Quakers Running Club

Members of the club's Under-11 age group competed in the first meeting of the Winter Indoor Grand Prix Series for Minor Athletes at Monkton Stadium in Jarrow. The meetings feature a series of races with distances varying from 60m sprints up to 600m endurance type events and are suitable for age groups ranging from under nine up to Under-11.

In the Under-nine girls 60m race Paige Mooney was second in her heat in a time of 10:99s. Gareth Watson was second in a time of 9:74s and Ian Wilson third in 10:19s in their heat of the Under-10 boys 60m.

In the Under-11 boys 60m heat David Scott crossed the line in second place with 9:28s, Luke Warrior third in 9:8s and Craig Chalmers close behind in fourth with a time of 9:9s.

In the longer distance races, Paige Mooney qualified for the final by finishing first in her heat in a time of 69:7s in the Under-nine girls 300m and won her first trophy of the series by finishing second in the final, beating her earlier time with 69:3s. The Under-10 boys 450m race saw Gareth Watson getting the better of Ian Wilson by crossing the line in second place in 1:44:5s with Wilson third with a time of 1:48:5s.

The Under-11 boys, competing in the 600m heats, saw Luke Warrior finish second in 2:25:6s and David Scott finishing fourth in 2:47:2s, Craig Chalmers crossed the line fourth in 2:38:2s in his heat.

Several of the senior members took part in the Saltwell Harriers Road Races. Mick Brunskill finished sixth Over-40 veteran and 26th place overall in the 9km race in a time of 32:29. Danny Small finished 64th in 35:09, Peter Smith recorded 36:10 for 82nd place, Dave Smith finished 125th in 39:04 with wife Annette running 47:50 for 216th position and Bill Frankland was 224th in 49:09.

In the junior races, Marc Smith finished 11th in the Under-13 boys event with a time of 10:51 and Carly Smith was second in the Under-17s women's race with 22:45.

At the second meeting of the Winter Indoor Grand Prix Series for minor athletes at Monkton Stadium, the Under-11 showed a marked improvement in their performances, bringing home seven trophies for their efforts.

Paige Mooney, in the Under-nine girls 60m qualified for the final by winning her heat in 10:76s and took her second trophy of the series finishing 4th in the final. In the Under-10 boys 60m the Quakers trio all crossed the line in second place in their respective heats, Gareth Watson with a better time of 9:62s, narrowly beating Ian Wilson (9:75s) and James Snook (10:60s) to qualify for the final where he finished fourth in 10:1s. Two of the Under-11 boys qualified for their 60m final, David Scott winning his heat in a time of 9:50s, a feat emulated by Luke Warrior in 9:77s. Anthony Bearpark, in his first outing for the Quakers, finished third in his heat with 10:30s. Craig Chalmers unfortunately had to withdraw from the heats through injury.

In the final saw Scott finish second in 9:4s and Warrior fourth in 10:0s. Jade Levy, making her first appearance this season, was third in her heat of the Under-11 girls 60m with a time of 10.80s. Paige Mooney qualified for her second final of the day by finishing second in the Under-9 girls 300m in a time of 1:09:3s and went on to finish third in the final in 1:12:8s. In the Under-10 boys 450m race Gareth Watson crossed the line in 1:46:5 for second place, Ian Wilson third in 1:56:8s and James Snook third in his heat in 1:48:0s.

The 600m heats for the Under-11 boys saw David Scott win his heat in 2:45:3s closely followed in by Anthony Bearpark in second place with 2:47:7s.

Luke Warrior ran the fastest time of the Quakers' trio, winning his heat with 2:21:5s. The large number of competitors in the event warranted two finals being run with both Scott (3:02:3s) and Warrior (2:40:9) finishing in fourth place.

Jade Levy, running in the Under-11 girls 600m, crossed the line in second place in her heat with a time of 2:36:6.

On the fells, the six-mile Guisborough Woods Hill Race saw nine of the club's seniors complete the challenging three-lap course. Joe Hutchinson was the first Quaker to finish in 46.22 followed in by Scott Archbold in 48.18.

Others Quakers: Kendra White 50.17, Harry Manuel 53.09, Keith Shevels 55.13, Wayne Bramley 55.20, Steve Smedley 58.30, Dave England 59.31, Keven Shevels 67.59.

In the accompanying junior events, the final event in the North-Eastern Junior Fell Championship Series, three of the clubs juniors celebrated winning the series championship titles. Luke Kelton ran a very good time of 14.56 to finish first with Chris Maynard second with 16:50. Gemma Bramley also finished second in the girl's event with a time of 25:20.

At the Captain Cook's Memorial Fell Race on New Year's Day, Joe Hutchinson once again finished first of the club's runners in a time of 37:50.

Other Quakers: Scott Archbold 40:38, Kendra White 41:47, Keith Richardson 41:48, Ben Tait 46:38, Richard Tait 48:31.

Forthcoming club events: Sunday, February 4 - Walkway Winter Warm Up, Castle Eden Walkway Visitor's Centre 10am. 5km. (Incorporating the Durham Police Championship)

Sunday, February 18 - Doctor's Gate Hill Race and Junior Fell Races - Grove Car Park, Hamsterley Forest 11am. 5.5-mile.

Sunday, March 4 - Walkway Winter Warm Up - Castle Eden Walkway Visitor's Centre 10am. 5km.

Sunday, March 18 - Darlington Dash Trail Race - Hummersknott School 8am. 38-mile.

l The club's marathon coach Keith Shevels is assembling a London Marathon training group for club members and other athletes who have been accepted for the Flora London Marathon.

For more information go to the club website - http://quakers.place.cc. Training sessions are held at Hummersknott School, Edinburgh Drive, Darlington, every Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30pm, free of charge.

Newcomers of all abilities from eight years of age are welcome to attend and take part with no obligation to join.

Elvet Striders

This year's Great North Winter Run from snow covered Consett saw a large number of runners from the area tackling the four mile off-road course, taking place after Paula Radcliffe stormed to victory in the ladies race. The Striders who braved the cold were Paul Dunn with a time of 21:42 , closely followed by Paul Loftus in 21:46 Michael Bennett clocked 22:00 and Barry Bird came back in 23:27