JANUARY

New Year celebrations at Morpeth Harriers took a heavy nosedive, when they were forced to cancel their annual 11k Road Race, due to the prevailing weather conditions that hit the region on the eve of the event. Race Director Doug Cockburn was forced into swift and immediate action, after heavy snow was impacted by freezing conditions on New Years Eve, and after a tour of the very exposed course he was in no doubt that the event could not go ahead.

Young Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes claimed a superb victory in the Under 14 Girls 2.6k event, which was part of the BUPA Great Winter Run meeting held at Edinburgh on Saturday 9th January.

It was another blank weekend as far as North East outdoor athletic activity was concerned, when the second meeting of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League, scheduled to be held at East Cramlington Nature Reserve on Saturday 9th January, was postponed.

Morpeths Ben Harrison finished eleventh in the Senior Mens event, at the Lancashire Cross Country Championships, held at Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday 9th January.

Arctic conditions continued to blight athletics activity in the North East, when it was announced that the 27th Durham Cathedral Cross Country Relays due to be held at the Racecourse venue in Durham City on Sunday 17th January had been cancelled.

Morpeth Harrier Michael Dawson marked the Newcastle launch of ParkRuns on Saturday 16th January, by winning in a time of 16m02s for the 5k distance.

Jonathan Taylor of Morpeth Harriers retained his Senior Mens 3000m title at the North of England Indoor Athletics Championships held at Sheffield Arena over Saturday and Sunday 16th & 17th January.

Several Morpeth Harriers competed in the Northumberland Schools Cross Country Championships, which were held on a makeshift course at Blyth's South Beach on Tuesday 19th January, after the intended Kirkley Hall course was declared unraceable. Best performances in the Boys events came from Philip Winkler, (2nd Junior), Adam Weightman (3rd Minor) and Jonny Nisbet (7th Intermediate) and in the Senior, Intermediate and Junior Girls events, there were excellent third places respectively for, Zoe Armstrong, Hannah Rank, and Sarah Wilkes. There were a good number of other performances of note, from Alyson Brown (7th) in the Junior Girls, Ailsa McGregor and Rachael Steel (8th) and (14th) respectively in the Intermediate Girls, Catriona MacDonald (7th), Louise Cairns (10th) and Jessica Caldwell (11th) in the Senior Girls, Andrew Allen (14th) in the Minor Boys, and Connor Weightman (8th) in the Junior Boys.

Jane Mooney, Jonnie Nisbet, Philip Winkler, Hannah Rank and Chris Sampson, were Morpeth Harriers brightest stars at a damp and very murky and foggy Blackburn on Saturday 23rd January. Despite their individual efforts, along with a host of equally excellent supporting performances, there were unfortunately no medals to show for Morpeth Harriers, as their athletes battled very tricky conditions at Witton Park, in the Lancashire town.

Thankfully the heavy overnight snow that hit the region in the early hours of Saturday 30th January, proved to be no match for the officials at Elswick Harriers, who were responsible for hosting what was tabled as the third meeting< of the Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League, at Newcastle's Town Moor. In the Senior Mens event, Morpeth's Matt Nicholson more than made up for his poor run at Edinburgh in early January, when he finished as second fastest on the day to Sunderland Harrier Gavin Massingham, and led his club to second team place by finishing fifth.

It was also a superb day for the Weightman family, with Laura and Connor both managing victories, and younger brother Adam, also playing his part in a Morpeth Harriers team victory. Giving some of her rivals 2m40s start, Laura crowned her first Harrier League outing of the winter, which she testified to enjoying, by clearly winning the Under 20 Womens event, by a good two minutes over her closest rival, who just happened to be her Morpeth Harriers clubmate Rachel Steel, who was first Under 17, running from the Slow Pack. Connor Weightman spearheaded a Morpeth Harriers team victory in the Under 15 Boys event, which he won by a margin of one second over his fellow clubmate Philip Caldwell, running off level from the Slow Pack, and North Eastern Champion Jonny Nisbet,ran the fastest time of the day, to work his way through to fifth, to close the Morpeth count.

Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys squad also enjoyed a team victory, being led home by Philip Winkler, who clocked the fastest time of the day when finishing fourth. Good team support came from Andrew Allan (5th) (Slow Pack) and Adam Weightman (7th) (Slow Pack)

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Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick, captured a superb victory in the prestigious Alsager 5 Road Race in Cheshire on Sunday 7th February. Now back with his previous mentor and coach Lindsay Dunn, the former Loughborough student won with four seconds to spare over Telford's leading light Chris Davies, in an excellent time of 23m33s. Morpeth Harriers also just missed out for team gold to Sale Harriers by one point, with Chris Sampson and Matt Nicholson both producing excellent performances< to finish 15th and 25th in respective times of 24m22s and 25m02s.

Gary Jones of Morpeth Harriers clocked a new personal best of 17m02s, when he finished second in the Newcastle 5k Park Run in the Exhibition Park on Saturday 6th February. His clubmate Alan Shepherd finished second in the Middlesbrough event, held in Albert Park, also on Saturday in a time of 17m12s.

Morpeth Harriers were very sad to announce the death of one of their older members and event sponsor Mike Kelly, who was a prominent Veteran runner for the club in the late eighties and early nineties, who had passed away peacefully at home in Tranwell Woods, after a short illness, on Tuesday 2nd February 2010.

Several Morpeth Harriers caught a positive eye from the Northumberland English Schools selectors following their performances at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Cross Country Championships, held at Meadowfield, near Durham on Saturday 6th February. Jonnie Nisbet was first home for the county,when he placed seventh in the Intermediate Boys event. Philip Winkler (10th) and Connor Weightman (11th), were the first two home for Northumberland in the Junior Boys event.

In the girls events, Jessica Caldwell was 6th from Northumberland, when she finished thirteenth at Senior Level. Hannah Rank, Ailsa McGregor and Rachael Steel,finished 9th, 13th and 14th as fourth, sixth and seventh counters for Northumberland in the Intermediates. Alison Brown and Sarah Wilkes both had positive runs in the Junior Girls event.

The superb individual wins by North Eastern Counties Cross Country silver medallists Philip Winkler and Jane Mooney, were the major talking points behind Morpeth Harriers performances, at the fourthStart Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League meeting held at Cardinal Hume School in Wrekenton, Gateshead on Saturday 13th February. Giving 80 seconds away to more than half of the Under 13 Boys 49 strong field of finishers, Winkler worked his way through to take the lead with around a quarter of a mile left to complete, and won with eleven seconds to spare over his closest rival, and was the fastest performer by a margin of fifty five seconds.

Jane Mooney proved beyond all doubt that she is definitely a girl in form, as she claimed a fifty second marginal victory in the Senior Womens event after giving a hefty margin of three minutes to more than half of the 107 strong field of finishers. She eventually grabbed the lead on the second of the the two long laps, and was also the fastest performer by a margin of eighty six sconds over third placed Angela Hunter of Chester-le-Street.

After excellent performances at the fifth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League meeting held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 20th February, four athletes from Morpeth Harriers have definitely put themselves in the frame for individual honours at the end of the competition. Jane Mooney once again headed a strong field of Senior Women, having also won the week previous at Wrekenton.

Matt Nicholson finished third in the Senior Mens event as the fastest finisher.

North Eastern Under 15 Boys Cross Country Champion Jonnie Nisbet produced another superb run to finish fourth, and being the fastest in the age group by twenty nine seconds. Philip Winkler was the fastest Under 13 Boy, when he came through to finish third in a field of 49 finishers.

Nine Morpeth Harriers found themselves selected to compete for the North East, at the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, which were scheduled to be held on a new course at Cofton Park, Birmingham on Saturday 13th March 2010. In the Senior Mens event Chris Sampson, Lewis Timmins, and Nick Swinburn are all expected to line up. Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Winkler are selected for the Under 15 Boys and Under 13 Boys squads, and Jane Mooney is selected for the Senior Womens squad. Zoe Armstrong, Hannah Rank, and Rachael Steel were selected for the Under 20 Womens, and Under 17 Womens squads respectively.

Nick McCormick led home a quality field in the 20th Armagh International 5k Road Race on Thursday 25th February. Fresh from his recent success in the Alsager 5, the Morpeth Harrier produced an excellent run of 13m58s, to just pip Ireland Track star David McCarthy,
who was recorded with the same time.

