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May

News From May 2008

BMC Grand Prix Meeting !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor and Laura Weightman both clocked
new personal bests over 1500m at the BMC Grand Prix Meeting
held at Sports City, Manchester on Saturday 31st May.
Jonathan finished eighth of 15 finishers in a classy Mens A race
in a time of 3m45.07s, which saw him knock just over
a second off his previous figures set in 2007.

Laura`s new best of 4m22.20s was also just more than
a second off her previous best set at Jarrow a few weeks ago,
and she finished twelfth in what was also a classy field of sixteen finishers,
and in doing so she also captured the scalp of four Senior Women
who included Hallamshire's Hatti Dean, just in the throes of a comeback,
and was only a second and one place adrift of Dean's illustrious
clubmate Rebecca Lyne, also on the comeback trail.

Morpeth's only other athlete competing on the night was Jonathan Young,
who finished fifth in the Mens 1500m D Race in a time of 3m56.78s,
which was around four seconds outside his personal best,
and a second outside his seasons best so far.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
There were some fine performances from athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the second Start Fitness North eastern Athletics League held at
Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 28th May.

The event also incorporated a series of BMC 800m events
which saw Rachel Denton produce a new personal best of 2m21.82s
to capture an excellent victory over Middlesbrough & Cleveland Senior athlete Abby Smith.

In the league events, the performances of Marcus Cram,
Alistair Douglass and Joe Robertshaw clearly stand out for merit.
In the 800m A race where he was seeded against more Senior athletes,
Cram achieved a brand new personal best of 2m02.57s.
Clubmate Martyn Cairns can also feel well pleased with a
personal best of 2m08.13s which saw him take the B race.

Alistair Douglass ran a superb 3000m to finish third against
more Senior rivals in a time of 9m25.7s.
Other Morpeth athletes in the 3000m were Phil Walker (9th) 9m38.3s,
Jordan Scott (10th) 9m39.4s and Paul Waterston (11th) 9m41.5s.

Joe Robertshaw just missed his personal best when he
triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 200m in 27.29s.

Jonny Nisbet gave good account for himself when he finished second
in the Under 15 Boys 200m in 27.4s and fifth in the 800m in 2m18.50s.

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Shri Chinmoy Self Transcedence 1 Mile Race !
The MacDonald family of Morpeth Harriers, Alistair, Catriona and Margaret
all travelled up to Edinburgh to take part in the Shri Chinmoy Self Transcedence
1 mile Race at The Meadows on Wednesday 28th May.
Alistair finished 19th in 5m22s, Catriona finished 51st in 6m47s
with mother Margaret not far behind in 54th place in 7m08s.

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Bupa London 10k Road Race !
Morpeths Ian Hudspith finished eleventh in
the Bupa London 10,000 metre Road Race
on Monday 26th May in a time of 30m33s.

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Raby Castle 10k !
Terry Wall was Morpeth Harriers leading finisher in the near
400 strong Raby Castle 10k field on Sunday 25th May.
He finished in sixth place in 33m38s behind winner
and former club colleague Martin Scaife, now running for North York Moors,
who broke the course record with his clocking of 32m14s.

Other leading Morpeth placings in the Mens race came from
David Swinburne (9th) 34m29s, Ben Harrison (12th) 35m03s
and Michael Morris (13th) 35m06s.

In the Ladies race, course record holder Morpeths Aiveen Fox
finished third behind Middlesbrough's Carolyn Summersgill
and Hartlepool's Louise Bennett in 41m31s, and was 49th overall.
Morpeth's only other runner was Claire Bruce who finished 127th in 47m18s.

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CAU InterCounties Track & Field Championships !
A time of 9m27.61s earned Morpeths Chris Sampson
a Bronze medal in the 3k Steeplechase at the CAU InterCounties
Track & Field Championships at Bedford on Sunday 25th May.

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Fanny Blankers-Koen Memorial Games !
Morpeths Nick McCormick was well below his best when he
competed in the Mens 5000m at the Fanny Blankers-Koen
Memorial Games held in Hengelo in the Netherlands on Saturday 24th May.
He finished 18th as the only Briton in a top class field of Ethiopian's
and Kenyan's that included World Cross Country Champion
Kenenisa Bekele who won in this years best time of 12m58.94s.

McCormick will now return to his Loughborough base and take stock of things,
and will probably revert to his more recognised 800m and 1500m events
in the hope of a title at the UK Championships later in the Summer.

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North of England U15/U17 Track & Field Championships !
A lifetime best performance of 4m50.87s brought
Morpeths Rachel Denton a well earned Bronze medal
in the Under 15 Girls 1500m at the first day of the
North of England Under15/Under17 Track & Field
Championships held at Robin Park in Wigan on Saturday 24th May.
After finishing third in her heat in a very modest 5m05.2s,
Rachel ran well to finish in the Final behind East Cheshire's
Katie Reynolds (4m46.37s) and Wakefield's Sally Smith (4m47.36s)

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NSP Clive Cookson 10K & 5K
Three days after her emotional victory in the
Race for Life at Gateshead's Saltwell Park,
Morpeth Harrier Jane Mooney was again tasting victory when
she retained her Ladies title at the North Shields Poly
Clive Cookson 10k Road Race held last Wednesday 21st May.
Jane finished 27th overall, and her time of 37m37s
was thirty seconds inside her 2007 winning effort.
That was exactly the margin she had to spare over her
closest rival Judith Nutt of Elswick who was 33rd,
with Claire McManus of the host club claiming
third Ladies place by finishing 38th in 38m49s.

The Mens race saw Morpeths Michael Morris making
a long awaited return to action, and he can feel well pleased
with his placing of third in 33m42s, which was 1min40secs
behind race winner Peter Newton of Claremont.

Morpeth Harriers took fifth place in the Mens team race
with further support coming from Mike Hegarty,
another in a return to action after a lengthy period on the sidelines,
who finished 14th in 36m39s, and Michael Winter (39th) 38m50s
and Ian Corner (52nd) 39m46s, both of whom had run the previous night at Alnwick.

Other Morpeth Harriers placings in the 10k were
Jim Alder (59th) 40m18s, Nick Armstrong (69th) 41m00s,
Mike McKean (70th) 41m05s, Ricky Davidson (110th) 44m39s,
Paul Tomlinson (111th) 44m40s, Bernie Cordes (147th) 47m14s,
Susan Smith (216th) 54m42s and Jane Blackett (217th) 54m57s.

Morpeth Harriers had three runners competing in the accompanying 5k event.
Gary Clark finished 21st in 20m36s, and Deborah Oakley
and Laura Dixon were fifth and sixth Ladies when finishing
24th and 25th in respective times of 21m07s and 22m05s.

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Les Allcorn 10k !
Phil Walker was Morpeths first finisher at the Les Allcorn 10k held on
Tuesday 20th May 2008. Phil finished second in 34m22s, the race winner was Dave Kirkland
from the host club Alnwick Harriers, who crossed the line in 33m55s.
Phil was also the first O/40 vet to finish.
Second Morpeth vet to finish and second O/40 overall was Paul Waterson,
who finished 4th in 35m41s.
Jordan Scott finished in 6th place with a time of 36m45s.
Third Morpeth vet to finish was Gordon Dixon, who finished 7th in 36m58s and was 3rd O/40
Michael Winter finished in 12th place with a time of 38m52s.
Graeme Leathard was our next vet finisher, crossing the line in 13th place with a time of 39m26s
and one second behind him was Ian Corner in 14th place in 39m27s.
There were 110 finishers in the All Competitors category.

Other Morpeth finishers were
18th Jim Alder V40 41m00s
21st Hamish Mcallister-Williams V40 41m28s
40th David Watson V40 44m12s
46th Sue Calvert F35 44m25s
51st Trevor Robinson V40 44m44s
56th Claire Bruce F35 46m03s
61st Steve McDonald V40 46m45s
66th Shuna Rank F35 48m13s
71st Margaret McDonald F35 49m20s
85th Susan Smith F35 51m33s
98th Jane Blackett F45 55m42s

In finishing ninth overall Morpeths Sarah Wilkes won the
Girls 3k Junior Run that was run in conjunction
with the event, in a time of 12m16s.

Other Morpeth Harriers competing in this event were as follows
Ailidh McCallister-Williams (31st) (6th U13 Girl) 13m50s,
Rachael Todd (35th) (8th U13 Girl) 14m02s,
Sam Alder (39th) (7th U11 Boy) 14m35s,
James Wilkes (40th) (8th U11 Boy) 14m37s
and Charlotte Wellden (53rd) (6th U11 Girl) 16m29s.

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Veterans North East Track & Field League 1
Morpeths Archie Jenkins finished fourth in the Over 50's 1500m at the
first Veterans North East meeting held at Jarrow on Monday 19th May.
Archie crossed the line in 4m58.4s.
Neil McAnany finished seventh in the Over 40's 1500m in 5m01.1s.

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National Veterans Road Relay Championships !
Attending the British National Veterans Road Relay
Championships for the 1st time since 2001,
Morpeths 8 man team acquitted themselves well in the
O/40 category to finish 13th overall at Sutton Park,
Birmingham on Saturday 17th May.
Coincidentally, this was the position the 2001 team finished in.
With a team of mixed ability, the club were aiming for a top 20 finish
in a field of just over 50 teams from all over the UK.

In wet and warm conditions, particularly good performances
came from Paul Waterston (15:48),
Phil Walker (15:50) and Les Atkinson (16:10) who,
between them, had Morpeth up to 3rd place after the 3rd leg.
However, Morpeth slipped down the rankings to 9th place
with 4th and 5th leg runners Gavin Bayne(17:28)
and Gordon Dixon (17:16) keeping them, nevertheless,
in the top 10. Alan Boyd (18:44) and Ian Corner (18:05),
running legs 6 and 7 worked hard to keep the club near the top
as conditions dried eventually running in 11th and then 13th place overall.

It was the first time each of them has represented the club at a national road championships.
Alistair MacDonald (17:52) brought the club home to maintain 13th place overall.
He passed the Sunderland Harriers runner, last years bronze medallists on the last leg,
but was passed, in turn by Oxford whose team included ex-Morpeth Harrier John Lisiewicz.

Bristol and West won for the 3rd year from Leicester and Clayton Le Moor.
Sunderland Harriers finished 14th and North Shields,
the only other north east team present, 30th.

Ian Corner went onto complete the Manchester 10k the next day,
where he recorded a personal best of 39:45 in the process.

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Young Athletes League !
Despite gallant efforts by those who turned out on the day,
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squad could once again
only finish fourth out of the four competing teams in their
second round Northern Division 1 match at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium
at Cudworth, near Barnsley on Sunday 18th May,
and are now staring relegation in the face with three matches remaining.

Team Managers Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow are seeing their efforts
and that of those turning out being thwarted by the total lack of commitment
being shown from the absentees within the club who fail to support
their hardworking colleagues for whatever reason.

There were however some excellent performances
across the age groups that are worthy of mention.
Daniel Hedley continues to make enormous progress
in the sprints where he achieved two seconds in the
Under 17 Mens 100m and 200m in respective times of 12.3s and 24.5s.
Hedley also gained valuable points by finishing second in the Triple Jump with 10.07m.

Jonny Nisbet clocked a new personal best of 4m44.0s
to win the Under 15 Boys 1500m in one of the most exciting finishes of the day.

Tom Brookes gained maximum points for Morpeth
when he took the B race in 5m14.2s.
Elsewhere in this age group Callum Duncan won the Shot with 8.70m,
and finished second in the Long jump with 4.99m.

Joe Robertshaw renewed his rivalry with Middlesbrough Mandale's
Matthew Routh in the Under 13 Boys 100m and 200m events.
He had to be content with second in the 100m with 13.8s,
however he again outsprinted Routh over 200m by
clocking a new personal best of 27.2s, albeit wind assisted.
In the 200m B event Joe Elder finished second in 32.1s
to give Morpeth more valuable points.
Elder did his club proud by taking the 1500m in 5m31.1s

There were two splendid double victories for Morpeth
in the Under 17 Womens 3000m and Discus events.
Deborah Oakley won the 3000m A race in 11m48s
and Catriona MacDonald clocked 13m31.6s to take the B race.
Rachel Moody (20.62m) and Rebecca Gibson (18.76m)
combined to produce an excellent double in the Discus.
Moody also finished second in the Shot (8.21m)
and Stevie Goodfellow (9.35m) finished second in the Triple Jump.

Under 15 Girls level saw Hannah Rank win the 1500m in 5m12.2s,
and Miriam Inverarity finished second in the B event with 6m04.2s.
Rachel Denton (2m22.0s) and Katie Plant (4.40m)
finished second in the 800m and Long Jump events.

