Charles Stead of Northumberland Fell Runners won the Eston Nab Nee Nocker fell race of six miles setting a new record time.

Paul Lowe of Middlesbrough AC was runner-up with Rob Pollard returning to his best form to finish third and also claim the O40s honours. Doug Walsh of Wednesday AC was the leading O50 with Ronnie Sherwood of New Marske the leading O60.

Denise Tunstall of Teesdale AC won the ladies race finishing just ahead of Jen Milsom of Cleveland Police with Caroline Pollard of Thirsk in third place and also the leading veteran.

Senior men: 1 C Stead (NFR) 34.34; 2 P Lowe (Mboro AC) 36.12; 3 R Pollard (Mboro AC) 38.17; 4 P Kelly (Dton) 38.55; 5 A Minister (HBR) 37.03; 6 P Meadows (n/a) 39.21; 7 N Griffiths (SS), 39.37; 8 J Barwick (Mboro AC) 39.43; 9 G Davis (NFR) 42.28; 10 M Dawick 43.34.

Teams: 1 Middlesbrough AC 75; 2 T and G 93; 3 HBR 115; 4 Wednesay 116; 5 NMH 118.

Senior ladies: 1 D Turnbull (Tees) 47.40; 2 J Milsom (Cleve Police) 43.54; 3 C Pollard (T and S) 44.17; 4 A Raw (Dton) 33.40; 5 C Lowe (Mboro AC) 48.50; 6 C Worth (Mboro AC) 49.57.

Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers

The Yorkshire Vets Cross Country Championships took place at Sheffield recently, and four lady members took part on a bright, sunny day over a two-lap course. Angela Hall finished in 12th place in a time of 21.30 minutes, with Pat Kirby 32nd in 24.54. Marian Codling came in 55th in 31.13 with Pamela Sherlock close behind in 57th place in 31.16. Marian and Pamela were second and third in their age group respectively, and the team finished in fourth place.

Thirteen members headed for the ever popular Brass Monkey Half Marathon at York on Sun and once again the morning was bright and sunny. The flat course provided near perfect running conditions for this friendly and well marshalled event. Ian Fisher of Otley was the winner in a time of 1.08.26. The ever improving William Barker came 101st in 1.26.54, Ernie Huck 153rd in 1.30.01, Alan Somers 207th in 1.33.41, Alasdair Thorpe 215th in 1.34.13, Geoff Bullock 295th in 1.38.40, just ahead of Alan Harman, 297th, in 1.38.42. Nigel Morgan finished 444th in 1.45.40, Ian Codling 511th in 1.48.34, closely followed by Nicola Thorpe in 512th in 1.48.36, Sarah Somers 564th in 1.51.05, Peter Scanlon 576th in 1.52.00, David Shorrocks, unfortunately carrying an injury over the latter part of the race, 748th in 2.05.26 and Marian Codling 800th in 2.13.18. The 851 finishers, one of whom was Jane Tomlinson, all received an attractive dark green sweatshirt.

Richmond and Zetland Harriers

It was hard to tell which athlete from Richmond and Zetland Harriers wore the biggest smile: Douglas or Jessie Roberts, both 4th in their respective races and selected to compete at the English Schools X-C Championships; Edd Richards, 4th in the 1500m at the Northern Indoor T&F Championships; or Mike Brooks, 5th MVO55 for Yorkshire at the Northern Vets X-C Championships and with news of a BMAF ranking.

Saturday 17; it rained all day and the course for the North Yorkshire Schools X-C Championships at Scarborough was very muddy. There were eight races for boys and girls in year 7, years 8 & 9 (Juniors), years 10 & 11 (Inters) and years 12 & 13 (Seniors) with the top six automatically selected to compete at the English Schools X-C Championships, the top 15 earning their County colours and an invitation to compete in the Schools Inter-Counties X-C match, where the remaining places will be decided. There were 46 runners in the year 7 Boy's race and two Harriers made the top 15, Tom Osborn and Rory Wadsworth finishing 7th and 10th respectively, and Francesca Fowden ran in the year 7 Girl's race. Douglas Roberts was the only Harrier out of 40 runners in the Junior Boy's race and, despite a sore heel that has troubled him for some weeks, he finished 4th and happy. Scarlett Gray was similarly happy with her 6th place finish in the Junior Girl's race, again earning her County colours and selection for the team to compete in the English Schools X-C Championships at Maidstone, Kent, in March. Sophie Broadway and Katie Roberts ran and finished mid-20s but sisters Rosie and Jo Adams were both unwell and did not finish. There were five runners with RZH connections in the 42 who contested the Inter Boy's race: ex-Harrier Andy Lagan was 6th, closely followed by clubmates Philip Fitzpatrick and Jason Flannery who were 7th and 10th respectively, now-footballer Simon Pinkney was 11th but Shane Derby had an asthma attack and did not finish. Jessie Roberts, another athlete with injury worries having failed to finish at the Yorkshires, opted to compete in the Junior Girl's race and finished 4th, giving the selectors one less place to deliberate-over in due course. Leah Jackson and Ashleigh Robinson finished 9th and 25th and Leah now has to show her quality in the Schools Inter-Counties X-C match at Beverley on Saturday February 7 to earn the trip to Maidstone.