An excellent determined run by Morpeths Ross Floyd saw him place 95th in the Senior Mens 12k event, at the Saucony English National Cross Country Championships, at Leeds on Saturday 27th February. Floyd led Morpeth Harriers challenge in the team race, and although they finished eleventh, they took much credit in that they were third from the North behind second placed Leeds City, and ninth placed Hallamshire, and ultimately first from the North East.

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Morpeth Harriers athletes claimed medals in each of the four contested categories at the North Eastern Counties Royal Signals Road Relays, held at Hetton Lyons Park, Hetton Le Hole on Saturday 6th March. The clubs Senior Men took Silver medals, with Matt Nicholson clocking the squads fastest time of 10m46s on the third leg. It was Silver Medals also for Morpeth Harriers Senior Women, with Jane Mooney clocking the squads fastest time of 12m25s on the final leg.

Morpeth Harriers Veteran Women made it a hat-trick of Silver Medals on the day, holding second place throughout, with Gwenda Cavill clocking 15m12s on the final leg being their fastest performer.

Running first leg in the six man Morpeth Harriers Veteran Mens team, saw Paul Waterston clock the squads fastest time of 11m54s, and set them on their way to collect Bronze medals, behind Sunderland Harriers and North Shields Poly.

One of the best ever North East team performances was produced at the McCain sponsored UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, held at Birmingham's Cofton Park on Saturday 13th March, when the regions Senior Women dominated to take the Gold medals, ahead of fierce rivals Yorkshire, with Essex and Scotland East having a very close battle for the Bronze team medals.

The North East were so dominant that all of their nine Women selected to run, finished inside the top fifty. Capping a really excellent Cross Country season, was Morpeth Harrier Jane Mooney, who was the sixth and final counter for medals, when she finished in 36th place.

Morpeth Harriers, Matt Nicholson, Chris Sampson, and Ross Floyd, all played their part in a fine North East performance in the Senior Mens event, The region finished as seventh team, with Nicholson as fourth counter for the North East in 72nd place, and the equally excellent runs by Sampson and Floyd saw them finish as fifth and sixth counters in 96th and 156th places respectively. It was truly a great occasion for Floyd in this his first call up for the region at Senior level.

Morpeth's Jonnie Nisbet was the North East's first counter, in their Under 15 Boys team that finished nineteenth. Jonnie finished in 61st place.

The regions Under 13 Boys squad competed well to finish as seventh team, and Morpeth's Philip Winkler was fourth counter in 62nd place.

Morpeths Ben Harrison kept up his excellent run of form when he placed second in the Dentdale 14 Mile Road Race in Dent, Cumbria on Saturday 13th March.

Morpeth Harriers held their Veterans Grand Prix 2009 Presentation Night in the Joiners Arms, Morpeth, on Thursday Night (11th March)
The event was once again hosted by Tony Woodcock, (Tony Woodcock Planning Consultants) and his wife Pam, who were in the fourth year of their sponsorship of the event. Awards were presented by Morpeth Harriers Club President Jim Alder MBE, to Richard Driscoll and Claire Bruce as winners of the Mens and Womens Grand Prix respectively, along with second and third place awards to Phil Walker, Paul Waterston, Sue Smith, and Jane Blackett.

After a frustrating wait of three years, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men at last got onto the medal winners rostrum at the North of England 12 Stage Road Relays, held in Wythenshawe Park, Manchester on Sunday 21st March. Bronze medals were won, and it was also good to see the International talents of Nick McCormick back in action for his club, and he wasted no time showing that he had regained his appetite for competition, as he clocked the days fastest time on the short 4.8k leg. It was a well fought superb achievement for Morpeth Harriers, laced with the fact that Matt Nicholson, Ross Floyd, Paul Waterston, Kristian Forster, Michael Dawson, Mark Davies, and Peter Newton, all had the added honour of receiving North of England Senior Medals for the very first time.

Morpeths Jane Mooney and Jonnie Nisbet capped what has been an absolutely excellent Cross Country season for them, by taking superb victories at the final meeting of the Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League at Prudhoe on Saturday 27th March.

Nisbet's joy was further enhanced, on learning that the supporting places of Joe Robertshaw (8th) (Slow Pack), and Philip Caldwell (10th) (Fast Pack), had given Morpeth Harriers second team place behind Blyth on the day, which confirmed them winning the Under 15 Boys league championship for the season.

Morpeth Harriers success on the day was further enhanced when Jessica Morrison claimed an eight second victory over Birtley's North Eastern Champion Lydia Turner in the Under 13 Girls race. Morrison not only won the race, but was also rewarded with the days fifth fastest time, plus the added news, that on the day she had superbly led her Morpeth Harriers clubmates to team victory on the day over Birtley, which in turn assured them of winning the Under 13 Girls team championship for the season.

An added success for Morpeth Harriers was Matt Nicholson's win in the Senior Mens Grand Prix, where he scored maximum points in three of the four events that he ran.

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There were several successes for Morpeth Harriers on both the team and individual front, at the annual Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Races, held at Newburn's Business Parkon April 2nd.

On the team front, the best success came from the Under 13 Girls, who won by a margin of twelve points from Durham City. They were led home by Alison Brown, who finished fifth, and covered the 1.74 mile circuit in 11m05s. One place and five seconds behind her was her clubmate Sarah Wilkes, and with Josie McCreton also finishing and excellent eighth in 11m23s, Morpeth Harriers were convincing team winners.

In the Senior Mens 4x2.43mile Relay, Morpeth lost out to Gateshead by twenty nine seconds, with Matt Nicholsonclocking the squads fastest time of 11m30s on the final leg,which also proved to be the fifth fastest of the day.

Morpeth Harriers Veteran Men finished second to Sunderland by a mere 20 seconds, courtesy of Paul Waterston (12m28s) Neil Wilkinson (11m56s), George Hall (12m53s) and Phil Walker (12m36s). Wilkinson's time was second fastest of the day, behind Brian Rushworth of Sunderland Harriers (11m43s).

Best individual performer on the day for Morpeth Harriers was undoubtedly Jonnie Nisbet, who after running a very close race with rival Chris Peverley of Chester Le Street,stole away to win the Under 15 Boys 2.43mile event, by a margin of three seconds with his clocking of 12m41s. Philip Winkler of Morpeth Harriers finished second in the Under 13 Boys 1.74 event in 9m23s.

By clocking an excellent 32m05s, Morpeths Michael Morris produced his best 10k road performance for nearly four years, when finishing second in the sixth North Tyneside 10k on Sunday 4th April. Morpeth Harriers won the Mens Team competition, thanks to further excellent supporting efforts from third placed Ross Floyd (32m18s), and fifth placed Michael Dawson (32m33s).

Phil Walker and Paul Waterston of Morpeth Harriers, were first and second in the Over 40 Veterans section by virtue of their placings of 16th and 17th in respective times of 34m40s and 35m01s.

Much welcome news came to the ears of Morpeth Harriers when following a meeting of Northumberland County Council's Planning and Environment Committee held on Tuesday 6th April 2010, it was announced that the proposed development of an athletics track and associated facilities at Morpeth's King Edward VI School, was another step along the road to reality, and that a grant from Sport England to the tune of £300,000 is currently being awaited, in order to ensure sufficient finance for the project, which is expected to cost £800,000 in total.

Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens squad put up a courageous and creditable performance to finish seventeenth at the ERRA National 12 Stage Road Relay Championships, held at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 17th April.

The clubs most impressive performers were Matthew Nicholson, who tore round a short leg in 14m53s, and clubmate Jonny Taylor, who clocked the equal fifth fastest long leg time of the day of 26m05s. Only seven of their Bronze medal winning squad from the Northern 12 Stage Road Relays, were able to make the trip this time, and Team Manager David Swinburne was to be congratulated, for making the best from what he had left at his disposal.

Morpeth Harriers Mongolian International Se-Rod Bato-Chir, celebrated his return to British soil on Sunday 18th April, when he won the innaugural Brighton Marathon in a time of 2hrs19m05s.

Morpeth Harrier Gary Jones won Wallsend Harriers Multi Terrain Race at the Rising Sun Nature Reserve on Sunday 18th April in a time of 27m32s.

Morpeth Harrier Joe Robertshaw won the Under 15 Boys 400m, at the Anne Marie Readshaw Memorial Track and Field meeting, held on Sunday 18th April at Shildon. Robertshaw clocked 56.3s, and at the same meeting, his club colleague Jonny Nisbet set new figures of 2m06.5s, when he finished fourth in the Under 17 Mens 1500m.