The Under 13 Girls events saw Adele Stewart, Steph Purvis
and Shannon Henley each record A string victories.
Stewart won the 800m in 2m50.3s and Eve Shashova
backed her up well in the B event by finishing second in 3m03.5s.
Purvis won the 1200m in 4m30.3s, and Henley
won the Long Jump with her best of 4.12m.
Henley's win in the Long Jump was sweetened
with Amy Gibson taking the B event with 3.88m.
Gibson also finished second in the 150m B race in 23.4s,
where Henley had finished third in the A race with 21.8s.

FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st Bingley 328pts
2nd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 325pts
3rd Barnsley 260pts
4th Morpeth 200pts.

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Loughborough International Athletics !
At the Loughborough International Athletics meeting on Sunday 18th May,
Morpeths Laura Weightman was fractionally outside her best when
she took victory in the Womens 1500m Invitation in a time of 4m25.69s.

At the same meeting Nick McCormick won the Mens 1500m Match event in 3m43.40s,
and clubmate Jonathan Taylor finished seventh in 3m45.81s.

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Sunderland Strollers Pier to Pier Race !
Morpeths Mike Winter finished 47th in 44m35s
at Sunderland Strollers Pier to Pier race on Sunday 18th May

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Junior Great Manchester Run !
Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes had an excellent run to
finish sixth in the 9 to 11 year old Girls age group event
at the Junior Great Manchester Run on Saturday 17th May.
Her time was 9m42s with the winner clocking 9m05s.

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North Eastern Counties Track & Field Championships !
Nineteen Championship medals were won by athletes from Morpeth Harriers
at the North Eastern Counties Track and Field meeting held at Gateshead's
International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 10th/11th May.

Apart from the medals, five of which were Gold, seven were Silver
and seven were Bronze, a host of new personal bests were achieved
in what could only be described as perfect conditions,
with both days being blessed with dry, warm sunny weather.

On Saturday Laura Weightman was the first Morpeth athlete to
strike Gold in what could only be described as a fairly
competitive combined Under 20 and Senior Womens 800m.
The 2007 Under 17 Champion shared most of the early pace
with former Morpeth athlete Nisha Desai, now running for Trafford,
and with 200m remaining Weightman decided to take up the gauntlett
only to be chased all the way to the line by her fierce rival Stacey Smith,
formerly Tynedale, now with Gateshead.
Sensing danger from Smith, Weightman injected yet another surge
of power with 40m remaining and crossed the finish line in 2m08.20s,
knocking a whole three seconds off her previous figures for the distance.
By finishing in fourth place behind Desai, Morpeth's Natalie Young picked
up a Bronze medal by virtue of being third Under 20 in 2m23.5s.

Another Morpeth Gold medallist on the Saturday was Hannah Rank,
who easily won her very first Under 15 Girls 3000m in 11m15.1s.

Hannah's training partner and clubmate Rachel Denton opted to
give the Under 15 Girls 800m a miss on the Saturday, however
turned up on the Sunday to put in an outstanding performance
to take Gold in the 1500m in 4m51.99s, and bettering
her previous figures by around three seconds.

Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw more than made up for his narrow
defeat in the Under 13 Boys 100m on the Saturday,
where his clocking of 13.7s was exactly the same as the winner
Matthew Routh of Middlesbrough, by breaking the Championship
record in the heats of the 200m on the Sunday with his time of 27.38s,
and then went on to win Gold in the Final in a slightly faster 27.21s
against the same Middlesbrough athlete, however the sweetness
was slightly taken away by the fact that the Wind Gauge had ruled
his time ineligible for ratification to a better figure.
Nevertheless Joe had worked hard for to retain his hold on the title that
he won in 2007, and more than deserved this particular victory alone.

Morpeth's fifth Gold of the weekend came on the Sunday
where Alan Richmond won the Under 20 Mens Hammer with a best of 34.53m.
This was Richmond's second medal of the weekend having taken Bronze
on the Saturday in the Discus with a little below par best of 29.12m.

Chris Sampson just lost out to New Marske's Dominic Shaw in
a hard fought Senior Mens 5000m, where he clocked 15m09.56s.

Clubmates Dan Samuels and Ross Floyd finished fourth and seventh
in respective times of 15m44.88s and 16m06.69s.
Deborah Oakley picked up a well deserved Silver medal
in the Under 17 Womens 3000m with a finishing time of 11m37.74s.

On Sunday Natalie Young added a Silver medal to the
Bronze medal she'd won on the Saturday when finishing
second in the Under 20 Womens 1500m in 4m51.41s.

Also on Sunday Martyn Cairns secured Silver in the
Under 20 Mens 5000m where he clocked 17m45.08s.

Morpeth's other two Silver medals came in the Field events
with Rachel Moody taking second in the Under 17 Womens Javelin
on the Saturday with her best of 17.05m, and Claire Reid took
second in the Senior Womens Shot on the Sunday with her best of 10.56m.

On Saturday Alistair Douglass secured a well earned Bronze medal in the
Under 17 Mens 1500m where he clocked a brand new lifetime best of 4m17.08s,
and on the Sunday he very nearly added a second Bronze
in the 3000m where he clocked an excellent 9m31.30s.

After securing a Bronze in the Senior Womens 200m
on Saturday with her finishing time of 26.55s,
Morpeth's Elaine Telford returned on Sunday to take
a second Bronze in the 100m in 13.07s.

On Saturday Morpeth's Jonny Young found himself squeezed out
of the medals in the Senior Mens 1500m with his clocking of 4m02.52s,
however he made up for that on the Sunday by securing a Bronze in the 800m in 1m59.03s.

Morpeth's Jack Hepple finished third in the Under 15 Boys 400m in 68.45s.

One Morpeth athlete who performed superbly over the
two days was Jonny Nisbet who on Saturday won his heat of
the Under 15 Boys 1500m in a new personal best time of 4m45.74s,
and although he bettered that time again in the final,
just lost out for medals when he finished fifth.

Jonny returned on the Sunday to produce yet another personal best
in the heats of the 800m where his 2m18.69s saw him finish fourth
in his heat, to go through to the final as a fastest loser.
However 2m18.84s in the Final was just not quite good
enough to get him amongst the medals.

Despite clocking excellent new personal bests of 4m19.23s
and 2m04.72s in the Under 17 Mens 1500m and 800m events,
Morpeth's Marcus Cram found himself outside the medals,
however as a first year in this age group there is certainly more to
come from the son of the former World Mile Record Holder.

Other excellent Morpeth performers other than medallists were
Shannon Henley who made it through to the finals of both the 100m
and 200m in the Under 13 Girls age group and finished fourth in the Long Jump,
Daniel Hedley who got through to the Final of the Under 17 Mens 200m,
Andrew Toothill who finished fourth in the Under 20 Mens Discus,
and Liam Brooks who just lost out on countback for
a Bronze medal in the Under 13 Boys High Jump.

The profile of the North Eastern Counties Championships certainly
reached a new high with a good deal of competition in Track events,
however there is still a good deal of work to be done
to ensure popularity within the Field events.
Certainly medal presentatations done in front of a watching
crowd added some spice to the occasion.
Many thanks must go to Gateshead Council
for their efforts in promoting the event.

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Golden Ball 5k Road Race !
Morpeths Ben Harrison finished fourth in the Golden Ball 5k Road Race in Morecambe, Lancashire on Sunday 11th May in a time of 16m17s, which proved to be 59 seconds adrift of race winner Eddie Simpson of Dallam Running Club.

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The Tees Barrage 10k !
Morpeths Terry Wall finished second at
The Tees Barrage 10k road race at
Stockton-on-Tees, on Sunday 5th May 2008.
Terry crossed the finish line in 32m50s.

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Young Athletes League !
Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes squad were badly hit by a
number of absentees when they finished fourth in their opening
Northern League Division 1 match at Monkton Stadium on Sunday 4th May.
Nevertheless Team Managers Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow did their
level best to tactically place those who could turn out to the best advantage.

Despite the loss of athletes there were a number of
excellent performances across the three age groups.

In the Under 17 Womens section Rachel Moody claimed
excellent victories in the Long Jump (4.23m) and Shot (8.57m).

Stevie Goodfellow went alone in the Triple Jump
to gain maximum points with a best of 8.66m
and followed that up with an excellent second in the 200m (28.9s)
with Kathryn Lake taking second in the B race in 29.0s.

After a hard day at York the previous day competing for the Seniors,
Deborah Oakley competed in the 3000m to finish third in 11m32.3s,
then later finished third in the 1500m in 5m35.4s,
and Jessica Caldwell took the B race in 5m48.3s.

There were good performances to be seen in the
Under 15 age group with Rachel Denton, Hannah Rank
and Jonny Nisbet all capturing the spotlight.
Denton claimed a superb victory in the Girls 800m in 2m23.3s,
a new personal best, which saw her finish well clear of her nearest rival.
Ellen Welsh ran well to finish second in the B race in 3m05.3s

Morpeth claimed an excellent double victory in the Girls 1500m
with Hannah Rank taking the A race in 5m06.7s
and Miriam Inverarity took the B race in 5m50s.
Rank also finished second in the Shot with 5.92m.

There were excellent second places for Anna Matthews
in the 200m (28.8s) and Ismay Kitson in the Javelin (10.77m)

Jonny Nisbet and Tom McGhee combined well to claim an
excellent Morpeth double victory in the Boys 200m
with Nisbet taking the A race in 27.4s and McGhee the B race in 31.2s.
Nisbett also finished second in the 1500m (4m47.2s)
a new personal best by almost thirty seconds,
and McGhee finished second in the Long Jump with 4.15m.
Another highlight was Philip Caldwell's second in the 80m Hurdles with 18.1s.

In the Under 13 age group Joe Robertshaw's victories in the 100m (13.9s)
and 200m (27.9s) certainly caught the eye.
Added to that he was agonisingly 9cm short of making a reasonable claim
of a hat-trick of victories with his best Long Jump effort of 3.91m.

In the Girls events Adele Stewart and Eve Shashova's performances
were outstanding with a double victory being claimed in the 800m
with respective clockings of 2m51.1s and 2m58.9s.
Stewart also finished second in the High Jump with a best clearance of 1.10m
and Steph Purvis came second in the B String with 1.05m.

There were very satisfactory debuts for Ryan Dodds and Liam Brooks.
Dodds finished third in the 75m Hurdles (16.7s)
and Brooks also placed third in the 1500m in 5m30.9s.

FINAL MATCH RESULT
1st Harrogate 360pts,
2nd Lincoln Wellington 354pts,
3rd Chester Le Street 233pts,
4th Morpeth 195pts.

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Senior Men & Womens Northern League Division 2 !
Huntington Stadium in York was the venue for Morpeth Harriers
first taste of Senior Men and Womens Northern League
Division 2 Track and Field action on Saturday 3rd May.
Despite a number of gaps in both sections, some good characteristic
performances saw them finish fourth of the six competing teams.

One of the pleasing major highlights from Morpeth's
point of view was to see debutant Ian Mawdesley
win the A race of the Mens 110m Hurdles in fine style in 18.7s,
with Team Captain John Thompson throwing in his all by taking
his place in the B race to finish second in 22.7s.
Mawdesley again played his part enormously by winning
the B race of the 400m Hurdles in 69.4s
to add to Ray Kirkup's fourth in the A race in 66.2s.

Chris Sampson ran well to beat City of York's Andy Hilton
to the finish line in the 3000m Steeplechase to win in 9m32.6s,
and David Swinburne finished second in the B race in 10m15.4s.

In the Mens Field events Angus Wood did well to finish second
in the High Jump with a clearance of 1.65m.
Paul Appleby threw 37.62m to finish third in the Javelin,
and John Thompson backed him up well to finish third
in the B event with 36.00m.

In the Womens events Laura Weightman landed a victory in the 800m
clocking 2m11.6s which was fractionally just adrift of her personal best.
Natalie Young backed her up well by taking second in the B race in 2m27.7s.
Weightman also did well when finishing third in the 400m in 60.3s
and Rachel Archer finished second in the B race with 64.1s.

Elaine Telford finished third in both the 100m (12.8s) and the 200m (26.6s)
Archer backed her up in the 200m when finishing fourth in the B race in 27.4s.

Aiveen Fox finished third in the 3000m in 11m29.2s
and Deborah Oakley finished second in the B race in 11m56.2s.

In the Womens Field events as usual it was Claire Reid
at the helm of Morpeth's points haul by finishing second
in the Discus (30.99m) and second in the Shot (10.07m)

FINAL MATCH SCORE
1st City of York 447pts,
2nd Gateshead Harriers 345pts,
3rd Middlesbrough (Mandale) 340pts,
4th Morpeth Harriers 286pts,
5th Durham City 269pts,
6th Scarborough 186pts.

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BUSA Track & Field Championships !
A close and very exciting finish saw Morpeths Jonathan Taylor
representing Teeside University, snatch victory in the Mens 1500m
from Darlington's Lewis Moses representing Loughborough, at the
BUSA Track and Field Championships held at Bedford on Monday 5th May.
Jonathan Taylor clocked 3m45.61s, a new personal best,
with Lewis Moses also getting a new personal best of 3m45.72s.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League !
Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman showed that she is now virtually
back to her sparkling best as she knocked a whole three seconds
off her personal best time in the 1500m at the first Start Fitness
North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at a rainswept
Monkton Stadium, Jarrow on Wednesday 30th April.
She certainly took every advantage when running as the only Female
against older Men and Boys, to cross the finish line in an excellent 4m23.4s.

