; 4 (1NE) South Shields 2:40:40.

Men over-70 (5K): 1 G Spink (Bingley) 25.00; 4 E Appleby (Heaton) 26.20; 5 F Laverick (Aurora) 26.41; 6 W McNeill (Durham City) 27.33. Over-75: 1 D Adie (Dulwich); 3 J Caddy (Middlesbolrugh & Cleveland) 33.04. Over-80: 1 J Johnston (NE Vets) 40.35; 2 E Joynson (Gateshead) 49.44.

Women 35+ (5K): 1 S Ridley (Edinburgh Southern W35) 20.24; 2 C Pauzare (Herne Hill W40); 3 A Wingler (Highgate W35) 20.28; 18 H Sly (Horsforth NE35); 20 H Robinson (Chester-le-Street NE40); 28 D Hales (Dur C NE35) 23.15; 35 Y Thiru (Gosforth NE35) 23.37; 41 L Marr (Tynedale NE40) 23.53; 44 H Lambert (NSP NE45) 24.05; 49 G Butler (Gos NE45); 70 L Woods (New Marske NE55) 26.27. Over-60: 1 C Lee (Gos) 26.42; 2 J Bell (Blackhill) 27.38; 3 K Stewart (NSP) 28.10.

Crook and District AC

Kevin Archers swansong for his club was an impressive fourth place in the British Vets O'50 category 1500 metres Indoor Championships. Up against two world champions Kevin ran brilliantly to enhance his reputation as one of Britain's fastest veteran mid-distance runners. After many years in the North-East Kevin is regrettably moving to the south of England and everyone wishes him continued success, not only his Crook colleagues but all his friends in North -East athletics. Away from the track the club finished 8th team in Division One at the last cross-country race of the Winter series & despite this relegation could not be avoided. Keith Langridge was the star-turn finishing 5th overall in 33min 41sec for just under 6 miles: Others: Ian Sumler-Hutchinson 34.57, Paul Charlton 35.36, Geoff Hewitson 36.16, Peter Shuttleworth 33.50, John Dennis 34.22, Dennis Brown 36.59, Willie Bell 37.18, Malcolm Ingram 35.48, Colin Everson 38.38, Ian Bainbridge 39.45, & Allen Purdham 46.46.