Morpeths Peter Newton showed his rivals a clean pair of heels when he knocked six seconds off his own course record to take victory in the Transped Blyth Valley 10k on Sunday 25th April. He crossed the finishing line in 31m29s and led his club to a fine team victory. Other leading Morpeth Harriers placings went to, Michael Dawson (5th) 32m18s, Ian Harding (6th) 32m23s, Mark Brown (7th) 32m36s, Ross Floyd (9th) 32m47s, and Mark Davies (10th) 33m26s, which was a new personal best for the Welshman.

Morpeths Aiveen Fox was third in the Ladies race in 36m34s, which was won by Chester Le Street's Angie Hibbs in 35m54s.

Ben Harrison was Morpeth Harriers first man home in the Virgin London Marathon on Sunday 25th April. He finished his debut over the distance in 2hrs57m17s, and was 848th to finish.

Morpeth Harrier Elaine Telford, began her 2010 Track campaign in excellent style when she took victory in both Senior Womens sprint events at the Gateshead Harriers Medal Meeting, held at the International Stadium on Sunday 25th April. She won the 100m in 12.85s, and the 200m in 26.17s.

At the first Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 28th April, Michael Holland and Philip Winkler were the pick of results achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers. Michael won the Under 17 Mens High Jump with his best clearance of 1.55m, and Philip finished fifth in the Under 15 Boys 1500m in 4m36.4s.

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Domestic Track and Field action for Morpeth Harriers got underway in earnest, with their Senior Men and Womens team competing in their first round North of England League Division 2 match at South Leeds Stadium on Saturday 1st May.

Having achieved promotion from Division 3, it was always going to be a baptism of fire for the clubs Senior team, however they did battle hard on a cold breezy day to finish fifth of the six competing teams in a closely fought contest.

Best performances on the Mens side belonged to Peter Newton and Chris Sampson, who both secured victories in the 5000m and 3000m Steeplechase respectively,in times of 15m25s, and 9m22.1s. Elaine Telford, Rachel Archer, Aiveen Fox, and Claire Reid were undoubtedly the stars behind Morpeth Harriers supporting Womens performances.

Telford claimed a 100m/200m sprint double over Durham City's Rebekah Wilmshurst with respective clockings of 12.8s, and 26.2s,and she was well backed up by a resilient Archer,who finished second in the 100m B (13.5s),and third in the 200m B (27.8s).

Fox claimed three excellent victories. when she won the B race of the 800m in 2m23.6s, and then went on to win the A race of the 1500m in 4m49.4s, and the A race of the 3000m in 10m19.1s. Claire Reid showed excellent early season form, when winning the Discus with a best of 36.09m, and also the Shot with 10.71m. She also finished third in the Hammer with 28.96m, and fifth in the Javelin with 17.46m.

It was a cold day on Sunday 2nd May, when Morpeth Harriers opened their programme of Young Athletes fixtures at Monkton Stadium, Jarrow.

In this match they were up against Middlesbrough (Mandale), and Scarborough, and they managed to finish second to the Teesside squad. There were good results from both the Male and Female sections of the squad, quite notably Kirsty Lang's hat-trick of victories in the Under 13 Girls events. Her first came in the 75metres, where she clocked 11.4s, and then went on to claim victory in the 150metres in 22.7s. She made her day perfect when she also won the High Jump with her best clearance of 1.15m. The club also had eleven other winners on the day, in what turned out to be a very satisfactory day at the office for Tony Ward and Josie Goodfellow's charges.

Joe Robertshaw clocked a new personal best in the Under 15 Boys 200m of 24.9s, when he finished in a head to head with Middlesbrough's Fezan Mughal, and only lost out by a whisker from the judges viewpoint. Robertshaw made up for this a little later when he won the 400m in 58.0s.

Five winners came from Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Mens section, quite notably from Michael Holland, who had competed for the Seniors 24 hours earlier in Leeds.

The two days of the North Eastern Counties Track and Field Championships held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th May, saw five Gold medals achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers, along with some good personal best performances.

On the Saturday Joe Robertshaw celebrated his birthday in fine style, when he produced a blistering personal best performance of 54.5s, to win his second regional championship in the Under 15 Boys 400m final, and also achieved the time that should give him qualification for the forthcoming English Schools Championships.

Two Morpeth Harriers also managed to retain the titles that they won in 2009. After running in a very settled position on the first lap of the Under 20 Womens 800m, Laura Weightman, took off in dramatic fashion just after the bell, and cruised to victory in 2m18.86s, whilst a desperate battle for the minor placings was raging behind her.

Hannah Rank ran a sensibly paced race to retain her Under 17 Womens 3000m title in 11m05.97s, which was around four seconds adrift of her 2009 victory.

On the Sunday in a very hotly contested Senior Mens 800m Final, Morpeth Harrier Nick McCormick eventually broke down New Marske's Andrew Wiles's early lead to win his firstNorth Eastern Championship Gold Medal for five years by a whisker in 1m52.75s, easily his best performance over the distance for some time. Morpeth Harriers other Gold Medal went to young Michael Holland, who won the Under 17 Mens High Jump on countback with his best clearance of 1.70m.

A very depleted yet courageous Morpeth Harriers Veteran Mens Over 35 to 50 squad travelled to Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield on Saturday 15th May , to bravely finish in an excellent eleventh place against some of the country's finest at the annual British Masters Road Relays.

MorpethHarriers Young Athletes squad showed a great deal of commitment on all sections to secure a narrow victory in their second round Northern League Division 1 Match, held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 16th May.

One of the clubs star performers was Jonny Nisbet, who secured a hat-trick of outstanding individual victories, in the Under 17 Mens 800m, 3000m, and 400m events. Outstanding performers in the Under 15 Boys section were Philip Winkler and Joe Robertshaw. Winkler won the 1500m in 4m48.7s, whilst new North Eastern 400m Champion Robertshaw won his favoured event in 55.3s.

In the Womens track events, Morpeth's Kirsty Lang secured an excellent victory in the Under 13 Girls 75m in 11.3s, but found herself just outsprinted to the line as she clocked 22.8s in the 150m. Lots of good points came Morpeth's way in the Field events, particularly Joshua Dickson's triple victory in the Discus (27.52m), Shot (9.28m), and Javelin (28.08m) in the Under 17 Mens section.

Morpeths Ian Hudspith showed a detemined turn of pace when he won theMiddlesbrough 5k Road Race in 14m44s on Sunday 16th May. He won with 29 seconds to spare over his second placed club colleague Peter Newton.

Morpeths Matt Nicholson finished second, and three seconds adrift of fast finishing Sunderland Harrier Gavin Massingham, in 3m53.5s, in the BMC 1500m held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium, on Monday 17th May.

There was a club triple success at the North Shields Poly Clive Cookson 10k Road Race on Wednesday 19th May, as Michael Dawson and Jane Mooney won their respective Mens and Ladies titles, and Morpeth Harriers were emphatic winners of the Mens team title. Dawson, a former Poly athlete, won with thirty nine seconds to spare over his second placed club colleague Mark Davies, in a time of 33m25s.

The newly engaged Jane Mooney was a comfortable winner of the Womens race, finishing in nineteenth place overall in 37m19s, and twelve places and ninety five seconds clear of second placed Alison Dargie of Elswick Harriers.

On Sunday 23rd May, Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes won the 5k Cancer Research UK Race for Life at Herrington Country Park.

Morpeth Harrier Jonathan Taylor finished second to Scotland's Alistair Hay in the 1500m at the Loughborough International Track &; Field meeting on Sunday 23rd May. He clocked 3mins46.16s.

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Morpeths Nick McCormick produced an excellent 3m39.76s when finishing fifth in the Mens 1500m at the Bislett Games meeting in Oslo on Friday 4th June. He was also the first of three Briton's, coming home ahead of Kent's Jermaine Mays (6th), and New Marske's Ricky Stevenson (8th).