Another good Morpeth performer on the night was Joe Robertshaw,
who won the Under 13 Boys 100m in 13.5s.

Other Morpeth performers on the night were
Katie Plant Under 15 Girls 75m Hurdles (16.0s) and 100m (14.5s)
Daniel Hedley (18.1s) Under 17 Mens 150m and (39.7s) 300m,
Claire Reid (10.54m) Senior Womens Shot and (16.75m) Hammer,
Martyn Cairns (4m35.4s) Under 20 Mens 1500m,
Deborah Oakley (5m49.1s) Under 17 Womens 1500m.

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Bupa Great Edinburgh 10k !
Morpeths Craig McBurney finished 27th in the
Bupa Great Edinburgh 10k on Sunday 4th May
in a time of 37m18s.
McBurney is just making a comeback to the sport
after service in the Armed Forces in Basra.

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Dalton in Furness Charter 10k !
Morpeths Ben Harrison won the Dalton in Furness Charter 10k
on Friday 2nd May in a time of 33m35s.
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April

News From April 2008

Paul Fairbrother Takes A Break !
Unfortunately Paul Fairbrother has been forced to put his athletics
comeback on hold following an accident when Skiing off-piste in the Cairngorms.
He says he is going to be away from running for at least a year
after breaking his left leg and damaging numerous ligaments into the bargain.
However to show that he has not lost any of his humerous spirit,
or indeed admiration admiration and thought for his club he has
adorned his cast-brace in club colours as per the picture.
We all hope you are very well soon Paul.

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Blyth Valley Transped 10K Road Race !
Former Blyth Valley 10 mile winner Les Atkinson
was Morpeth Harriers first finisher at the
Blyth Valley Transped 10k Road Race on Sunday 27th April.

Les was tenth of 397 finishers in a time of 35m09s
and was first Over 50 Veteran Male finisher.
Nineteen seconds behind him in eleventh place was his clubmate Ross Floyd.
with Gordon Dixon finishing 19th in 36m46s,
Morpeth finished third in the Mens Team race
behind North Shields Poly and Elswick Harriers.

In the Womens Team race Morpeth Harriers finished as
seventh team being led home by Sue Calvert who finished
154th overall and was 25th Lady, 4th O/40 Female, and finished in 44m54s.
Further team support came from Pam Woodcock (35th Lady)
(2nd Over 55 Female) (193rd) 46m39s,
and Sue Smith (54th Lady) (11th Over 40 Lady) (270th) 50m23s.

Other Morpeth Harriers results were as follows,
Michael Winter (39th) 38m37s,
Archie Jenkins (40th) (1st O/55) 38m39s,
Richard Driscoll (50th) (2nd O/55) 39m13s,
Graeme Leathard (54th) (6th O/40) 39m26s,
Jim Alder (59th) (11th O/45) 40m07s,
Michael McKean (79th) (12th O/40) 41m07s,
Nick Armstrong (89th) (13th O/40) 41m39s,
Simon Robson (92nd) 41m46s,
David Gray (112th) (3rd O/60) 42m35s,
Alan Hyde (115th) (17th O/40) 42m47s,
Ricky Davidson (148th) 44m22s,
Trevor Robinson (168th) (22nd O/40) 45m34s,
Stephen McDonald (184th) (26th O45) 46m19s,
Bernie Cordes (186th) (1st O/70) 46m22s,
Colin Cecil (241st) (39thO/40) 48m50s
Jane Blackett (330th) (8th O/45 Lady) 55m05s Suzanne Milward (362nd) (8th O/50 Lady) 57m23s.

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ERRA National Road Relay Championships !
A change of rules thwarted Morpeth Harriers in their efforts
to pull a full squad together for their challenge at the
National 12 Stage Road Relays held at Sutton Park,
Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham on Saturday 26th April.

The organisers informed the club three weeks ago that they would
have to cut back their intended entry of 36 runners to 24 which put
them in a very tricky position with most of the clubs top runners rendered
unavailable because of injuries and other commitments.
This left them unable to call upon some of their regular unsung
road runners who would have at least guaranteed they
would once again finish in the competition,
although they would be placed well outside of medal placing.
Instead, Team Captain David Swinburne was left with only seven runners
including himself to make the journey to the Midlands.

First Leg runner Chris Sampson came home in 25th place in 27m51s.
Jonathan Taylor on second leg carved through the opposition in front
of him to climb up to an excellent twelfth, clocking
an equally excellent eighth fastest Short Stage time of 14m17s.

Ben Harrison on third leg slipped back to 20th with 28m56s,
a position that Jonny Young held throughout his fourth stage effort of 15m05s.

Next two legs brought out the Veteran talents of Phil Walker,
making his National 12 Stage debut for Morpeth, and
Paul Waterston who clocked 30m22s and 16m52s finishing
firstly in 23rd and then 24th places.

Finally David Swinburne signed off Morpeth's brave attempt at respectability
by finishing in 22nd place clocking an individual Long Stage seventh leg in 29m14s.

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Hamburg Marathon !
Ian Hudspith's dreams of making it to the Olympics came
to a sad and dramatic end in Hamburg on Sunday 27th April,
when he was forced to pull out having completed 18 of the 26 miles
of the only Marathon left available to him to gain qualification.

Having being forced out of London with illness the 36yr old had every
reason to believe he was in with a chance at halfway in Sunday's event,
however he began to struggle in the second half of the event
leading to him eventually stepping off the road.

Obviously he was bitterly disappointed, saying that it just wasn't to be,
he still wasn't alright after the illness and shouldn't have run,
but he felt that being his last chance, he had to give it a go.
It was upsetting, but he is resolved that he cannot do anything about it,
there was just nothing there when it mattered.

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Track & Field News !
Morpeth Harrier Jonny Young finished third in the 3000m B Race at the
BMC Watford Open Meeting on Wednesday 23rd April in a time of 8m45.67s

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British Orienteering Championships !
Adrian Barnes of Morpeth Harriers continued his long
and distinguished Orienteering experience by taking the
British Over 55 Mens Short Course Championship
in Culbin Forest, near Inverness at the weekend, 19th/20th April.

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Redcar Half Marathon !
Ben Harrison was Morpeth Harriers leading finisher in the
Tees Valley Leisure sponsored Redcar Half Marathon
on Sunday 20th April.
Harrison made the long journey from Kirkby Lonsdale
in Cumbria to finish twelfth in 73m59s.
Other good Morpeth performances
came from Mike Winter (68th) 85m44s,
Ian Corner (120th) 89m25s
and Alan Hyde (147th) 91m08s.

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Rothwell 10k Road Race !
Morpeth Harrier Phil Walker travelled to Leeds on Sunday 20th April
and finished 7th in the Rothwell 10k Road race in a time of 33m41s.
That placing also saw him finish second in the Over 40 Veteran Mens section.

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Gateshead Harriers Track & Field Meeting !
Sarah Wilkes of Morpeth Harriers began her Track and Field season
with great determination and success when she competed in
Round 1 of 5 Rounds in the Gateshead Harriers Young Athletes
meetings at Gateshead International Stadium on Sunday 20th April.

She cleared 3.40m to win the Under 12's Long Jump,
she won her heat in the 60m in 9.8s
and finished third in the final in 9.6s.
Sarah went on to finish 4th in the 600m in 2m17s,
and 4th in the Javelin with 6.5m.
All of these efforts gave her a total of 14 Grand Prix points
placing her second overall after one round.

Gateshead Harriers also held their Medal Track Meeting
alongside the Young Athletes meeting,
and several Morpeth Harriers produced prominent performances.

Daniel Hedley finished fifth in the Under 17 Mens 100m
in 12.5s and fourth in the 200m in 25.1s.

Elaine Telford finished second in the Senior Womens 100m in 13.3s.

Rachel Denton had an excellent run of 2m26.18s
to finish second in the Under 15 Girls 800m.

Natalie Young finished third in the Junior Womens 1500m in 4m55.73s.

Rachel Archer finished fifth in the Senior Womens 200m in 27.9s.

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News From America !
Morpeth Harrier Lewis Timmins finished second in the Mens 5000m
at The McDonnell Invitational Track and Field meeting held
at Fayetteville, Arkansas in America on April 19th. Timmins time was 14m09.91s.

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Flora London Marathon !
Unfortunately illness prevented Morpeths Ian Hudspith taking his place
on the start line at the 28th Flora London Marathon on Sunday 13th April,
and he must now look towards the possibility of another chance in Hamburg,
Germany in two weeks time to convince Great Britains Olympic selectors
hat he is a worthy candidate for Beijing.

There is no doubt that had he been fit, the conditions
in London on Sunday would have suited him.
Seven of his club colleagues did make the start line however,
and they were led home by Paul Waterston who finished
159th overall and was 22nd in the M40 veteran category.
His finishing time was 2hrs38min15secs,
having gone through halfway in 1hr17min52secs.
Second home from Morpeth Harriers was Gordon Dixon
who clocked 2hrs44min03secs to finish 276th
and 10th in the M45 veteran category.

Only seven seconds divided Morpeth's third and fourth finishers
Hamish McCallister-Williams and Ian Corner, who finished
2,282nd and 2,299th respectively in the Mens race in
3hrs14mins23secs and 3hrs14mins30secs.

Michelle Woodley was Morpeth's next finisher in 3hrs17mins39secs,
and was 140th in the Womens race.
Kate Chapman was the clubs sixth finisher in 155th place
in the Womens race in 3hrs19mins03secs,
and Steve McDonald was the final Morpeth finisher in
3hrs43mins49secs in 6,295th place in the Mens race.

In the London Mini Marathon also on Sunday 13th April,
Morpeths Laura Weightman finished fourth in the
15 to 17 year old girls category in the Non London Borough event.

In addition to Laura Weightman, eight other Morpeth Harriers
took part in the series of Mini Marathons that accompanied
the 28th running of the Flora London Marathon.

Natalie Young and Claire Pitt finished 54th and 67th
respectively in the 15 to 17 year old Girls event
that saw Laura finish fourth, although Laura finished up fifth
in the result sheet purely down to the chip recording system.

In the Boys 15 to 17 year age group, Jordan Scott and
Alistair Douglass finished 62nd and 73rd respectively.

Rachel Denton and Hannah Rank finished 14th and 34th
in a quality filled 13 to 14 year old Girls event.

In the 11 to 12 year old Girls event Adele Stewart finished in 63rd place.

Reece Ramsay finished 67th in the 11 to 12 year old Boys event.

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Wallsend Harriers Multi-Terrain Race !
Three Morpeth Harriers took part in Wallsend Harriers Multi Terrain Race
at the Rising Sun Country Park on Sunday 13th April.
First home was Alistair MacDonald who was 7th M40
Veteran when he placed 22nd overall in 30m01s.
Archie Jenkins was first M55 Veteran when he finished 30th overall in 30m42s.
Mike Steven finished 69th in 34m31s and was 8th in the M50 Veterans section.

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Anne Marie Readshaw Open Track & Field Meeting !
Two Morpeth Harriers took part in the Anne Marie Readshaw Open
Track & Field meeting held at Stadium 2000 in Shildon on Sunday 13th April.
Elaine Telford finished 4th in the Senior Womens 100m in 13.4s.
Daniel Hedley competed in three Under 17 Mens events.
After finishing third in his heat of the 100m in 12.6s,
he finished 8th in the final in a slightly faster 12.5s.
He finished 4th in the 200m in 25.9s and 5th in the 400m in 58.5s.

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North of England 12 Stage Road Relays !
Although they failed to retain their North of England 12 Stage Road Relay
title at a wintry Catterick Garrison on Sunday 6th April,
Morpeth Harriers Senior Men battled bravely throughout to eventually finish sixth,
with some excellent runs coming from Jonathan Taylor, Terry Wall, Jonny Young
and London Marathon bound Ian Hudspith.

Taylor really got them off to an excellent start on Leg One,
when he completed his long 5 mile circuit in third place in 28m01s,
and only 24 seconds adrift of the early leaders Bolton
and fifteen seconds adrift of second placed Liverpool.

Terry Wall took over on the 3mile second leg,
and although he lost a couple of places, his time of 15m47s
only saw him lose a further six seconds on new leaders,
and still well within easy reach of Derby and Bolton
now occupying second and third places.

The lead changed yet again on third leg with Liverpool
going into a nine second lead courtesy of their former
International 800m specialist Curtis Robb
who is once again looking a serious force,
albeit at a new distance and level.

Leeds had now dropped to second, with Derby now in third,
and Bingley had come through to fourth and Morpeth
had remained fifth courtesy of Ross Floyd's 16m18s.

