A PACKED weekend of running for Quakers saw top five finishes, personal bests, a club record and three runners heading over to the continent.

In the Netherlands, a trio of runners took part in the Rotterdam marathon which saw the unusual occurrence of the majority of the race actually taking place below sea level. Anna Hardy completed the 26.2 mile distance in 4:41:15 along with David Ledgerwood (5:07:41) and Michelle Dale (5:07:52).

Closer to home the latest club championship race, the Marina 5 Mile, took place over on the coast at Hartlepool, which saw Quakers filling two of the top five positions. Michael Joyeux came home in fourth place in 26:15, just ahead of Alex Kiel in fifth in 26:33. Next to finish were Brian McLaren (34:58), Graham Park (37:28), Simon Rek (39:34), Peter Rowley (39:35),

Danny Gordon (41:11 and second in his age category), Juliette McLaren (43:17), Ian Young (43:54), Pamela Barrass (44:53), Michelle Scruby (46:13), Gillian Cowton (48:04), Phill Johnston (52:09), Dawn Johnston (52:13), Claire Hewitt (54:26) and Sally Watson (54:32).

At the Vale of York 10 mile race, which once again started and ended on an airfield, Dave Thompson completed the fairly flat route in 1:16:02, finishing third in his age category and breaking the club record for the distance. He was followed in by Sandra Cass (1:29:04), Janet Bowlby (1:34:09), Caroline Moses (1:35:00) and Vicky Garlick (1:36:17, PB).

Five headed down to Sheffield for the half marathon race there. On what was a fairly hilly course around the city, Fred Tennant finished in 1:44:24 along with Michael Oliver (1:50:16), Stephen Moore (1:58:42), Jamie Pratt (2:00:54) and Melissa Hird (2:14:03).

Jeff Marriott was the sole Quaker to head north for the Blyth Valley 10K, completing the race there in 55:39.

Plenty of runners were out on the hills at the weekend too. Annette Clarke and Charlie Bogg took part in Allendale Challenge, an event which raised funds for the North of Tyne Mountain rescue service. On a fairly muddy 26 mile route which took in 3300 feet of climb, they finished together in 5 hours 17 minutes.

The second of this year’s Hardmoors Trail races took place over near the White Horse. In the marathon distance, Anthony Corbett completed the course in 6:28:15, followed by Emily Beaumont & Michelle Boshier in 6:58:20 and Mark Colling and Roy MacDougall in 8:40:50. Paul Ryan took part in the half marathon event, finishing in 3:43:39, while in the 10K, Nichola Jordan, Lisa Alderson, Karen Dove, Sharon Carr and Lisa Johnstone all went round together, coming home in 1:59:25.

Over in the Lake District, Gemma Eddy took part in the Kielder Ultra, a 50K race which took in a complete circuit of the lake itself, finishing in 7:16:15.

There was also a big turnout in the Yorkshire Dales, for the Wensleydale Wander, where runners had a choice of covering either 12 or 23 miles. In the longer distance, Abbie Willson covered the route in 4:45:00 followed by Jamie Norman & Richard Hughes in 5:17:00 and Claire Norman and Malcolm Hewitson in 5:24:00. Over the shorter distance, Rebecca Howard came home in 2:03:25 along with Abbie Hull (2:21:35), Barbra Barker & Jo Dickinson (2:49:43), Andrew Lambe (2:56:53), Nicola Howe (3:51:00) and Richard Payne (4:09:00).

In the Saturday morning parkruns, Dave Jones finished at South Park in 18:33 followed by Rob Dent (18:51), Luke Minall (20:19), Ed Griffiths (20:30), Adrian Cottam (20:58), Phil Rutter (21:00), Fred Tennant (21:44), Ty Hankinson (22:47), Peter Rowley (22:58), Diane Vaughan (23:18), Stuart Masterman (23:54), Iain Clyde (24:10), David Ptak (24:47), Shaune Eland (24:50), Julie Whinn (25:11), Mark Trowles (25:40), Ian Hamond (26:05), Julie Bell (26:08), Lewis Boshier (26:42), Gary Read (26:43), Gavin Armstrong (26:43), Gemma Hammond (26:58), Jeff Marriott (27:47), Gemma Marshall (28:20), Olly Moore (28:21), Sharon Watson (28:29), Charlie Johnson (28:55), Paul Hutchinson (29:07), Nicola Wells (29:26), Elizabeth Kennedy (29:26), Darren Alderson (29:27), Michael King (29:33), Brian Dixon (30:40), Grainne Duffy (31:51), Isabelle Bell (33:03), Ricki Hotton (42:31), Dawn Johnston (47:38) and Phill Johnston (51:48).

There was plenty of tourism at the weekend which saw Dave Thompson and Richard Payne run at Sedgefield in 23:37 and 27:10 respectively, Chris Minto finish at Hartlepool in 19:57, Anthony Corbett do the run at Redcar in 25:57 and Adrian Colbourne run at Drurudge Bay in 21:10. At Albert Park, Steven Major and Jamie Pratt finished there in 20:29 and 23:25 respectively, Lucy Bendle ran at Riverside in 31:36, Amy Woodcock completed the run at York in 24:53, Mike Brown and Caroline Moses did the run at Newcastle in 21:22 and 28:18 respectively while Darryn Wood headed down to Leeds to finish the Temple Newsam run in 35:34.

Quakers Running Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday at 6:30pm at Abbey Road Playing Fields. For more information visit our website: www.quakersrunningclub.org.uk

Submitted by Rob Dent (photo by Karen Newton)