A number of very creditable performances saw Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Womens Track and Field squad finish fourth in their second round North of England League Division 2 match at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Saturday 5th June. Peter Newton maintained his 100% record in the Mens 5000m by winning in 15m32.6s, and Mark Davies backed him up well by taking the B race in 16m26.9s. Gary Jones made his league debut in the 3000m Steeplechase, and did well to finish second in 10m51.6s. In the Mens Field events, the Appleby brothers were once again the star performers for Morpeth Harriers. Paul finished third in the A string Hammer with a best of 25.77m, being well backed up by Steven, who finished as second B with 22.69m. An excellent seasons best of 35.54m saw Steven finish third in the A section of the Discus, and Paul's 31.55m was good for second in the B. 9.74m and 9.61 respectively for Paul and Steven in the Shot, saw fifth and second places being achieved. In the Womens events, Elaine Telford kept her league form intact by taking both the 100m and 200m in 12.5s and 26.2s respectively. Morpeth Harriers Womens Team Manager Aiveen Fox certainly led by example by finishing third in the 800m (2m25.0s), and claimed two victories in the 1500m (4m54.0s), and 3000m (10m20.7s). Claire Reid claimed two Field event victories in the Discus (33.85m) and Shot (10.35m), and gained more valuable points by finishing third in the Hammer (30.31m), and fourth in the Javelin (18.77m).

Ser-Od Bato-Chir of Morpeth Harriers made a glorious homecoming to Mongolia when he won his country's inaugural Marathon on June 5th in 2hrs 25mins.

At the Blaydon Race on Wednesday 9th June, 2009 winner Ian Hudspith clocked a truly excellent 28m14s to finish third behind two very illustrious Kenyan's.

Morpeths Ailsa McGregor, Jonny Nisbet, and Joe Robertshaw were amongst the star performers at the Northumberland Schools Track and Field Championships, held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 12th June. McGregor took her talents to an entirely new level, and more than pleased her watching coach, when she won the Intermediate Girls 800m in a brand new personal best of 2m26.4s. Although he finished fifth in a hard run Intermediate Boys 800m, Nisbet can feel well pleased with his new personal best of 2m03.3s. Drawn in an outside lane, Robertshaw still managed to pull off a win in the Junior Boys 400m in 56.6s.

Despite early morning rain, the Morpeth Fair Day Fun Run,on Sunday 13th June organised by Morpeth Harriers still attracted 68 enthusiasts, who were led home by Joe Elder who finished in 5m16s, and twenty seconds ahead of his clubmate Ryan Green. Third place went to Morpeth Harrier Alison Brown, who was first girl, in a time of 5m43s. Fourth place in 5m57s, was Elliot Harrison who was third boy. Second and third places in the Girls race went to Morpeth Harrier Sarah Wilkes (6m12s), and Hannah Smith (6m45s). The event was started by the Mayor of Morpeth Coun Ken Brown.

A very positive run saw Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman lift the UK Under 20 Womens 1500m title at the Aviva England Athletics Under20/Under23 Championships at Bedford on Saturday 19th June. She won with two and half seconds to spare over her closest rival Georgia Peel of Aldershot, with her clocking of 4m32.55s.

Joe Robertshaw was very much the pick of Morpeth Harriers performances at the Northern Inter Counties Schools Track & Field Championships, held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 19th June. The North East Under 15 400m, and former 200m Champion, clocked what was easily a new personal best of 53.7s, with a prevailing wind, and took the Junior Boys 400m with much panache, to guarantee his qualification for the English Schools Championships, due to be held in Birmingham on 9th and 10th July.

On Sunday 20th June, Morpeths Aiveen Fox clinched her third Womens victory in the Newton Aycliffe 10k Road Race. Having won in 2005, and 2006, and finishing second in 2004 and 2009, Fox has definitely shown a liking to the three lap circuit, and on this occasion with her individual clocking of 38m05s, she finished eleven seconds clear of 2009 winner Carolyn Summersgill of Middlesbrough, who may have paid a heavy penalty for an enthusiastic start.

Three first class performances by Morpeth Harriers Under 17 Womens athlete Ailsa McGregor, were not only a high spot of her clubs efforts at their third round Northern Young Athletes match held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Sunday 20th June, they also won much applause from her Team Manager Garreth Plant, who elected her as his Female Athlete of the Match, because of her hat-trick of victories. Her first win of the day came in the 800m, which she finished very strongly to win by a handsome margin of twelve seconds in 2m28.1s, having clocked a similar time at the Northern Inter Counties Schools at Gateshead the previous day. She then went on to claim victory in the 300m Hurdles in 50.3s, edging just ahead of her Morpeth Harriers clubmate, and Team Managers daughter Katie Plant, who also ran very well to finish in 52.9s. Her third victory came in the Long Jump, where she achieved a best of 4.28m, and this was indeed well supported by the best effort of 3.51m being recorded by Polly Jeffrey, who finished third overall.

Stand in Mens Team Manager Paddy Paulsen gave her Mens Athlete of the Match award to Michael Holland, who won the Under 17 Mens High Jump with his best clearance of 1.65m, and finished third in the Long Jump (5.06m), although there were a number of challengers for the coveted title achieved. They certainly included Joshua Dixon and Cole Anderson. Dixon won the Under 17 Mens Javelin with a best of 31.79m, and also went on to record two seconds in the Discus (25.02m),and Under 17 Mens Shot (8.67m). Meanwhile Anderson claimed victory in the Under 17 Mens 200m (25.1s), and also finished third in the Triple Jump (10.66m). Morpeth Harriers Team Managers were very praiseworthy of all of the athletes who turned out on the day in a brave fight, where although they placed third of the three competing clubs in the match, the points difference between second and third was rather less than expected.

Morpeth Harriers enjoyed a highly successful evening at Newburn Leisure Centre on Wednesday 23rd June, with individual victories for both Ian Harding and Jane Mooney, and a number of other highly creditable performances being achieved in the annual Newburn River Run.

At the televised Aviva European Trials & UK Championships held at Birminghams Alexander Stadium, Morpeth Harriers athletes were amongst the action. On the Friday night Ian Hudspith competed in the Mens 10,000m Final,and finished 15th in a classy field with a time of 29m55.56. Also on the Friday night Laura Weightman took part in the heats of the Womens 1500m. Laura finished 4th in her heat with a time of 4m20.87 and qualified for the final which took place on the Saturday, and here Laura got round in 4m35.61 and was placed 6th. Nick McCormick and Jonathan Taylor were in action in the heats of the Mens 1500m race. Nick won his heat in 3m44.01 and went through to the final, and Jonathan Taylor in his heat finished 6th in 3m46.71. In the Final on the Sunday, Nick finished third with a time of 3m42.52, with Andy Baddeley winning the race in 3m41.49.

There were some good performances by athletes from Morpeth Harriers at the Middle Schools Track & Field Championships held at Gateshead Stadium on Saturday 26th June. Best of those performances came from Philip Winkler, who won the Year 8 Boys 800m in 2m14.6s, Kirsty Lang, who finished second in the Year 7 Girls 200m in 30.7s, Jessica Morrison, who finished second in the Year 8 Girls 1500m in 5m29.8s, and Ryan Green who finished third in the Year 7 Boys 800m in 2m31.0s. Recovering from a heavy cold, Alison Brown battled bravely for fourth in the 1500m won by Morrison, in a time of 5m41.1s.

Morpeths Gavin Bayne and Archie Jenkins both won medals in the Over 55 Mens section at the Veterans North East Track & Field Championships
held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Saturday 26th June. Gavin won two Golds in the 1500m (4m57.8s) and 5000m (18m27.1s), and Archie won one Gold and Two Silver Medals. He finished second to Bayne in both the 1500m (5m02.0s) and 5000m (19m55.7s), and he won his Gold in the 800m in 2m34.1s.

Morpeths Nick Swinburn won the 2010 Beamish Tram Challenge 10k (Multi-Terrain) race on Sunday 27th June at Beamish Museum with a time of 35m24s.