Morpeth's fourth leg runner Nick Swinburn found himself
in a hotbed of good runners and he slipped to eighth with
a 5mile clocking of 30m26s which at that point proved
to be over two and a half minutes adrift of medal placings.

Thankfully at this stage a very much inform Jonny Young came into the fray,
and he produced an excellent short 5th stage clocking of 15m40s,
which proved to be sixth fastest of the leg, and was enough to claw back a place,
and brought Morpeth back to one minute and thirty seven seconds adrift of medals.

Leg 6 with the threatened snow flurries beginning to take more effect,
saw Ian Hudspith run a superb second fastest of the day short leg time of 14m19s,
and took Morpeth back up to third and in very close contention for second.

With the snow falling heavily Ben Harrison set off on Leg 7,
which was the two lap 5mile effort,
and he got round in 30m48s to finish seventh.

The snow continued throughout Legs 8 and 9 which saw
Phil Walker on his North of England 12 Stage debut for
Morpeth, and Mark Hudspith making a long awaited
comeback after various illnesses and injuries.

Walker got round in 16m46s to finish in sixth place,
and Hudspith held this placing throughout his excellent 18m36s.

Morpeth held this placing throughout Legs 10, 11 and 12
with David Swinburne, Chris Sampson and Neil Wilkinson
clocking 30m15s, 15m33s and 15m57s, respectively.

Morpeth's total finishing time was 4hrs05.26s
with Leeds coming out winners in 3m57.08s.

Unfortunately Morpeth were unable to field a Womens squad
for the Womens 6 Stage Relays due to illness and injuries.

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Hartlepool Marina `5` Road Race !
Morpeths Alistair and Margaret MacDonald competed in the
Hartlepool Marina `5` race at Hartlepool on Sunday 6th April.
Alistair crossed the line in 29m51s finishing 22nd
and he was 4th M40 in the vets category.
Margaret finished 124th with a time of 40m15s
and was second in the Womens F40 category.

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South Shields Sand Dancer 10k !
Three of Morpeth Harriers Vets were competing
at the weekend in the South Shields Sand Dancer
10k Multi-terrain event on Sunday 6th April.

Archie Jenkins was the first V55 to cross the line,
finishing 15th with a time of 38m24s.
Paul Bentley was third in the V60 category,
finishing 38th with a time of 41m48s.
Second in the V70 category was Bernie Cordes
who was 93rd in 48m43s.

Their efforts contributed to Morpeth
finishing 6th in the Mens team race.

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Great Ireland 10k Road Race !
Morpeths Nick McCormick finished fourth in the Great Ireland 10k
Road race held in Dublin's Phoenix Park on Sunday 6th April.
His clocking was an excellent 29m18s as he finished behind winner
Abraham Chebil of Kenya 28m48s, Ahmed Abdullah Hassan of Quatar 28m51s,
and European Cross Country Champion Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine 28m59s.

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Coniston 14mile Road Race !
Morpeths Michael McKean travelled to Cumbria
on Saturday 5th April to finish 64th in the annual
Coniston 14mile Road Race in 94m09s.

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March

News From March 2008

Cyril Elliott Memorial Open Track & Field Meeting !
Morpeth Harrier Jordan Scott produced an excellent performance to finish
second in the 3000m at the Cyril Elliott Memorial Open Track & Field Meeting
at Claireville Stadium, Middlesbrough on Saturday 29th March.

Jordan clocked 9m46.2s putting him 26 seconds adrift
of race winner Andrew Wills of Gateshead Harriers.

Other Morpeth Harriers to feature at the meeting
were Daniel Hedley and Greg Swinburn.
Hedley finished fourth in the Under 17 Mens 100m in 12.9s,
and fifth in the 200m in 26.0s.
Swinburn finished seventh in the Under 20 Mens 400m in 57.0s,
and second in the 200m in 24.1s.

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Indoor Standards Meeting !
At the final Indoor Standards Meeting held at Gateshead Stadium,
Morpeth's Joe Robertshaw triumphed in the Under 13 Boys 60m in 8.63s.

Melissa Anderson of Morpeth won the
Senior Womens 60m in 8.04s at the same meeting.

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North Tyneside 10k Road Race !
Nick Swinburn became the third Morpeth Harrier to taste
success in the ultra popular North Tyneside 10k Road Race,
which was run for the fourth time on Sunday 23rd March.

He was always to the fore in a leading group of five that stole away
in the early stages, that included 2007 winner James Buis of Heaton,
2007 runner up Mike Griffiths of Newcastle Staffs AC,
Chester Le Street's Stewy Bell, and his fellow Morpeth clubmate Nathan Shrubb,
and on four occasions facing a strong headwind he tried to make a significant break.
It wasn't until around 400m from home on the Links at Whitley Bay that Nick
managed to put some daylight between himself and the others.
Shrubb and Buis gave desperate chase whilst Griffiths and Bell wilted somewhat.
Nick Swinburn's victory was never sure until he crossed the finish line
near St Mary's Lighthouse in a time of 33m21s, and only two seconds ahead
of Nathan Shrubb, with James Buis a further four seconds adrift in third place.

Morpeth Harriers also took the Mens Team race for the third year
in succession with third and fourth counters Ross Floyd and Bill Gilroy
finishing ninth and nineteenth in respective times of 35m00s and 37m14s.

Other Morpeth Harriers finishers were as follows
Alistair MacDonald (29th) 38m19s,
Michael Winter (48th) 39m47s,
Graeme Leathard (68th) 40m15s,
Ian Corner (73rd) 40m31s,
Jim Alder (90th) 41m31s,
Alan Hyde (152nd) 43m25s,
Nick Armstrong (218th) 44m58s
and Mike Steven (249th) 45m37s. Faye Glover (362nd) 47m54s
Trevor Robinson (363rd) 47m55s
Claire Bruce (408th) 48m39s
Margaret MacDonald (440th) 49m26s
Shuna Rank (477th) 49m53s
Ricky Davidson (483rd) 49m56s
Susan Smith (612th) 52m16s
Jane Blackett (836th) 55m34s
Suzanne Millward (968th) 57m38s.

Congratulations go to North Tyneside Council for their splendid organisation,
and to North Shields Polytechnic Athletic Club and UK Officials
for ensuring once again the smooth running of this popular event,
which this year attracted a total entry of 1,903 people.
Although the cold wind prevailed, the promised
snow stayed away during the run itself.

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Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races !
Three individual and two team victories brought warmth to the hearts
of the Morpeth Harriers hierarchy at the annual Elswick Harriers
Good Friday Road Races, held at a cold and blustery Newburn Business Park.

On the eve to his return to his American College base, Lewis Timmins
clocked the fastest time of the day of 10m38s to spur
Morpeth Harriers Senior Men to yet another relay victory with splendid
support also coming from Nick Swinburn (11m18s) (10th Fastest)
Mark Hudspith (11m17s) (9th Fastest) and Ian Hudspith (10m45s) (2nd Fastest)

After Swinburn's first leg had seen the squad come home in fourth place,
Timmins took up the fight and they never looked back after he grabbed the lead,
eventually stealing to a two minute marginal victory, with Chester Le Street just
pipping Sunderland Harriers to the Silver medal placing.
Fifteen seconds adrift of Sunderland in fourth place were Morpeth's B team
courtesy of Ross Floyd (11m34s), Neil Wilkinson (11m37s)
Nathan Shrubb (11m24s) and David Swinburne (11m38s)
Marc Cochrane (12m25s) and Jim Alder (13m58s)
ran for an incomplete Morpeth Senior Mens B team.

Morpeth's second team victory of the day came in the Under 13 Boys event.
They also had the pleasure of seeing North East Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington claim individual victory in 9m46s,
with Jonnie Nisbet finishing in second place in 9m50s.
The winning team score was closed with Jack Hepple
coming home in eleventh place in 10m45s.
Other Morpeth finishers in the Under 13 Boys event were
Jonny Anderson (17th) 11m06s, Liam Brooks (19th) 11m09s,
Ben Steel (33rd) 12m13s and Matthew Denton (38th) 13m10s.

Rachel Denton scored a superb individual victory in the Under 15 Girls event.
She won with seven seconds to spare over Gosforth's Rosie King with her time of 10m16s.
Morpeth unfortunately just missed out on team success to Gosforth despite
an excellent third place by Hannah Rank in a time of 10m34s.
Rachael Steel closed Morpeth's scoring three with
an excellent run to finish seventh in 11m26s.
It was on a countback situation that Gosforth won,
with both clubs being all square on points.
Other Morpeth finishers in the Under 15 Girls event were
Ailsa McGregor (11th) 12m05s and Catriona MacDonald (19th) 13m15s.

Morpeth's third individual victory of the day came in the
Under 15 Boys event where Marcus Cram won with twenty
two seconds to spare over his closest rival Jake Archer of Sunderland Harriers.
It was at the point where the runners had the wind to their backs that Marcus
took off in search of victory, and he crossed the finish line in 11m54s.
Unfortunately Morpeth could not field a scoring three here,
as Philip Shuttleworth produced an excellent run to finish eighth in 12m55s.

Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men finished in third team place
behind favourites Sunderland with host club Elswick claiming second place.
Despite running with a leg injury David Steel got round in 13m01s
to come home in sixth place on Leg One.
Paul Waterston got them up to third on second leg
with his clocking of 12m20s (7th Fastest)
and Gordon Dixon (13m02s) and Phil Walker (12m04s) (3rd Fastest)
held this position over the final two legs.

Richard Driscoll (13m50s), Alistair MacDonald (13m03s)
and Archie Jenkins (14m20s) ran in an incomplete
Morpeth Veteran Mens B team,
and were lying seventh after the third leg.

Sarah Wilkes led Morpeth's Under 13 Girls home to fifth team
place when she finished 14th of 28 in 12m20s.
Further team support came from Carley Mae Webster (16th) 12m36s
and Francesca Price, in her first competitive outing, (18th) 12m53s.
Another Morpeth runner in this event was Rachael Todd who finished 24th in 13m38s.

Alistair Douglass was Morpeth's lone Under 17 Mens runner,
and he ran excellently to finish 8th in 12m18s.

Morpeth's Senior Women finished as tenth team.
They were led home by Laura Dixon who produced
an excellent run to finish 19th of 48 finishers.
She clocked 14m52s and was second Under 20 Woman.
Team support came courtesy of Zoe Armstrong (27th) 15m15s,
and Rebecca Turnbull (35th) 15m35s.
Margaret MacDonald also ran for Morpeth in this event,
finishing in 42nd place in 16m25s.

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Isle of Man Running Festival !
Three excellent performances saw Morpeth Harrier Sarah Graham
finish second cumulatively in the Womens events at the
Isle of Man Running Festival held over Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday.
On Good Friday she finished fourth in the Womens 10k event in 38m37s.
Sarah competed in the Peel Hill Race on Saturday where she finished third,
and she rounded it all off on Sunday when she finished third in the 5k Race in 18m25s

Fellow Morpeth Harrier Ben Harrison travelled to compete
in the Mens 10k on Good Friday where he finished 27th in
35m06s, and on Saturday he finished 24th in the Hill Race.
Those combined placings made him 22nd in the Mens section at that stage.

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Mermaid 10k Road Race !
Morpeth Harrier Terry Wall finished fourth in the Mermaid 10k Road Race
held in Marske, Cleveland on Good Friday.
Terry clocked 34m13s, which put him just over a minute adrift
of race winner Patrick Martin of Sunderland Harriers.

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Little Strickland 10mile Road Race !
Ben Harrison of Morpeth Harriers won the Little Strickland 10mile Road Race
held in in Penrith on Sunday 16th March in 58m56s.

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Inter Counties Cross Country Championships !
Three Morpeth Harriers played their part in a superb
Senior Mens Team victory by the North Eastern Counties at the
Inter Counties Cross Country Championships held at
Wollaton Park, Nottingham on Saturday 15th March.

Ian Hudspith finished an excellent ninth to lead the squad home,
and he was well supported by club colleagues Lewis Timmins
and Nick Swinburn who were second and sixth counters in
sixteenth and forty eighth places respectively.
Hudspith was always up with the leaders, and the fact that he was only
just under forty seconds away from an individual medal amongst younger
opposition is pure testimony to an excellent performance.

It was also a particularly fruitfull day for Timmins, as he had to make
the journey from his base in America to compete.
He had contacted Team Boss Steve O'Gara several weeks before,
declaring an interest to run, and that he was in excellent form,
and he more than repaid the faith shown him by turning in this performance.

For Swinburn's part, it was again an excellent performance amongst older athletes,
and again repaid the faith shown in him after his superb English National last month.
Although a non scorer, Morpeth's Mark Brown ran competitively to finish in 115th place.

The North East were very unlucky to lose out in very close
team finishes in the Senior Womens and Under 15 Boys events.
In both cases they finished fourth, and only 24 and 15 points adrift respectively.