Eighteen-year-old Edd Richards has been a Harrier for less than six months but his progression has been outstanding. Watching his track sessions last autumn gave some indication of his ability but, brave as a lion, he decided to make his competitive debut on Saturday 17 in the Northern Junior Indoor T&F Championships at the EIS Arena at Sheffield and he didn't disappoint anybody. Afterwards he commented "had an excellent day and came 4th in the 1500m...even though only five had entered it was still a quality race with Mark Buckingham winning in 4 minutes dead...I ran 4:29.26 and was pleased with that considering I'd only done one speed work session on the track this year...and these sloping indoor tracks are a little tricky...the facilities in Sheffield are worth a mention because it is a fantastic arena and a brilliant building all-round."

The Harriers had a gang-of-three compete in the Yorkshire Veteran's X-C Championships at Graves Park, Sheffield - a fixture that was well attended as it doubled as the Northern Veteran's X-C Championships. The undulating course was very wet from the previous week's rain but stood-up well over the four lap race. Ben Grant of Harrogate and John Kerr of local Club, Steel City Striders were a class apart, finishing 1st and 2nd, almost a minute ahead of the pack. Mike Brooks was first home for the Club in 15th place overall and 5th MVO55 for Yorkshire but, showing the quality of Veteran running in Yorkshire, almost a minute out of bronze medal contention. Jim Robinson showed he is regaining the sort-of-form that earned him a vest in the Home Counties International Match a few years ago with 29th place and Colin Sewell finished 68th to bring the team home in ninth.

The BMAF T&F rankings for 2003 were published in Athletics Weekly and there were three Harriers included: John Wild was ranked 5th MVO50 at the discus with a throw of 41m41; Jon Orange was ranked 3rd MVO40 at 1500m with a time of 4:06.8 (and running barefooted!); and Mike Brooks was top-of-this-particular-tree, ranked 2nd MVO55 in the whole of the UK at 3000m steeplechase with a time of 12:10.4, set in a NML at Jarrow - and yes, there were more than two times listed!

This is a quiet weekend fixture-wise for the Harriers: after competition on four consecutive weekends, there is only the Northern Senior Indoor T&F Championships over two days at the EIS Arena at Sheffield to consider.

* www.rzh.org.uk

Middlesbrough AC

North of England Junior championships, Sheffield

Middlesbrough's young athletes were in top form in the North of England junior championships in the new EIS Arena at Sheffield. Pride of place goes to Yuruf Aliu who smashed records galore in the North-East championships, won the Under-15 gold over 60m and was closely followed by Adam Alison for the silver with Richard Kilty just being pipped for the bronze. Alison also claimed silver over 200m, Faye Winspear was silver medallist over 60m. Many of the Under-17 and Under-20 men turned in good performances but all handicapped in this competition because they have no indoor facilities and the outdoor facilities at Clairville are below the required standard.

Under-20 Men: 60m J Baines (SSF) 7.29 (7.36h); 200m S Lince (4SF) 23.74; 200 J Baines (SSF) 23.52.

Under-17 Men: 60 B Wilson (6) 7.26 (7.25 SF); 60 L McElwee (45f) 7.44 (7.41h); 200 B Wilson (3h) 24.13; 400 T Grant (6) 55.95 (53.68 h).

Under-17 girls: 60 F Winspear (2) 8.03

Under-15 boys: 60 Y Aliu (1) 7.43; A Alison (7) 7.53; R Kilty (4) 7.60; 200 A Alison (2) 24.59.