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With a large number of key athletes missing, ranging from injury to general unavailability, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men and Womens Track and Field squad were always going to be the underdogs in their third round Northern League Division 2 fixture, at Middlesbrough's Clairville Stadium on Sunday 4th July. Team Managers John Thompson, David Swinburne, and Aiveen Fox had worked hard to get squads together that covered as many events asa possible, and Fox herself was no shirker, as she covered gaps in Field events, and put herself firmly to the test against Durham City's talented Rosie Smith in two epic battles firstly in the 3000m, then latterly in the 1500m. In the 3000m she was neck and neck with Smith until the Durham girl entered her second last lap, at which point she stepped up the pace to win with twenty three seconds to spare, as Fox came home in second place in 10m55.1s. However in the 1500m, Fox took revenge by edging ahead with 120metres remaining to win by three seconds in 5m02.6s. Morpeth Harriers other winner in the Womens section was Claire Reid, who won the Discus with her best of 36.30m, and finished second in both the Hammer (27.36m) and Shot (10.78m). Elaine Telford, who had been unbeaten in the league over 100m and 200m, unfortunately found herself just edged out in the 100m by Gateshead's Georgia Dawson, despite an equal clocking of 13.6s against a strong headwind, and was forced to settle for second in a tussle with Durham's Sam Coleby in the 200m (26.9s). In the Mens events, it was the Appleby brothers who did their lions share in the Field section. The best result came in the Discus, where Paul finished second in the A section (33.63m), and Stephen superbly took the B section with his best of 32.75m.

On Monday 5th July 2010, Morpeth Harriers got together with Morpeth Swimming Club, and Newcastle and Tyneside Orienteers,to organise a new initiative of a Duathlon at Morpeth Riverside Leisure Centre. It was designed in order to encourage participants within those clubs, to try other activities, and to create a base for knowledge and interaction between the sport of athletics and swimming. 36 participants were involved, who all had to complete eight lengths of the Morpeth pool (200m), and then to embark on an orienteering style run in Carlisle Park,where 1.3k courses had been designed for year 6 to 8 school pupils, and 2.2k for years 9 plus. The event was well enjoyed by all those who took part, and as Chief Co-ordinator Adrian Barnes said at the presentation afterwards, he had certainly witnessed a lot of very good and proficient swimming, along with some excellent running skills.

Morpeth Harriers announced that they had secured a year long sponsorship deal with the North East's largest Independent Motor Group, Benfield, who have a VW and Renault dealership in Hillsgate, Morpeth.

It was a clean sweep for Morpeth Harriers at the Tynedale 10k on Wednesday 7th July, with individual victories in both the Men’s and Women’s races, and team triumphs to add to an already impressive tally. Despite his exertions in the Saltwell Harriers Fell Race the day before, which he had also won, Nick Swinburn completed an emphatic victory in this popular race along the Tyne valley, in winning by over a minute in a time of 31m53s from North East A.A. 10,000m champion James Buis of Heaton Harriers. In the Women’s race, Morpeth Harrier Jane Mooney continued her current run of victories to finish in a time of 36m35s, a good minute and a half ahead of her nearest rival, AidaGeragusian of Trafford AC.

Thirty one individual and one relay victory, amongst a host of excellent performances by those who turned out, spurred Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes to a marginal team victory over their close rivals Alnwick and Blyth in their fourth and final Young Athletes Northern League Division 1 match held at Whitley Bay on Sunday 18th July. Respective Team Managers Tony Ward and Garreth Plant felt justifiably proud of their charges, for despite being short of athletes in certain key areas, they still managed to pull off a result that sees them finish in third place in the final league table for the season.

After winning his heat in 3m48.27s, Morpeths Nick McCormick clocked an excellent 3m42.67s to win the Senior Mens 1500m title at the England Athletics Championships, held at
Gateshead's International Stadium over Saturday and Sunday 17th/18th July.

Amongst the leading finishers in the Bupa Great North 10k Road Race held in Sunderland on Sunday 18th July were Morpeths Nick Swinburn and Alan Shepherd. Swinburn finished 12th in 31m53s, and Shepherd came home in 34m25s for 18th place. The accompanying Junior 2.5k run, saw Morpeths Sarah Wikes win the 12 to 14 year old girls race in 10m16s, with clubmate Alison Brown just two seconds adrift in second place.

Monsoon like conditions greeted athletes who took part in the fourth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League meeting held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Wednesday 14th July. Nevertheless seven Morpeth Harriers braved the elements to produce some good performances. Philip Winkler finished second in the Under 15 Boys 800m in 2m14.2s, and Joe Elder clocked a new personal best of 2m26.3s, to finish 6th in the A race. Elsewhere at Under 15 Boys level Joe Robertshaw finished second in the 200m in 24.8s, and clubmate Miles Foggon finished fifth in 26.9s. In the graded 800m, Jonny Nisbet finished as 6th Under 17 man in 2m08.1s, and Ailsa McGregor won the D race in 2m27.2s, to finish as 3rd Under 17 Woman. Neil Wilkinson finished as fifth Senior Man in the graded 3000m in 9m14.4s, as torrential rain fell.

Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman ran the most important race in her athletics career to date on Sunday 25th July in Moncton in Canada, when she competed in the Womens 1500m Final at the World Junior Athletics Championships. Laura gave her all, and although her sixth placing just couldn't get her a medal, it did give her a lifetime personal best of 4m14.31s.

Morpeths Matt Nicholson added his name to an illustrious list of North Eastern Counties 5k Road Race Championship winners when he won the Sunderland event, held at Silksworth Sports Complex on Wednesday 21st July. Nicholson who had shared most of the leading pace alongside club colleague Peter Newton, Stephen Hepples of Newham and Essex Beagles, and Durham City's Dan Garbutt, stole away in the closing stages, to win in 15m12s, which turned out to be an eight second margin over his closest rival, which just happened to be his club colleague Newton who claimed the Silver medal, with Hepples getting Bronze, a further eight seconds back in third place.

The fifth Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Athletics League meeting, held at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium on Wednesday 28th July, saw some good performances achieved by Morpeth Harriers, that included four personal bests.

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It was a victorious homecoming for Morpeth Harrier Nathan Shrubb, at the Morpeth 10k on Tuesday 3rd August, as he returned to his home town to win the popular midweek race in a time of 32 minutes and 13 seconds
and by so doing gained the title of North East Counties AA 10k Road Race Champion. In the ladies race, Hester Dix of Blaydon knocked a full two minutes off her previous personal best to be crowned Ladies Champion in a time of 35 minutes and 55 seconds.

Morpeth Harriers were in action at the final Start Fitness North Eastern Athletics League Meeting at Gateshead on Wednesday 11th August. Gary Jones (9:40.21) and Mike Hegarty (9:45.56) finished 4th and 5th respectively in the Senior 3000m, won by New Marske's Russell Best (8:59.53) Marcus Cram won the B 800m (2:02.31) and was 3rd fastest Under 20 athlete,
behind Gateshead's Greg Urwin (1:57.49).

At the Trafford BMC Grand Prix on Tuesday 10th August, Morpeth Harrier Jonny Taylor finished 2nd in the 1500m in a time of 3mins44.48secs, behind Liverpool's Jonny Mellor (3:43.40). Matt Nicholson came home in 8th place (3:50.02).

Morpeths Chris Sampson won the B 10000m event at the BMC Meeting at Tipton on Saturday 14th August. It was Sampson's debut on the Track for this distance, and he won in 31m17.36, with a margin of victory of 6secs over Adam Elliott of Sale.

Morpeth's Laura Weightman clocked a personal best time of 4m12.95s, to finish 9th in the 1500m at the Aviva London Grand Prix at Crystal Palace on Friday 13th August. In a tactical race won by Kenya's Nancy Langat (4:07.60), Laura bettered her previous figures by 1.36secs.

After winning his heat in a very modest 55.14s, Morpeths North Eastern Under 15 Boys 400m Champion Joe Robertshaw, went on to win a Bronze medal in the Under 15 Boys 400m at the combined Under 17/Under 15 Scottish Track and Field Championships held at Scotstoun Stadium, near Glasgow on Sunday 15th August. Robertshaw's time of 53.44s was just outside his own personal best, and only a second adrift of winner Ben Robbins of Edinburgh AC.

Ian Harding of Morpeth Harriers finished second in the Robin Hood 10k at Jarrow on Monday 16th August, in a time of 33m25s.

Morpeths Alan Shepherd clocked a new personal course best of 16m30s, when winning the Albert Park 5k Run in Middlesbrough on Saturday 21st August.

Morpeths Laura Weightman's brand new personal best of 4m09.60s, was the major talking point at the Tartan Games,
held at Gateshead International Stadium, on Saturday 21st August, as she coasted to victory in the Womens 1500m, after Shildon's Kate Avery had set a fairly lively early pace. Elsewhere in the event Morpeth's Marcus Cram finished second in the Under 20 Mens 1500m, and Claire Reid competed in the Senior Womens Discus and Javelin, where she won with bests of 33.91m, and 19.55m, and finished 3rd in the Shot (9.70m), and 4th in the Hammer (29.45m).