Morpeth's Jane Mooney, who unfortunately missed
the English National due to illness ran well to finish as fourth
counter in 78th place for the Senior Womens squad.
One place ahead of her was her club colleague Delyth James,
who had managed to gain a "wild card" entry as an individual from the organisers.
These were both excellent performances in a total field of 254 finishers.

Marcus Cram of Morpeth gave an excellent performance in the
Under 15 Boys event to finish as second counter for
the North East in nineteenth place of 281 finishers.

Morpeth's Marc Cochrane repaid the faith of the selectors
to finish as fourth counter in 91st place for a North East
Junior Mens squad that finished in tenth team place.

Another North East squad that finished tenth were the Under 13 Boys,
and three Morpeth Harriers played their parts excellently.
Superb runs by Jonny Nisbet and North East Champion
Adam Harrington saw them finish in 35th and 37th places
respectively and only a second apart in the final run in
that saw them as first and second counters.
Lewis Coyle produced an excellent performance to come
home as fourth counter in 80th place out of 298 finishers.
Eighth and final finisher for the North East
was Jack Hepple who placed 181st.

Morpeths Rachel Denton led the North East's Under 15 Girls squad
home to 13th team place when finishing 58th in a field of 274 finishers.
Clubmate and training partner Hannah Rank was
a non scorer as fifth from the region in 95th place.

The North East's Under 17 Womens squad who were hit by the loss of
former Inter Counties Champion Laura Weightman,
finished in sixteenth team place.

Natalie Young of Morpeth produced a superb performance to come
home as second counter in 70th place out of 240 finishers.

Although a non scorer, Morpeth's Jordan Scott answered his late
call up to the North East's Under 17 Mens squad by finishing 145th of 258 finishers.

Morpeth's Laura Dixon finished 111th in the Junior Womens event.

Its thought that the North East Counties may have won
the overall trophy by completing as a prominent team
in all of the ten events to count in the competition.

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Ackworth Half Marathon !
Five Morpeth Harriers took part in the Ackworth Half Marathon on Sunday 16th March.
Paul Waterston was first home for the club in 17th place in 75m32s.
He was third in the Over 40 Veteran category.
Mike Winter finished 77th in 84m50s and Ian Corner was 100th in 87m13s.
The combination of Waterston, Winter and Corner gave
Morpeth Harriers 11th place in the Mens Team Race.

Other Morpeth results were
Steve McDonald (266th) 99m58s
and Pam Woodcock (326th) 103m59s.
Pam's placing made her first in the Over 55 Ladies section.

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BUSA Indoor Athletics Championships !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor took a Bronze medal in the 3000m
at the BUSA Indoor Athletics Championships in
Sheffield on Sunday 16th March.
He was just outside his personal best with 8m34.44s.
The race was won by fellow Teessider
Ricky Stevenson who clocked 8m30.89s.

Morpeths Jonathan Young finished ninth in the 1500m.
Jonathan clocked 4m03.50s.

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New President For The Club !
At the clubs AGM held at Morpeth Rugby Club on Tuesday 11th March,
Club President Ernie Slaughter announced that he was
standing down from office after 23 years at the helm.
Ernie, who is the longest serving member of the club,
having joined as a prominent youth in 1947,
not long after the clubs formation, felt that the time was right for
someone younger to come in, and he would welcome the opportunity to
take a back seat after years of what all those present agreed was excellent service.

He was honoured however to accept the title of Honorary President,
and went on to say he would keep a watchfull eye on things,
and hoped that the club would continue to gain success,
he was a very proud man and praised the work of his fellow officers
and the coaches at the club who had continued to persevere through difficult times.

The man elected to step into Ernie's shoes was former
Commonwealth Games Marathon Champion
and long time Club stalwart Jim Alder MBE.
This is much deserved after the devotion and hard work
he has put in over many years to both promote and bring
success not only to his club, but also the town of Morpeth.

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Trafford 10k
A superb run of 31m40s saw Morpeth Harrier Nick Swinburn
finish as first Junior Man in the Trafford 10k road race
held at Partington in Manchester on Sunday 9th March.
Swinburn finished in 16th place overall and was nearly
a minute clear of his nearest Junior rival.

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World Indoor Championships
Luckless Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick just missed out on a place
in the final of the Mens 3000m at the World Indoor Championships,
held in Valencia, Spain on Saturday 8th March.
Despite clocking a faster time than the winner of the slower of the two qualifying heats,
McCormick could only finish ninth in 8m00.01s, which meant the eight in front of him,
including four fastest losers, went through, and the first four
in the slower heat went through as of right.
One of those four in the slower heat was fellow Brit Mo Farah,
who finished third in 8m04.65s.

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English Schools Cross Country Championships
Eleven Morpeth Harriers competed for Northumberland at the
English Schools Cross Country Championships held at
Sefton Park, Liverpool on Saturday 8th March.

On a day when the county certainly underperformed,
there was brightness in the individual performance of Rachel Denton,
and the best team performance being achieved by
the Intermediate Boys who finished eleventh.

In Denton's case she ran very competitively to come home in 24th place
and led Northumberland's Junior Girls home to 22nd team place.
Other Morpeth Harriers amongst the counters in this age group
were Hannah Rank (135th) and Rachael Steel (225th),
who were third and sixth for the county.

The Intermediate Boys were helped in their eleventh placed effort by
Morpeth's Alistair Douglass, who in finishing 139th was fifth counter.

Although Laura Weightman's form is still a worrying factor,
she managed to lead Northumberland's Senior Girls home to
20th team place with her individual placing of 22nd.
A lack of regular racing this winter did not daunt Natalie Young
when she came home as third counter in 101st place.

Northumberland's Intermediate Girls finished in 22nd team place
and were helped by Morpeth's Claire Pitt (187th) (4th counter)
and Zoe Armstrong (218th) (6th counter)
Although not a counter Deborah Oakley
competed well to finish in 236th place.

Northumberland's Junior Boys finished in 25th team place with
Morpeth's Jonny Nisbet being their fifth counter in 161st place.

Jordan Scott of Morpeth was second counter for
the Senior Boys who finished in 30th team place.
His individual placing was 145th.

Recent rain had made the Sefton Park course a little tricky in places,
with tightness of space also being experienced in several cases by athletes.

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City of Salisbury 10mile Road Race
Morpeths Andrew Lawrence clocked a new personal
best time of 56m44s when finishing fifth in the
City of Salisbury 10mile Road Race on Sunday 9th March.

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Scottish Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships
Competing in the Boys 15 to 17 year age group, Morpeth Harrier Marcus Cram
led his Fettes College of Edinburgh team - mates to fourth team place in the
Scottish Secondary Schools Cross Country Championships held in Irvine on Saturday 8th March.
Marcus finished eighth and was thirteen seconds adrift of a Bronze medal.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 6 )
The final Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League fixture
held at Prudhoe on Saturday 1st March, saw Morpeth Harriers
round off their season by clinching team success in the
Senior Mens and Under 13 Boys sections, and Mark Brown,
Adam Harrington and Deborah Oakley all won best performance awards.
Brown confirmed his individual success in the strong wind on Saturday
by coming home in eighth place from the Fast Pack,
easily recording the fastest time of the day,
and leading Morpeth Harriers to fourth team place,
and first from Division 2, which confirmed their divisional victory
and promoted them to Division 1 next term.

Further team support for Morpeth came from excellent runs by
Alistair MacDonald (10th) (Slow Pack)
David Steel (32nd) (Medium Pack)
Mike Winter (42nd) (Slow Pack)
Jim Alder (54th) (Slow Pack)
and John Woods (83rd) (Medium Pack)

Morpeth's Under 13 Boys also confirmed themselves as
League champions by finishing third on the day,
and their leading finisher Jonny Nisbet also grabbed himself
a piece of the action by producing a superb run from
the Fast Pack to finish second, which in turn gave him a Silver Medal
for his individual performances for the season,
only beaten by clubmate Adam Harrington,
who missed Saturday's race to prepare for a school Skiing trip.

Nisbet was supported in Saturday's team effort by
Ryan Dodds (7th) (Slow Pack) and Ben Steel (21st) (Slow Pack)

Deborah Oakley ran excellently to finish third from the Fast Pack
in the combined Under 17 and Under 20 Womens event,
and confirmed herself as the seasons best performer for the age group.
Morpeth also finished as third team for the season behind Houghton and Gateshead.

Morpeth's Jordan Scott was second fastest on the day when
he finished fifth from the Fast Pack in the Under 17 Mens event.

In the Under 15 Boys event Philip Shuttleworth finished eighth from the Fast Pack.

Sarah Wilkes of Morpeth ran superbly to finish in fourth place
from the Slow Pack in the Under 13 Girls event.

In the Under 15 Girls event Rachel Steel also produced an
excellent run to finish in fourth place from the Fast Pack.

Margaret MacDonald finished 47th from the
Slow Pack in the Senior Womens event.

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Reading Half Marathon !
Morpeth Harrier Ian Hudspith finished ninth in the Asics sponsored
Reading Half Marathon on Sunday 2nd March in a time of 66m26s.

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Scottish Indoor Senior Track & Field Championships
Bronze medal success came to Morpeth Harrier Claire Reid in the Womens Shot Putt
at the Scottish Indoor Senior Track and Field Championships,
held at Glasgow's Kelvin Hall at the weekend (1st and 2nd March.)
Claire produced a best of 11.18m, which was actually only a centimetre adrift
of the Silver medal which was claimed by Birtley's Stephanie Hopkinson.
The event was won by Shaftesbury's Kirsty Law with a best of 12.22m.

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Mid Lancs Cross Country League
Morpeths Ben Harrison finished 26th
in the Senior Mens event at the
Mid Lancs Cross Country League meeting held at
Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday 1st March.

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February

News From February 2008

British Veterans Indoor Championships
Morpeth Harrier Archie Jenkins finished second in the
Over 55 Mens 3000m at the British Veterans Indoor Championships
at Lee Valley on February 23rd in a time of 10m28.68s.

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2008 English National XC Championships
In terms of individual performance, Adam Harrington's placing
of seventh in the Under 13 Boys event at the Saucony sponsored
English National Cross Country Championships,
held at Alton Towers in Staffordshire on Saturday 23rd February,
was the most outstanding from any Morpeth Harrier on the day.

The North East Champion went off strongly from the gun,
and held himself prominently throughout, and was only a
mere eight seconds adrift of a Silver medal at the finish line.
Northern Champion Fergus Roberts of Richmond and Zetland
had stolen well away to claim another Gold Medal victory.

Morpeth Harriers finished eighth in the team competition in this event
with Harrington's excellent run being well supported by Jonny Nisbet (26th)
Jack Hepple (84th) and Reece Ramsey (157th).

The best team effort for Morpeth came in the Junior Mens event where
they finished fourth and only fourteen points adrift of Bronze medal placing.
Nick Swinburn ran solidly throughout the three medium sized lap
event trying to hold onto a top fifteen place,
and was up against a lot of strong opposition.
However he stuck to the task in hand and finished in a well accomplished tenth place,
and had he not run out of ground, could possibly have clinched a top six placing.
Swinburn led the Morpeth squad home with further support coming from
Jonathan Taylor, Ross Floyd and a return to action man, Jonathan Young.
Taylor was quite evidently disappointed with his finishing of 21st
after being well up in the top five on lap one.
He suffered badly for pace on the second lap following a torturous hill section,
which was quite extraordinary considering his good form this winter.
Floyd was another who was going well until a bilious attack got the better
of him in the later stages and he slipped to a finishing place of 60th.

Having been out with injury and illness for most of this winter,
forced Jonathan Young to show some caution, however he ran with
a lot of determination to finish and complete the Morpeth scoring quartet.

Sixth team place against some strong opposition was a
good result for Morpeth's Under 17 Women.
Despite another slightly jaded performance by her own standards,
Laura Weightman led the Morpeth quartet home by finishing in seventeenth place.
Second counter home was Natalie Young, who like brother Jonathan,
was making a competitive comeback after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Natalie finished in 60th place.
Third counter was Zoe Armstrong, who had begun strongly,
but slipped a little in the later stages to eventually finish 92nd.
The scoring count was completed by Deborah Oakley who finished 103rd.

Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls finished as 16th team.
They were led home by Rachel Denton who finished in 25th place.
Hannah Rank was second counter in 79th place.
The Morpeth team counts here were completed by
Ailsa McGregor (183rd) and Catriona MacDonald (258th).

A bit of in house competing between Karl Taylor and Jordan Scott
led Morpeth's Under 17 Mens squad home to 21st team place.
After Scott had gone slightly ahead of Taylor at the end of the first lap,
Taylor chased him home and caught him just ahead of the finish line
to finish in 83rd place, with Scott finishing in 85th spot.
The scoring counts were completed by Alistair Douglass (96th)
and Daniel Hedley who finished 290th.

Morpeth Harriers Senior Womens hopes were dealt a heavy blow
on the journey down when Jane Mooney fell ill and only made it as far
as Washington Services on the A1 before having to return.
However they held their resolve to finish as 23rd team.
They were led home with an excellent run being
had by Sarah Graham who finished 68th.
Aiveen Fox struggled on the second lap and came home in 86th place.
The scoring counts were completed by Gwenda Cavill (221st)
and Michelle Muller (284th).