Morpeth Harriers Nick Swinburn and Gary Jones finished second and ninth respectively in the Ray Harrison Memorial 10k at Billingham on Sunday 22nd August, in times of 33m19s, and 35m24s.

Morpeth Harrier Joe Robertshaw clocked the fifth fastest time overall of 53.84s, when qualifying for the final of the Under 15 Boys 400m at the Aviva England Athletics Championships held at Bedford on Saturday and Sunday 21st/22nd August. He finished third in the slowest of the two heats, however in doing so he sustained a thigh strain, therefore he opted to pull out of the Sunday final. Joe's run however did see him finish in front of Edinburgh's Ben Robbins, who had denied him a Gold medal in the Scottish Championships, at Scotstoun, the previous week.

Morpeth Harriers along with their sponsor Benfield Motors (Morpeth) took pleasure in announcing their first Athlete of the Month Award, which will be targetted towards any athlete at the club below the age of 17. For his achievements both at a National and Club level, the award for July 2010, went to the club's very promising Under 15 athlete, Joe Robertshaw.

Another fine performance by Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman saw her set new figures of 2m03.18s, in a mixed 800m event at the Trafford Grand Prix Meeting, held at Stretford, Manchester on Tuesday 24th August. She finished third behind Nottingham's Andrew Warburton and Manchester's Andrew Parsonage.

Morpeth Harriers athletes were in dominant form at the annual Durham City Harriers Summer Cross Country Relay meeting, held at Maiden Castle Playing Fields on Wednesday 25th August. The club secured excellent victories in the Senior Men and Senior Womens 3x3k events, and only lost out for a third victory to North Shields Poly by twenty seven seconds in the Veteran Mens event over the same distance.

Morpeths Laura Weightman clocked 4m12.82s, when winning a talent filled Womens 1500m A race, at the BMC Grand Prix meeting in Cardiff on Saturday 28th August. She finished three seconds clear of Great Britain representative, Laura Kenney of Royal Sutton Coldfield, with Coventry's Tina Brown, a further two seconds adrift in third place.

Morpeths North Eastern Counties Under 15 Boys 400m Champion, Joe Robertshaw saved his best till last when he finished second to Yorkshire Champion Joe Lancaster of Sheffield City in a thrilling finish at the Northern Inter Counties Track and Field Championships held at Gateshead's International Stadium on Saturday 28th August. He only lost out by nine hundredths of a second at the finish line, after producing one of the regions finest performances of the day, and created a brand new personal best of 52.93s, his previous being 53.09s at the English Schools in July.

Morpeths Nick Swinburn just missed out for victory by a whisker on Sunday 29th August, when he made the trip over the border to compete in the annual Teviotdale Harriers 10k in Hawick. Swinburn clocked an impressive 30m16s, which bettered his previous by all of eighteen seconds, however he failed to win a close battle of wits by a second, with Edinburgh AC's Neil Renault. His club colleague, and recent Morpeth 10k winner Nathan Shrubb, also made the trip, and finished third in 32m41s, managing to hold of the chasing Dave Kirkland of Alnwick Harriers.

The annual Blyth Links 10k on Tuesday 31st August saw Morpeth Harrier Ian Harding earn an excellent victory in a time of 32m18s, which also saw him finish with a comfortable margin of thirty seven seconds over leading Veteran Ian Twaddle of North Shields Poly, with fellow Morpeth Harrier Gary Jones, a further eighty four seconds adrift in third place.

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Morpeth Harrier Nick Swinburn was an impressive winner of the Newcastle Exhibition Park 5k Road Race,on Wednesday 1st September when he clocked a new personal best of 14m56s for the distance.

Having his first run in the Sunderland Park Run 5k event on Saturday 4th September, Morpeth Harrier Terry Wall took victory in a time of 16m17s.

Running his third best ever time for the distance, Morpeths Paul Waterston finished fourth in the Tynedale 10 Mile Jelly Tea Road Race, between Hexham and Ovingham, on Sunday 5th September. Waterston clocked 56m14s as first Veteran Man, and was only eight seconds adrift of third placed man Conrad Franks of Gateshead Harriers. With Phil Walker finishing sixth in 57m13s as second Veteran Man, and Mike Hegarty finishing thirteenth in 58m56s, Morpeth Harriers took the Mens Team title.

Morpeth Harriers achieved both individual and team success at the prestigious Middlesbrough Teespride 10k Road Race on Sunday 5th September. Former UK 10,000metres Champion Ian Hudspith returned to the scene of his 2009 victory, and although on this occasion he was forty three seconds adrift of his previous time, his 30m52s was still good enough to gain him a thirty three second marginal victory. Fourth place went to Morpeth Harrier Peter Newton, who ran well to clock 31m29s, and the clubs team success was further sealed, when Ross Floyd came home in seventh place in 32m23s. In the Womens Mile race that accompanied the 10k event, Morpeth Harrier Laura Weightman finished second to Preston International Helen Clitheroe, in a time 4m30.25s. Like Clitheroe, Weightman was representing England. Clitheroe's winning time was 4m25.45s. In the Mens Mile, Morpeths Jonathan Taylor, competing for the North East, finished third in an excellent 3m53s.

Morpeths Nick Swinburn certainly continued his latest good run of form, when he convincingly won the Puma Derwentwater Trail Fell Race, held at Keswick's Fitz Park, on September 5th, in a new record time of 51m30s, for the 8.5mile course, which reached a highest point of 1,350feet.

Morpeths Marcus Cram clocked his best time of the season over 800m at Stretford, in the Trafford Grand Prix meeting on Tuesday 7th September, when he won a combined Under 20/Under 17 A race in 1m58.86s.

Matthew Nicholson won the Watergate 5k Multi Terrain Race held at Lobley Hill on Wednesday 8th September, in a time of 15m28s, and led Morpeth Harriers home to the Mens team prize, with further support coming from Neil Wilkinson and Gary Jones, who finished second and fourth in respective times of 15m53s, and 16m37s.

Morpeth Harriers Ian Hudspith and Michael Dawson finished first and second respectively in the Newcastle Park 5k Run at Exhibition Park, on Saturday 11th September. They both finished in new best times for the course of 14m50s, and 15m49s. One of Morpeth's newest recruits, Morag Stead (formerly McDonnell), and formerly of Chester Le Street, won the Womens event in 17m37s.

Saturday 11th September, saw runners from Morpeth Harriers have their first taste of Cross Country action for the season, with Sunderland Harriers promoting their annual Open Fixture at Farringdon School. It was the clubs Veteran Men who were the days best performers, when they had a convincing win by finishing third overall in the combined Senior 4x1.8k event. Neil Wilkinson really got them into winning ways when he took them into a second leg lead, by clocking the days fastest Veteran time of 9m11s, after Paul Waterston's first leg clocking of 9m26s had his club in a close second place. Phil Walker's 9m29s on third leg was enough to retain the lead, and then Terry Wall rounded everything off nicely for victory with his final leg clocking of 9m15s. It also saw a good start to the season for Jonny Nisbet, who won the Under 17 Mens 1.8k event in 9m30s. Ailsa McGregor just missed by a margin of ten seconds for victory in the Under 17 Womens event to North Shields Poly's Gemma Wallett with her clocking of 11m15s. In the Senior Womens event, Sarah Wilkinson crowned her Morpeth Harriers debut, following her move from Chester Le Street, by finishing third in 10m20s. Carolyn Dickie was also marking her return to Cross Country running for Morpeth after leaving Windsor, and she finished tenth in 11m02s. Philip Winkler finished second in the Under 15 Boys event in 10m00s.

On Sunday September 12th, Morpeths Terry Wall returned to the scene of his 2009 victory in the Sedgefield Serpentine 6.5mile Multi Terrain event, and again recorded a win in 35m39s.

Nick Swinburn was a runaway winner of the inaugural Wallington 10k on Sunday 12th September, completing a gun-to-tape victory in a time of 31m46s.

Morpeth Harriers had some good performers at the Junior Great North Run on Saturday 18th September. In the Boys 12 to 16 year old event, Jonnie Nisbet and Philip Winkler can feel well pleased with their respective placings of eighth and eighteenth. Sarah Wilkes and Alison Brown had excellent runs in the Girls event to finish fifteenth and sixteenth.