On a note of credibility, Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Girls squad
performed excellently to finish as 35th team.
Bearing in mind all of this squad are in the first year of their age group,
and will all be eligible to compete at the same level again next year,
their performance holds a great deal of promise for the future.
They were led home by the "mighty atom" tactics of tiny Sarah Wilkes,
who battled the tough natured course to finish in 229th place.
Excellent further support came from Adele Stewart (240th)
Stephanie Purvis (289th) and Eve Shashova (310th).

Back to individual performance, and Marcus Cram produced
a sound run to finish 28th in the Under 15 Boys event.
Unfortunately Morpeth could not close as a team in this event,
and other club finishers were Tom Brookes (292nd)
and an injured Philip Shuttleworth (330th).

In the Junior Womens event Morpeth's lone runner
was Laura Dixon who finished 99th.

Morpeth Harriers force at Senior Mens level appears to have
diminished somewhat at present, and this was clearly shown in the fact
that on this occasion they could only muster two finishers.
Ben Harrison finished in 254th place, and Paul Waterston,
despite his 22mile Road Race the previous week,
stuck it out during the three long lap affair to finish in 332nd place.

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Delyth Gets Bronze And Gold
Morpeths Delyth James produced her best run of the Winter
when she finished third in the Senior Womens event at the
Welsh Cross Country Championships, held in Singleton Park,
Swansea on Sunday 24th February.
That run not only brought her the Bronze medal,
it also brought her Gold as being the first of six
Under 23 athletes competing within the Senior event.
Delyth was also only three seconds adrift of second place overall.

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Good News For Nick McCormick
Good news, for Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick, who has now
been added to the Great Britain and Northern Ireland squad for the
forthcoming World Indoor Athletics Championships in Valencia, Spain.
McCormick will compete in the 3000m alongside fellow
Brit Mo Farah the current European 5000m Silver medallist.

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2007/2008 Border Winter Cross Country Series
Three young Morpeth Harriers have been achieving success in the
2007/2008 Winter Cross Country Series run in the Scottish Borders.
Over a series of six events that took place in Norham, Dunbar,
Galashiels, Peebles, Spittal and Lauder,
Sarah Wilkes, Steph Purvis and Eve Shashova overcame the challenge
of 34 other competitors in total in the Under12 Girls age group to
finish first, second and third respectively in the series.
The events took place between November 2007 and February 2008.

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2008 Vets Grand Prix
THE TOP 3 MEN FOR 2007 WERE
1. Paul Waterston
2. Richard Driscoll
3. Gordon Dixon

THE TOP 3 WOMEN FOR 2007 WERE
1. Sue Calvert
2. Michelle Woodley
3. Jane Blackett

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Flashlight Films
Morpeth Harrier Ian Brown has started up his own film company
called Flashlight Films, click on the link below.
Find out more.......

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 5 )
There were a number of confidence boosting performances generated
around the Morpeth Harriers camp in preparation for this weekends
English National Cross Country Championships, at the fifth and penultimate
Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting held at Cardinal Hume School,
Wrekenton, Gateshead on Saturday 16th February.

One most noteable was that of the outstanding performance by Deborah Oakley
who won the combined Under 17/Under 20 Womens event from the Fast Pack
by an excellent twenty six second margin over Tynedale Harrier
Megan Lewis who had led her for a portion of the way.
She had also managed to overhaul long term leader Hannah Nagel of Chester Le Street,
who had the advantage of a 160 second start from the Slow Pack.
Once Oakley had got away from Lewis and got past Nagel on the second lap,
there was no catching heras she stole to the finish line.

This victory, added to her previous Harrier League performances
this season, puts her firmly in line for the best overall performance
of the season in the Under 17/Under 20 Womens age group,
with only Blaydon's Helen Girtig posing a major threat.

Another Morpeth Harrier firmly in line for an overall performance
of the season award in the Harrier League is Adam Harrington.
There was just no stopping the North Eastern Counties Under 13 Champion
as he fought his way through to second place from the Fast Pack, losing out
for overall victory to Luca Irvine of Sunderland Harriers by a margin of
twenty two seconds after giving away eighty seconds handicap at the start.

Harrington's clocking was fourteen seconds faster than his closest rival,
which just happened to be his Morpeth Harriers clubmate and
North Eastern Silver medallist Jonny Nisbet,
who in finishing seventh just behind another Morpeth athlete Liam Brooks,
closed a winning team score for Morpeth.
That was a superb start for Brooks, who was having his first competitive
run for the club, and that team win puts Morpeth very much in pole position
in the team competition in the Under 13 Boys, with one fixture remaining.

Two other excellent Morpeth runs, although not team counters,
were that of Jack Hepple who was third fastest on the day,
finishing seventh running from the Fast Pack, and Joe Robertshaw,
who has been extremely successfull at Indoor sprints of late,
who showed his versatility, and passion for his clubs cause
to finish eighth, running from the Slow Pack.

Karl Taylor looks to have found better form in time for the
forthcoming National and Inter Counties Championships,
judging from his run in the Under 17 Mens event.
Running from the Fast Pack, he drew on all his resources to
battle his way to finish fourth, and led Morpeth to second team place
with good supporting runs coming from Jordan Scott and
Alistair Douglass who finished eighth and fourteenth respectively from the Fast Pack.

A fairly mediocre Senior Mens turnout by Morpeth meant that they
finished fourth on the day in the Division 2 team battle.
They had to look to sixty fifth place overall to find their
first counter in Mike Winter from the Slow Pack.
Further counts came from
Robert Balmbra (69th) (Fast Pack)
Phil Walker (72nd) (Fast Pack)
Richard Driscoll (102nd) (Slow Pack)
Jim Alder (108th) (Slow Pack)
and Ian Corner (115th) (Slow Pack)

In the Senior Womens event Morpeth only fielded two competitors.
Claire Bruce finished twenty second from the Slow Pack
and Gwenda Cavill finished in thirty eighth spot from the Fast Pack.

Rachel Todd and Ailidh McCallister-Williams finished
thirtieth and thirty seventh respectively in the
Under 13 Girls event running from the Slow Pack.

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PB For Nick McCormick
Morpeths Nick McCormick ran a personal best of 8m26.44s,
to finish seventh in the Mens 2 Mile event won by Ethiopia's
Kenenisa Bekele in a new World Record time of 8m04.35s
at the televised Norwich Union Grand Prix Indoor meeting held at
Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on Saturday 16th February.
McCormick now awaits to see if his time at 3000m has done enough
to satisfy Great Britain selectors to include him in
the team for that distance the World Indoor Championships
to be held in Valencia, Spain over 7th, 8th and 9th March.

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Buttermere 22mile Road Race !
Morpeth Harriers Paul Waterston and Gordon Dixon
travelled to Cumbriaon Sunday 17th February to compete
in the very tough and hilly Buttermere 22mile Road Race
which encompassed the steep climb up the notorious Honister Pass.
Paul finished 3rd in 2hrs17m40s and was the first Over 40 Veteran Man.
Gordon finished 6th in 2hrs20m44s and won the Over 45 Veteran Mens section.

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Radcliffe 12mile Trail Race !
Another distance traveller from Morpeth Harriers was Ian Corner who competed
in the Radcliffe 12mile Trail Race in Manchester on Sunday 17th February.
He finished in 52nd place and was 8th Over 40 Veteran Man
in a time of 1hr26m43s on a very tough Multi Terrain course.

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Liversedge Half Marathon !
Michelle Woodley of Morpeth Harriers ran in the Liversedge Half Marathon
held in Roberttown, West Yorks on Sunday 10th February.
She placed 64th overall in 95m10s, and was 6th Female to finish,
which also placed her second in the Over 35 Veteran Ladies section.

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Craig McBurney Becomes A Captain !
Morpeths Craig McBurney has had to put his
athletics career on the back-burner in recent years.
But it has all been worthwhile, as the professional soldier
is being given a commission as a captain next month.

Twenty-three years ago McBurney, a street-wise Teessider,
walked into the Army Careers Office and said:
“I’m 16-and-a-half and I want to become an infantryman.”

Now, at the age of 39, that career is being extended as he becomes a captain,
a role which will see him add a further 15 years to his Army life.

It wasn’t until McBurney was in his early 20s that he became interested in running,
which was around the time when he was being beaten by his fellow soldiers.

“I thought to myself, these guys shouldn’t be beating me,” said McBurney,
whose love of his Army career comes over loud and clear.

“I got myself into decent shape and, being a Saltburn lad,
decided to enter the Loftus Poultry Run one Christmas.

“That was the start. I loved running and was asked
to join the Loftus club by Peter Clifford,
and things started to take off from there.

“In the end, Peter thought I would be better off if I joined Morpeth,
so he got in touch with Jim Alder to see if he would give me some guidance.

“Jim’s input was immediate. My training improved, my times improved
and it was at the time when Morpeth had a cracking group of lads.

“They still do, but at that time they were winning everything
and I was pleased to be part of the success.

“I was in the team which finished third in the National 12-stage road relay,
which was the first time Morpeth had ever appeared among the medals.

“It was exciting times for me, as far as my athletics was concerned.

“I ran my one-and-only marathon and clocked 2 hours 25 minutes
in London in 2000 – and in the same year became
Combined Services 5,000m champion,
a victory which made me extremely proud.

“Even though running has taken a back seat at the moment,
I still yearn to get back into it before I hit 40.

“Peter, and Jim especially, had a great influence on my running.
We are still great friends and it is him who I give credit
to when I represented the Army in competition.”

McBurney’s running days eased to a standstill as he worked hard at his career,
which resulted in more and more time being spent abroad.

However, he still managed to finish runner-up to Dominic Bannister
in the Morpeth to Newcastle road race in 2002 –
a result that had Alder near to hysterics –
and is happy that he had the chance to give athletics a go,
but is adamant that he wouldn’t change anything if
given the opportunity came around again.

“As I said earlier, I love running but the Army has given me
a special bond that cannot be equalled in any other profession.

“It is a surrogate family in many ways. The people who you go through
training with tend to stick together and this builds a camaraderie
that lasts through the bad times as well as the good.

“I must have, in my 23 years, been everywhere the
British Army has a posting – Cyprus, Northern Ireland, Jordan,
USA and Canada, Germany, and of course, the latest being Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The Army has been great for me and I would encourage any young man
to think about joining as I did all those years ago.
There’s a special bond, and it certainly makes a man of you !”

McBurney is one of the very few men who have come
through the ranks from private to, as of next month,
gaining a commission as captain.

“It is a great honour to be commissioned by the Army.
Over the years I have gained six promotions to my current RSM
(Regimental Sergeant Major).

“I have been told it is only around 10% of soldiers
get to the stage I am at with my career.

“What really matters to me is that, even after all this time,
I still enjoy the life of a soldier, and this commission gives me
an extended run which should take me up until I’m 55.”

Before time runs out though, perhaps the globetrotting infantryman
could just make it into Morpeth’s 12-man relay team one more time.

His last outing in a blue-and-white Morpeth vest was two years ago
when, despite being anything but fit, he rallied to a late call to make it to Manchester.

McBurney is not just a credit to the Army but also to the sport he
came to enjoy whilst learning his trade over the last 23 years !

This article courtesy of Bill McGuirk appeared
in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle on 7/2/08

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Laura Weightman On Camp with Kelly !
Morpeths Laura Weightman has been chosen to join
double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes’ exclusive
monitoring initiative for young female middle distance runners.

Laura will join the Norwich Union-supported On Camp with Kelly,
after impressing Dame Kelly at a strenuous selection day
at the UK Athletics High Performance Centre in Birmingham.

She was one of 13 athletes aged between 15 and 19 who
were selected after coming through various tasks, including
determination tests, team challenges and a session on goal setting.

Laura was also assessed on her attitude, determination and
willpower by Dame Kelly with the assistance of On Camp
with Kelly staff and representatives from UK Athletics.

Though the competition for places was gruelling,
it is no surprise to see Laura make it through.

Her athletic performances over the past 12 months stand out,
with her being the current English Schools’ intermediate 1,500m champion.

Laura, coached by Morpeth Harriers Club Secretary Mike Bateman,
with a great deal of input coming also from the
Club's Head of Coaching Tony Ward,
also won the 1,500m at the UK School Games.

To show she is equally at home racing on the country,
Laura recently landed the Northumberland Schools’ title.

16-year-old, Laura will now attend a Norwich Union-funded
On Camp with Kelly Educational Camp at
Loughborough University for 10 days from April 1-10 where she
will learn all about what it takes to become a world- class athlete.

After successfully completing the camp, she will become a full member
of the OCWK and will be able to benefit from regular get-togethers,
exhibition races, financial and medical support
and mentoring from Dame Kelly herself.

The Olympic 800m and 1,500m champion,
who started the OCWK ball rolling in 2004,
said: “I was very impressed by the performances of Laura
at the Selection Day and am delighted to welcome her to On Camp with Kelly.

“There is no doubt Laura is a very talented young athlete
and I hope that being involved with OCWK will help ther to
develop her athletics career and to achieve her full potential.”

Tanya Veingard, Head of Sponsorship at Norwich Union,
added: “As the team behind UK Athletics we are proud to
be able to offer support for all levels of athletics,
from grassroots through to elite.

“Our support for On Camp with Kelly helps to nurture and develop
talented girls into world-class athletes that Britain can be proud of
and we are delighted to be making it easier for Laura to achieve her dreams.”

Morpeth Harriers sincerely wish Laura all the best on this
latest venture, for which she has worked hard and long to achieve.

Adapted from an article that appeared in the
Newcastle Evening Chronicle on 14/02/08,
and written by Bill McGuirk

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Royal Signals Road Relays !
Only eight seconds divided the top three clubs in the Senior Mens event
at the North Eastern Counties Royal Signals Road Relay Championships
held at Watergate Park, Lobley Hill, Gateshead on Saturday 9th February.

It had been a three horse race for five of the six legs with Morpeth Harriers,
Sunderland Harriers and New Marske dominating the proceedings.

After Gosforth's incomplete team had led on leg one through Matt Nicholson,
and Morpeth Harriers lay in fifth place courtesy of Ross Floyd (10m22s)
it was Morpeth who shot into an excellent lead, courtesy of a superb third fastest effort
of 9m39s, over the 3.2k multi terrain circuit within the Nature Park, by Jonny Taylor.

However Morpeth found themselves undone on third leg, despite inexperienced
Under 17 athlete Jordan Scott giving of his best with 11m17s they slipped to third,
with New Marske going into second, and Sunderland Harriers going into an excellent
lead courtesy of the Veteran talents of Brian Rushworth.

So at halfway it was Sunderland Harriers in pole position with a
twenty six second lead over New Marske and Morpeth Harriers
a further twenty four seconds adrift in third place.
These three were now well clear of any opposition, and each club had
at least another couple of aces in their pack.

Sunderland were the first to play one of those aces as Mark Hood
clocked the fifth fastest time of 9m59s to maintain their lead which had extended to 58 seconds.
Things had changed in second place however as Morpeth had now headed New Marske
to the tune of nineteen seconds courtesy of Chris Sampson's excellent seventh fastest 10m07s.

However there was a dramatic turn of events on Leg Five,
as New Marske's Ricky Stevenson tore into Sunderland's lead by
clocking what was to be the days fastest time of 9m29s to eventually
hit the changeover line at exactly the same time as the Wearsiders,
with Morpeth slipping back into third place, despite Under 20 athlete
Robert Balmbra's enthusiastic 10m44s,
which saw him finish fifty six seconds adrift of the leaders.

Morpeth Harriers final leg runner Ian Hudspith certainly put that lead under threat,
as he clocked the second fastest time of the day of 9m36s,
but had to settle for third place, and just missing out to
second place Sunderland Harriers by a mere six seconds,
with winners New Marske just two seconds further ahead.

It certainly made for the most exciting finish to the Senior event for many years,
and Morpeth Team boss David Swinburne commented,
"that the inexperienced lads had performed well, and had got some well
deserved first Senior medals, however if the club had managed to field
one more of their big guns they would have tasted victory".

An Incomplete Morpeth Harriers B team were in 22nd place
after three legs courtesy of Richard Driscoll (12m19s)
Chris Bradley (13m53s) and Paul Fairbrother (13m24s)

The Veteran Mens Relay also provided a close finish where Sunderland Harriers
just pipped Morpeth Harriers by eleven seconds with Elswick Harriers
a further eighteen seconds adrift in third place.

Morpeth Harriers got off to an excellent start with Paul Waterston
finishing in second place behind North Shields Poly and only two seconds adrift.

However they slipped back to fifth on second leg where Gordon Dixon clocked 11m57s.

Things looked better on Leg three where Les Atkinson's eighth
fastest time of 11m01s saw them rise back up to third.

So at halfway they were nine seconds adrift of second placed Sunderland Harriers,
and a further thirteen seconds adrift of then leaders Elswick.

Fourth leg saw yet another change with Elswick relinquishing the lead to
Sunderland as they slipped to third, and North Shields Poly came into the picture
as they finished second and Morpeth slipped to fourth with Ian Corner
running in his first ever Championship clocking 11m53s.

Fifth leg saw yet another dramatic twist, as Phil Walker grabbed
a superb lead of thirty eight seconds over Sunderland by clocking
the fastest Veteran Mens time of the day of 10m42s.

This left Morpeth's final leg runner Gavin Bayne with the toughest
of battles to hold off the tenacious Paul Merrison of Sunderland.
Gavin gave the occasion every effort he could muster with his clocking of 11m45s,
however just lost out in the final stages as the faster and younger Merrison stole the advantage.

It was an excellent result for Morpeth however with Walker and Corner
picking up their first Championship medals in the form of Silver,
and extra special for Walker having just become a father for the second time.

Silver medals also came the way of the Morpeth Harriers Womens team.
Chester Le Street A team set off on Leg One fully intent on retaining their title
and immediately established a fourteen second lead over their B team,
with Morpeth lying third, a further seven seconds adrift courtesy of Aiveen Fox's
sixth fastest overall clocking of 11m42s.

Unfortunately Morpeth's second leg runner Sarah Graham drifted
a little as she struggled home in a disappointing 12m24s,
which she admitted later was a result of still carrying tiredness in her legs
following the BUSA Championships in Swansea the previous week.

Third leg runner Jane Mooney still couldn't eat into second placed
Chester Le Street B's leading margin despite a solid performance of 11m45s.

With Chester Le Street A now uncatchable, it was down to the youth
of Laura Weightman on Leg Four for Morpeth, against the Veteran experience
of Heather Robinson to destroy the Cestria dominance.
Heather was fifteen seconds up on Laura as they both left the change over
area and Chester Le Street A now had an unassailable seventy second lead.
That lead increased courtesy of Maxine Czarnecka's third fastest 11m33s,
however Laura's powerful eighth equal fastest 11m45s eventually won the
Silver for Morpeth by a margin of fifty three seconds.

Morpeth Harriers Womens B team finished a creditable seventh.
as second B team. courtesy of Claire Bruce (14m43s)
Kate Chapman (12m42s), M.Muller (14m14s)
and Gwenda Cavill (13m04s)

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Norwich Union World Indoor Trials and UK Championships !
It was at last back to winning ways for Morpeth Harrier
Nick McCormick on Saturday 9th February,
at the first day of the Norwich Union World Indoor Trials
and UK Championships held in Sheffield.

Although his victory in the Mens 3000m declares him UK Champion,
his winning time of 8m16.73s was below the British Indoor Standard,
and well adrift of the World Standard of 7m54s.
He will undoubtedly need to find another and much faster qualifying race
if he is to make it to the World Championships in Valencia.
However on a positive note it was a victory for McCormick,
a victory that he hopes to quickly build on

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Llandudno Nick Beer 10k !
Running in the colours of Bangor University,
Morpeths Nick Swinburn won the Nick Beer 10k
in Llandudno on Sunday 10th Februaryin an excellent 32m01s.
He ran clear of his nearest rival to create
a winning margin of over a minute.

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Scottish Masters Cross Country Championships !
Morpeth Harrier Archie Jenkins tasted success in the
Scottish Masters Cross Country Championships in Irvine
when he placed 61st overall and was second in the Over 55 Male age group.

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Congratulations !
Congratulations to Mark Brown and Phil Walker who have both
become fathers, for first time father Mark, its a baby girl
and for Phil his second, its a baby boy.
Mothers and Babies are doing well.

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Jarrow Indoor Meeting !
At the Jarrow Indoor Meeting held on Thursday 7th February
Morpeth Harrier Joe Robertshaw won the Under 13 Boys 60m in 8.7s
after earlier winning his heat in 8.8s .

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Northern Inter Counties Schools XC Championships !
Although Northumberland could only manage one outright team victory
at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships
held at Acklam Grange School in Cleveland,
on Saturday 2nd February there were a number of good individual
performances from athletes connected with Morpeth Harriers.

This was the last stage of competition that would give selectors
their chance to view who were going to make it on the team bus
for the English Schools Championships,
due to be held at Sefton Park in Liverpool in March.

Pride of place in those performances must go to Dame Allan's pupil
Rachel Denton who claimed an outstanding victory in the Junior Girls
event by showing a clean pair of heels to her nearest rival
by a margin of nineteen seconds.
The result in this event, where Northumberland finished as third team,
reflected well on Morpeth Harriers, as Denton was obviously leading counter,
her clubmates Hannah Rank (7th) and Rachael Steel (17th)
finished as second and third counters.
Other Morpeth Harriers competing in this event were
Ailsa McGregor (31st) (8th counter)
and Steph Courty (39th) (11th counter) Denton, Rank and Steel, should all be on the
Northumberland team bus for Liverpool.

Another Morpeth Harrier who secured his spot for Liverpool was Jordan Scott,
who can feel well pleased with his effort to finish fourth in the Senior Boys event,
and led Northumberland home to third team place.
His club colleague Martyn Cairns came home in 23rd place as sixth counter.

Running against older boys in the Junior event, did not prevent
North Eastern Counties Under 13 Boys Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington turning on the finest of performances
to finish in twelfth place as second counter for a
Northumberland squad that narrowly missed out on victory
to North Yorkshire by the margin of two points.
Sixth counter for the county was Harrington's club colleague
Jonny Nisbet who competed well to finish in 18th place.
Eighth counter was Jack Hepple of Morpeth who was 26th overall.

Another excellent Morpeth performer was Alistair Douglass
who came home as third counter in seventh place for a
Northumberland squad that finished second to Durham.

The Preliminary Boys event saw Morpeth Harriers Reece Ramsay
and Ryan Dodds finish ninth and thirty sixth respectively.

Northumberland's only team victory came in the Senior Girls
where Morpeth's Natalie Young finished as fourth counter in ninth place.
Eighth counter and a non scorer was her club colleague
Laura Dixon who finished 18th overall.

The Intermediate Girls event saw Morpeth's Zoe Armstrong finish as
fourth counter for Northumberland in twelfth place overall.
There was a strong presense of Morpeth athletes in this event
with Armstrong being accompanied by Claire Pitt (18th) (7th counter)
Deborah Oakley (20th) (9th counter), Stevie Goodfellow (39th) (11th counter)
and Louise Cairns (40th) (12th counter)
Northumberland finished as second team to Durham in this event.

Adele Stewart and Eve Shashoua of Morpeth Harriers were
fourth and fifth home respectively for a third placed
Northumberland Preliminary Girls squad when finishing in
seventeenth and nineteenth place overall.

Final team selections for the English Schools Championships
will be made known on the 17th February.

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BUSA Cross Country Championships !
Delyth James of Morpeth Harriers was best Morpeth Harriers finisher at the
BUSA Cross Country Championships held in Swansea on Saturday 2nd February.
Representing Birmingham University she finished 21st.
A little way behind her was her club colleague Sarah Graham,
who was third counter in a sixth placed Leeds University squad,
by virtue of her placing of 52nd.

In the Mens A Race Morpeth's Nathan Shrubb, running for Durham University,
finished 64th and was second counter for his squad which finished 13th.
Ross Floyd of Morpeth and Newcastle University finished 126th
and was first home for his 31st placed squad.
In the Mens B Race, Morpeth's John Woods finished 124th
running in the colours of Durham University, for whom he was second counter.

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Alsager 5 Road Race !
Morpeth Harrier Ben Harrison finished 73rd in the prestigious
Alsager 5 Road Race on Sunday 3rd February in a time of 28m06s.

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January

News From January 2008

North of England Cross Country Championships !
Despite the heavy overnight winds, conditions were near perfect
for the athletes who took part in the North of England Cross Country
Championships, held at Roundhay Park, Leeds on Saturday 26th January.