While Ethiopia's Haile Gebrsellassie was literally running away with the Mens Race at the 30th Great North Run on Sunday 19th September, once again sponsored by Bupa, Nick Swinburn and Ian Hudspith of Morpeth Harriers werehaving tremendous battles of their very own, when competing against some of the World's best at the Half Marathon distance. After going off very hard in the very early stages, a determined Swinburn was seen to be matching strides with the front runners including Gebrsellassie, whilst Hudspith chose to go at a more reserved pace at the back of the leading pack. It has to be said that it paid off well for both of them, as Swinburn retained a great deal of composure to come home in 13th place as fourth British finisher, in a time of 65m15s, which knocked nearly a whole five minutes off his previous best Half Marathon time, and for Hudspith, who will shortly be entering Veteran status,
to finish as seventh Brit in 17th place in 65m52s, in such elite company, was encouraging.

Congratulations went to Morpeth Harrier and distinguished Triathlete Emma Pearson, who after only commencing her interest in the sport last year,returned from the World Triathlon Championships in Budapest, Hungary with a Silver Medal in her clutches. After her age group victory at the European Championships held in Athlone, Ireland in July, her expectations were really high, and Emma duly delivered an excellent performance in the 25 to 29 Female age group in a rainsoaked Budapest, to achieve her success.

Morpeth Harriers long serving Veteran athlete Archie Jenkins completed another milestone in his athletics career, when he picked up his 100th North East Veterans medal on Wednesday 22nd September. He won the Over 55 Male Veteran 10,000metres Track event at Jarrow's Monkton Stadium in a time of 39m39.2s.

Morpeths Ian Harding won the Norham 10k on Sunday 26th September, in a time of 32m23s. Second home in the race, was his club colleague Gary Jones, who clocked 34m12s. These two plus Alistair MacDonald, who finished 9th in 37m36s, and Michael Winter, who finished 17th in 39m00s, secured a team victory for Morpeth Harriers.

Morpeths Nick Swinburn finished fifth in the prestigious Swansea Bay 10k Road Race on Sunday 26th September, that attracted a total field of 3,000 runners. Swinburn's time was an excellent 30m16s, which also saw him finish as second from Great Britain.

Now resident in Spain, Morpeth Harrier Chris Sampson finished second in the the Madrid 10k Road Race on Sunday 26th September, to Spaniard Chema Martinez. Chris finished in 30m57s which saw him 47secs adrift of the winner.

Mongolian International Se-Rod Bato-Chir bounced back onto the competitive scene on Sunday 26th September, when he finished tenth in the Berlin Marathon.

At the grand old age of 45, Morpeths Paul Waterston achieved his first ever outright road race victory in the Dumfries Half Marathon on Sunday 26th September. Paul not only won, he also achieved a brand new personal best of 72m56s, on what was undoubtedly a very undulating and testing course around the outskirts of the Scottish town.

Morpeth Harriers commenced their series of Young Athletes Road Championships on Monday night (27thSeptember) at Lancaster Park. Ryan Green and Florence Thomson were the respective winners of the Under 13 age group events. Green won in 8m59s, and Thomson achieved her success in 10m21s.

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There were some creditable performances achieved by athletes from Morpeth Harriers, who travelled to Wythenshawe Park in Manchester on Saturday 2nd October,for the North of England Road Relay Championships. In the Mens 6 Stage event Morpeth finished sixth,and in theWomens 4 Stage they finished fifth. The Young Athletes events, saw Morpeth Harriers with teams in the Under 15 Girls, Under 13 Boys, and Under 17 Mens age groups. In the Under 17 Mens 3 x 3.6k event, Morpeth Harriers finished in 22nd place Morpeth Harriers Under 13 Boys finished in 21st place, and the clubs Under 15 Girls finished in 37th place.

Morpeth Harriers were pleased to belatedly announce that their Benfield Motors Athlete of The Month award for August had gone to Under 13 member Patrick Booth.

The second in the series of Morpeth Harriers Young Athletes Road Championship for 2010 took place on Lancaster Park on Monday 4th October) On this occasion it was the Under 11's who tackled the 1.3mile circuit, and Hamish Thomson and Elizabeth Rank were the respective winners in times of 10m16s and 10m31s.

Three Morpeth Harriers achieved noteable successes at the Alwinton Show Fell Race in Northumberland,on Saturday 9th October Nick Swinburn and Philip Winkler won the Senior and Under 15 events for the second year running, and Jonnie Nisbet bettered his 2009 effort by winning the Under 17 Mens race.

Alison Brown, also of Morpeth Harriers was tenth finisher in the Under 13 age group, and was third girl home.

Alan Shepherd of Morpeth Harriers finished secondin the Great Cumbrian Half Marathon on Sunday 10th October in a time of 73m41s.

There was a very close finish to the Morpeth Harriers Under 15 Girls Road Championship on Monday 11th October when Sarah Wilkes won by a nose from Alison Brown, with both girls being given a finishing time of 8m51s for the 1.3mile Lancaster Park circuit. In the Boys race Philip Winkler triumphed in an excellent 7m46s.

Having his first major competitive outing since September's Great North Run, Morpeth Harrier Ian Hudspith ran a superb fourth leg of 17m38s, over the 5.85k course at Birmingham's Sutton Park venue, to drag his club from the depths of obscurity at the ERRA National 6 Stage Road Relay Championships, held on Saturday 16th October. Hudspith passed on to fifth leg runner Peter Newton (18m22s), who progressed to sixteenth place, and final leg runner Nick Swinburn maintained respectability as he gained one more place, as he got round in a tenth equal fastest clocking on the leg, of 18m02s, and was Morpeth Harriers second best performer on the day.

Sarah Wilkinson had her first run in the Newcastle Park Run at Exhibition Park on Saturday 16th October, and completed the 5k course in 17m34s, to finish in second place.

Matt Nicholson, Nick Swinburn, Morag Stead, Jonnie Nisbet, and Alison Brown of Morpeth Harriers all produced excellent performances at the first Start Fitness sponsored North Eastern Harrier League, held at East Cramlington Nature Reserve on Saturday 23rd October. On the team front, Morpeth Harriers managed to finish second in the Under 17 Mens event, and third from Division 1 in the Senior Mens section. For the first time, the Harrier League provided competition for Under 11 Boys and Girls. Morpeth Harriers Philip Kirby, Robbie Elder, Ciaran Jewell, and Matthew Hogan, all performed well to finish in 11th, 18th, 22nd, and 23rd, in a 44 strong field.

An upbeat David Swinburne, Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens Road and Cross Country Team Manager, described his squads performance at the second Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League meeting held at Farringdon College, Sunderland on Saturday 30th October as a superb workmanlike effort, and he felt assured that there was depth within the ranks, to maintain a positive challenge for the league title in the fixtures that remained. He also singled out the individual performance of Matt Nicholson, who for the second meeting in a row, clocked the fastest time, and also looked set for retaining his hold on the seasons best performers title for another year. Although a little reticent in self praise of his own efforts, Swinburne must take some applause for the fact that he led his team home with a solid run from the medium pack, on a course with less passing places, and that he managed to channel his way through to twelfth place, clocking what became the tenth fastest time in a field of 367 finishers. Morpeth Harriers Senior Mens team dominance was further confirmed, when alongside Swinburne's effort, the other five counters managed to get within the top thirty finishers.

Another excellent team effort on the day for Morpeth Harriers came from their Under 15 Boys, who finished second to a very strong Sunderland Harriers effort. They were led home by a front running performer in Philip Winkler, who despite a hip niggle, clocked one of the fastest times, to win by a margin of nine seconds. In the Senior Womens event, new signing from Chester Le Street Maxine Czarnecka, marked an excellent debut in the Blue and White of Morpeth Harriers, by posting the second fastest time of the day, and came through nicely from the Fast Pack to finish 14th, and two places and eighteen seconds ahead of her new club colleague Jane Mooney, who was third fastest in the total field of 147 finishers.

Morpeth Harrier Gary Jones competed in the Bupa Great South Run on Sunday 24th October, where he finished 41st in a time of 54m39s.

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Morpeth Harriers were pleased to announce that their Benfield Motors Athlete of the Month for September award had been given to their leading Under 17 Mens member Jonnie Nisbet.