Two of our athletes managed to claim themselves individual medals,
and Morpeth managed to claim one set of team medals
and came very close to a second set.
After Ricky Stevenson of New Marske dropped out
during the Junior Mens 8k event,
Morpeth's Jonny Taylor battled his way through to claim a Silver medal
and subsequently led his ambitious clubmates to team Silver.
Further support came from Nick Swinburn, who is admittedly not quite
in the form that he was at this stage of the season last year,
however he stuck to the task in hand to finish ninth,
and the third and fourth counts came from excellent runs by
Ross Floyd (18th) and Robert Balmbra (38th)
Other Morpeth athletes competing in this event were
John Woods (75th), Martyn Cairns (80th) and Gary Clark (94th)

Morpeth's North East Under 13 Boys Cross Country Champion
Adam Harrington certainly showed his full potential
when he finished third to take a Bronze medal in his 3k event.
With around 800m remaining Harrington had slipped back to fifth,
however he summoned all of his reserve on the final
steep uphill to regain a medal placing,
and only just ran out of ground to take Silver.
Harrington's individual effort very nearly spurred team Bronze for Morpeth,
as they were just sixteen points adrift of third placed Warrington.
Excellent efforts by Jack Hepple (30th), Lewis Coyle (44th)
and Reece Ramsay (62nd) were the supporting counts.
Other Morpeth efforts worthy of praise in this event were
from Jonny Anderson (79th), Ben Steel (149th) and Joe Elder (159th)

Unfortunately Morpeth's Laura Weightman experienced breathing
problems in the Under 17 Womens 4.5k event, and
was disappointed to come home in seventh place.
Morpeth finished as sixth team here with good supporting runs
coming from Zoe Armstrong (39th), Deborah Oakley (60th)
and Stevie Goodfellow (82nd)

Another Morpeth athlete to suffer breathing problems was
Marcus Cram, who was forced to slow down after being in
the top ten in the early stages of the Under 15 Boys 4k event.
He eventually slipped back to 52nd place.
Morpeth's only other runner in this event was
Philip Shuttleworth who finished 95th.

Despite having been ill in the few days leading up to the event,
Morpeth's Rachel Denton still managed to work her way
through to finish 13th in the Under 15 Girls 4k event.
Morpeth finished as eighth team with further excellent team support
coming from Hannah Rank (22nd), Rachel Steel (63rd)
and Catriona MacDonald (128th)
Louise Cairns finished two places behind Catriona.

Morpeth's Chris Sampson was first from the region in the
Senior Mens 12k where he finished an excellent 29th.
However Morpeth, with most of their big guns missing,
could only finish as fifteenth team and second from the region,
with Elswick finishing in 11th place.
Further support came from Ben Harrison (80th)
Paul Waterston (115th)
Gordon Dixon (194th)
David Steel (254th)
and Richard Driscoll (403rd)

A freak head injury sustained in an accident just prior to the event,
forced Morpeth's Karl Taylor to withdraw during the Under 17 Mens 6k.
This left the club without the scoring four which was unfortunate
because Jordan Scott and Alistair Douglass finished in
42nd and 61st places respectively,
and Daniel Hedley came home in 161st place.

Surprisingly Morpeth did not manage to field a
full scoring four in the Senior Womens 8k event.
Jane Mooney was the clubs first finisher in 33rd place,
closely followed by Aiveen Fox in 36th place.
Morpeth's other finisher was Gwenda Cavill in 114th place.

Delyth James finished ninth in the Under 20 Womens 6k event,
and her Morpeth clubmate Laura Dixon finished in 48th place.

Morpeth could not turn out a full team in the Under 13 Girls 3k event.
Steph Courty was first home for the club in 95th place,
and Carley May Webster and Sarah Wilkes
finished in 133rd and 137th places respectively.

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Castle Morpeth Sports Council Awards !
At what could be the very last ever Castle Morpeth Sports Council Awards
ceremony. held at the Riverside Leisure Centre, on Friday 25th January.
Morpeth Harriers were honoured in two categories.

Laura Weightman was presented with the Hilder Rose Bowl
for Junior Female for both her tremendous achievements in 2007
on the Track and on the Cross Country circuit.
She had comfortably won the Northumberland Schools
Senior Girls Cross Country title, and then had recovered from
a nasty spike injury sustained in the North of England Cross
Country Championships to finish fifth in both the English Schools
and Home Countries Championships, added to that she had a superb
Track season at her favourite distance 1500m, by winning the North Eastern,
North of England, Northumberland Schools, English Schools
and International Schools titles before capping her season in great style
by retaining the UK Schools games title, the only female athlete to achieve such a feat.

The clubs Under 13 Boys Cross Country squad received certificates
of achievement for their overwhelming victory in the North Eastern Championships,
where they also had the Gold and Silver Medallists in Adam Harrington and Jonny Nisbet,
they came sixth and only fifteen seconds adrift of medals at the English Cross Country Relay Championships,
and are currently four points clear in the title race at the North Eastern Harrier League,
added to which, the aforementioned Adam Harrington
is the leading individual performer with two meetings remaining.

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Durham Cathedral Relays !
Morpeth Harriers Senior and Veteran Mens Teams found themselves
just outside of the medals at the annual Durham Cathedral Relays
held at the Racecourse in Durham City on Sunday 20th January.

However it was a medal winning day for their Womens squad
who finished four seconds ahead of an excellent Chester Le Street squad,
with North Shields Poly a lot further behind in third spot.
It had been Chester Le Street in front during the first two legs
by Aiveen Fox (10m19s) and Jane Mooney (10m14s)
and when Under 17 star Laura Weightman took over on the final leg
she was chasing down a five second lead held by the County Durham squad.

Laura was having only her second competitive run since November,
having being out with a virus, that also rendered unable to defend her title
at the North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships at Hartlepool.
However she clocked the fastest time of the day of 9m56s to ensure a superb victory.

Morpeth also had B and C teams competing in the Womens event.
Their C team finished seventh through Zoe Armstrong (10m47s)
Deborah Oakley (11m45s) and Margaret MacDonald (13m13s)

The Morpeth B Team finished thirteenth courtesy of Claire Bruce (12m31s)
Sally Welsh (12m32s) and Gwenda Cavill (11m49s)

After opening legs by Mark Brown (8m33s) and Ross Floyd (8m59s)
had seen them progress from firstly sixth to second,
Morpeth's Senior Mens A team slipped to fourth despite some tenacious
battling by final leg runner David Swinburne (9m19s)

Morpeth Senior Mens B team progressed to tenth courtesy of Jordan Scott (9m27s)
Marc Cochrane (9m37s) and Robert Balmbra (9m29s)

In the Veteran Mens event, Morpeth's A team found themselves
just run out of the medals when they finished fourth.
First leg runner Paul Waterston had them in third place with his clocking of 9m41s.
Phil Walker got them up to second when he got round the two lap circuit in 9m20s.
Third leg runner Ian Handyside found the going tough
as he slipped to fourth with his clocking of 10m01s.

Morpeth Harriers B team were the first complete squad of Over 50 athletes,
and they finished twelfth overall courtesy of Archie Jenkins (10m15s)
Bob Sewell (11m08s) and Gavin Bayne (10m56s)

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Veterans AA North East XC Championships!
Morpeth Harriers Archie Jenkins and Walter Ryder successfully
defended their category titles at the Veterans Athletic Association
North East Cross Country Championships held at Acklam School,
Middlesbrough on Saturday 19th January.
Archie took the Over 55 title and Walter took the Over 70 title.
In Walter's case it was most fruitful, having travelled all the way
down from WesterRoss in Scotland to compete.

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Northumberland County Schools XC Championships !
Having being out of action since November, Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman
bounced back into winning form at the Northumberland Schools Cross
Country Championships held at Kirkley Hall on Wednesday 16th January.

She won the Senior Girls event with thirty eight seconds
to spare over her nearest rival.
Fellow Harriers Natalie Young and Laura Dixon also ran well
to finish in third and seventh places respectively.

Another Morpeth Harrier winner was Adam Harrington.
The North Eastern Under 13 Boys Champion won the
Junior Boys event by a margin of six seconds.
Fellow Harriers Jack Hepple, Jonny Nisbet and Lewis Coyle
finished in seventh, eleventh and fourteenth places respectively.

Rachel Denton made it a hat-trick of Morpeth winners when she
won the Junior Girls event, with her clubmate Hannah Rank
coming home in second place.
Other Morpeth Harriers in this event were Ailsa McGregor (9th)
Steph Courty (13th) and Rachael Steel (14th)

Stephanie Purvis finished second in the Minor Girls event,
and fellow Morpeth Harrier Eve Shashoua finished seventh.

In the Intermediate Girls event Deborah Oakley, Claire Pitt
and Zoe Armstrong finished fourth fifth and sixth,
and Jessica Caldwell came home in fifteenth place.

Robert Balmbra finished fifth in the Senior Boys event,
and fellow Morpeth Harrier Martyn Cairns came home in eleventh spot.

Reece Ramsay and Joe Elder finished
second and twelfth in the Minor Boys event.

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Northern Indoors Senior & Under 20 Championships !
Morpeths Jonathan Taylor finished second in the
Senior Mens 3000m at the Northern Indoors Senior
and Under 20 Championships held at Sheffield.
He clocked 8m33.07s.

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Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League ( 4 )
Three team victories, and some of the fastest times recorded on the day,
portrayed Morpeth Harriers dominance at the
fourth Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting
held at Farringdon School, Sunderland on Saturday 12th January.

Top of the pile were most definitely the clubs Under 13 Boys who
in achieving their third team victory in a row are quite clearly on their
way to winning the competitions Team Trophy with two meetings still remaining.

On the individual front Adam Harrington also looks
well on his way to winning the Under 13 Boys Best Performer title
after also achieving the best time for the third meeting in a row.
His run got him through to third place finisher, after giving away
80 seconds to slightly more than half of the 46 strong field,
and he led Morpeth to team victory with excellent supporting runs
once again being supplied by clubmates Jack Hepple and Jonny Nisbet.
It was a case of a repeat performance of South Shields the previous week
as Hepple and Nisbet clocked identical times as they finished fifth
and sixth respectively from the Fast Pack.
Again it was down to the judges to split them with
Hepple once again getting the approving nod.
Their times were also the second equal fastest on the day.

Morpeth Harriers Senior Men claimed an excellent Division 2 team victory
being led home by Medium packer Paul Waterston, who was 16th fastest
overall and finished in 14th place which means he moves into the Fast Pack
for the two remaining fixtures and for next season.
He was also third finisher from the Medium Pack on the day.
Morpeth team support came courtesy of excellent runs from
David Steel (24th) (Medium Pack)
John Woods (36th) (Medium Pack)
Mike Winter (47th) (Slow Pack)
Archie Jenkins (48th) (Slow Pack)
and Richard Driscoll (56th) (Slow Pack)

An absolutely superb run by Jane Mooney saw her finish as
second fastest in the Senior Womens event,
and as second overall running from the Fast Pack.
That run inspired Morpeth Harriers to team success with further
excellent support coming from runs by Aiveen Fox (5th) (Fast Pack)
and Sue Calvert (21st) (Slow Pack)
Sue had battled through the second lap of the two lap
event having sustained a leg muscle injury.

Morpeth's Hannah Rank finished well clear of her rivals
in the Under 15 Girls event running from the Slow Pack.
Having the advantage of a 80 seconds start over most of the 27 strong field,
she was never in danger of being caught as she clocked the fastest
time of the day by a margin of 28 seconds.
Morpeth finished as second team here with good supporting runs
coming from Rachel Steel (8th) (Fast Pack)
and Louise Cairns (13th) (Fast Pack)

Jordan Scott of Morpeth clocked the second fastest time of the day
when he finished fourth from the Fast Pack in the Under 17 Mens event.

Stevie Goodfellow battled strongly to finish third in the
Under 17/Under 20 Womens event from the Slow Pack.
Morpeth clubmate Deborah Oakley, running from the Fast Pack,
once again produced an excellent performance to finish
one place behind her as third fastest on the day.

Carly-May Webster finished third running from the Slow Pack
in the Under 13 Girls event and her Morpeth clubmate
Ailidh McCallister-Williams finished 27th, also from the Slow Pack.

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Great Edinburgh XC Meeting !
Marcus Cram of Morpeth Harriers produced an excellent run to finish
second in the Under 15 Boys event at the
Great Edinburgh Cross Country meeting on Saturday 12th January.
Cram only missed out for victory by two seconds at the finish line.

The televised Senior Mens 4k event which was won by
Harrow International Andy Baddeley saw
Morpeth's Chris Sampson finish 25th amongst top class opposition.

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NECAA Indoor Track & Field Champs !
Morpeth Harrier Joe Robertshaw showed the opposition a clean pair of heels
when he retained his Under 13 Boys North Eastern Indoor 60m title
at the Championships held at Gateshead International Stadium
on Saturday and Sunday 12th and 13th January.
He clocked an excellent 8.70s which bettered his 2007 figure of 8.97s.

His Morpeth clubmate Claire Reid took a Bronze
in the Senior Womens Shot with 10.77m.

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East Northumberland Schools XC Champs !
Several Morpeth Harriers were prominent amongst the leading finishers
at the East Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships
held at Queen Elizabeth Park, Ashington on Wednesday 9th January.

Zoe Armstrong won the Intermediate Girls event with Deborah Oakley
finishing second, Claire Pitt third and Louise Cairns fourth.

Hannah Rank won the Junior Girls event and Rachel Steel finished third.

Adam Harrington won the Junior Boys event with Jack Hepple
and Jonny Nisbet claiming the minor placings.

Philip Shuttleworth, coming back from illness and a leg injury,
finished sixth in the Intermediate Boys event.

The conditions were extremely difficult
with strong winds prevailing throughout.

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Nine Standards Fell Race !
Morpeths Neil Wilkinson began 2008 in exc