For the second year in succession, Morpeth Harriers Senior Men just failed to get amongst the medals, as Bedford won the title for the third year in a row, at the annual English Cross Country Relays, held on Saturday November 6th, at Berry Hill Park in Mansfield. They finished fourth, and only twenty six seconds adrift of Notts AC in a frantic last leg chase to the finish line. After the early legs of Jonathan Taylor (15m30.05s) and Matt Nicholson (15m46.15s), had seen them finish in a challenging eleventh spot, Ian Hudspith took them into a terrific last leg inferno with his 5k clocking of 15m36.25s, which left him in eighth place, giving last leg runner Nick McCormick plenty to chase on the tough two lap course.

McCormick quickly set about the opposition, and by the time he reached the steep uphill section for the second time, he was disputing fourth place with a determined Belgrave opponent, and chasing a slender Notts AC lead for third place as both reached the downhill section. At this point McCormick kicked, and left his Belgrave rival slightly trailing. Hearing the shouts from the crowd around the finish area, the Notts runner sensed danger, and managed to find another gear to leave McCormick trying in vain to reach an elusive Bronze medal slot. McCormick clocked 15m18.40s to at least help retain pride in the fact that Morpeth had finished as top Northern club, ahead of Derby (9th), and Leeds City (14th).

Aiveen Fox (11m03.25s), Sarah Wilkinson (10m42.15s), and Morag Stead (10m29.20s), steered Morpeths Senior Women to an excellent eleventh in their 3x3k Championship. It was Stead's Championship debut for the club, and with this type of performance, which in turn saw her eighth fastest of the leg, she is indeed a prize asset for the clubs future. They also emerged as fifth Northern club in the contest.

Morpeths Paul Waterston made a trip to Cumbria worthwhile on Sunday 7th November, when he finished twelfth in the Derwentwater 10 Mile Road Race, and he was also second Male Veteran finisher.

Morpeth Harriers were pleased to announce that their Benfield Motors Athlete of the Month for October award had been given to Under 15 Girl athlete Alison Brown.

Despite an excellent clocking of 30m54s, Morpeths Jonathan Taylor failed to break his own 10k course record that he set in 2009, at Heaton Harriers Memorial Road Races, held on Newcastle's Exhibition Park and Town Moor on Sunday 14th November. The chilly Autumn sunshine did nothing to dispel the enthusiasm of the near 500 strong Senior field, who faced the starter after a minutes silence at 11.00am, and by halfway Taylor had built up a handsome lead over his Morpeth club rivals, Nick Swinburn and Peter Newton. Whilst Taylor maintained his lead throughout to win for the third year in a row, Swinburn and Newton had a tremendous tussle, that eventually saw the latter gain the upper hand, to take the runners up spot in a time of 31m37s, putting twenty seconds of daylight between himself and a still determined Swinburn. Morpeth Harriers also managed to maintain their hold on the Senior Mens trophy, although they were forced to reckon without the efforts of winner Taylor, who had rendered himself ineligible through not wearing a club vest. It was very much down to Newton and Swinburn, plus the clubs fourth and fifth finishers Ross Floyd and Alistair MacDonald, who finished in 5th and 41st places, with respective clockings of 33m32s, and 37m37s.

Morpeth Harriers also achieved team success in the Under 15 Girls 3k event, being led home by their Athlete of the Month for October, Alison Brown, who ran excellently to finish fifth in 11m57s, and was equally well supported by clubmates Sarah Wilkes and Molly McDonald, who finished in seventh and thirteenth places in 12m11s, and 13m22s respectively. In the combined Under 20 and Under 17 Mens 5k event, Morpeth Harrier Jonnie Nisbet finished third in 17m40s, and was second Under 17.

Morpeth Harrier Chris Sampson continued his impressive form in Spain when he finished in sixth place in the Carrerra International 10km in Madrid. Chris ran a pb of 30min 21sec with the two leading placings being filled by Kenya athletes Evans Mayoyo (28:33) and Elijah Kananja (28:42).

The inaugural Alf Shrubb Memorial 5-mile cross-country event took place at the village of Slinfold in West Sussex, birthplace of Shrubb some 131 years ago. Quite uniquely, the victor, as widely expected, was Nathan Shrubb of Morpeth Harriers,who as a direct descendant of the great man himself, had been invited to take part, so it was very appropriate he should cross the finish-line first, in a superb time of 25 minutes 42 seconds, and this was despite recovering from a niggling injury suffered during the National 6 Stage Road Relay, a few weeks previous.

The 59th running of the Brampton to Carlisle 10mile Road Race on 20th November saw Morpeth Harrier Ian Harding produce a fine run in the wet conditions, to finish second in 51m48s, exactly seventy five seconds adrift of the race winner James Douglas of the host club Border Harriers. Unfortunately Morpeth Harriers had their lowest turnout for several years, with only six runners figuring amongst the finishers.

Over 6,000 runners converged on Leeds on Sunday 21st November, to take part in the city’s annual Abbey Dash 10k and there was a number of good performances by the contingent of Morpeth Harriers who had travelled South. A keenly contested finish saw Neilson Hall of Bedford AC narrowly pip last year’s winner, Liverpudlian Jonny Mellor, in a time of 29m17s. They were closely followed home by Morpeth Harrier Jonathan Taylor in a time of 29m37s, a personal best and well over a minute faster than he had run the previous weekend in the Heaton Harriers Memorial 10k. Not far behind him, Ian Hudspith finished in seventh place in a time of 29m56s, and was also a convincing winner of the Over 40 Veteran category. Michael Dawson was another Morpeth Harrier who had an excellent run in recording a personal best of 31m04s to finish in 19th place. Men’s Captain David Swinburne clocked 32m55s in finishing in 46th place,and he was chased all the way back down Kirkstall Road by his clubmate and Veteran Paul Waterston who ran a lifetime best.

Following recent notable runs at both Half and Full marathon distances this Autumn, Paul's 33m13s saw him pip leading Yorkshire vet John Convery to record the fastest male Over 45 time of the day. The women’s race was won by Scottish international runner Susan Partridge in a time of 33m22, and Morpeth Harrier Morag Stread had a fine run to finish as first lady Over 35 in a time of 35m09s.

Morpeth Harriers had one finisher in the second running of the Newcastle Town Moor Marathon on Sunday 21st November. In the rainy conditions throughout, Rob Hancox finished 23rd in a time of 3hrs24m16s.

The Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League fixture, which was due to take place on Saturday 27th November, at Shibdon Pond Blaydon, had to be cancelled due to heavy overnight snow, and for safety reasons. Further heavy snowfalls over the weekend also caused the cancellation of the Thirsk 10 Mile Road Race, which was to have incorporated a North of England Championship.

In a somewhat warmer climate than here, Morpeths Gary Jones finished 27th in the Florence Marathon on Sunday 28th November,in a personal best time of 2hrs34m46s.

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With winter weather forcing Elswick Harriers into cancellation of their Norman Woodcock Road Race at Gosforth Park, the only event in the region to survive over December's first weekend was the annual Blyth Sands Race, where the first Morpeth Harrier home was in form Over 45 veteran Paul Waterston, who was second overall in a time of 27m49. In his first ever Sands race meanwhile, Jonnie Nisbet ran strongly to make light of his under 18 handicap of only two minutes to finish in 9th place overall and convincingly win his age group category. He was also able to chase down Over 50 veteran Gordon Dixon whom he narrowly beat by 14 seconds. Gordon had the pleasure, however, of being the winner of the Over 50 category in 11th place, while Archie Jenkins, a past winner of the race, was a clear winner of the Over 55 category and finished 16th overall. These four category winners also saw Morpeth emerge as clear winners of the team prize.

After a thorough inspection of the course and conditions, organisers of the North Eastern Counties Cross Country Championships, due to be held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 11th December, would have to be postponed. A new date, weather permitting, has been set for Saturday 8th January 2011.

Thanks to the efforts of the promoting club Saltwell Harriers, with added support from Gateshead Council, athletics activity became possible on Saturday 18th December, when the Ronnie Walker Saltwell Road Race took place in Saltwell Park, despite the prevailing arctic conditions. 146 hardy competitors finished the feature 10k event, and they were led home by a race hungry Jonny Taylor of Morpeth Harriers, who clocked a time of 31m56s. Also well to the front of the field was club colleague Ross Floyd, who finished fourth in 34m02s. In the accompanying Junior races, Morpeth Harriers Jonnie Nisbet and Alison Brown, finished third and fourth in the Under 17 Mens and Under 15 Girls events, with respective clockings of 16m33s, and 11m57s.

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