Mud and puddles get New Year started!

Barely had we recovered from too much turkey and Christmas pudding and our tenacious Green and Golds were back out in the thick of it (literally) again.

Following on from our New Year’s Day race at Wallsend’s Centurion Golf Club (separate report to follow), plenty of hardy Harriers took to the hills and puddles, blowing away the seasonal cobwebs during the first weekend of the new decade.

Saturday 4th January was the North East Harrier League X-Country Sherman Cup/Davison Shield. This is a standalone xc race where everyone starts together (so no handicaps). The course is a lot kinder than its counterparts but it sure was boggy and isn’t without some challenging inclines. The sun was out but there was still a fair wind.

We had a good turn out for both men and women and our under 11 boys played a blinder in the junior section. Joseph Duthie-Brown was 18th in a cracking 4.39, Kasper Pearson 5.01 and Matthew O’Donnell 5.23. Well done lads!

There was an impressive turnout of women runners (352 to be precise) and our ladies came ninth overall. Despite saying she was going to take it easy, Jen Berry was 18th woman! In a fantastic time of 25.58. Jess Marriott came in second for Wallsend, followed by Emily James, Emma Plummer, Catherine Graham, Julie Williams, Marion Dreano-Thwaite and Kam Wright. Well done you awesome bunch.

Of the 419 male runners Andy Graham came in 37th in a time of 34.03, followed by James Duthie 36.51, Iain Hall 38.55, Dave Diston 39.35, Keith O’Donnell, Lee Pattinson, John Young, James Torbett, David Sundin, Alan Heslington and Mark Taylor. Seventeenth overall. Massive respect to all of you for taking on three laps, no mean feat.

Full results here.

The next day it was the newly branded ‘North Tyneside Trail 12k‘, put on by our friends at North Shields Poly. Previously the ‘Run for Bob’ in February, this scenic run took on the same course and it was great to see even more green and golds turn out. Starting at the Spanish City the 7.5 mile route follows Whitley Bay seafront, through the trail paths of St Mary’s Lighthouse, up to Seaton Sluice and down through the delightful Hollywell Dene and along the Waggon way (where we met with a huge and daunting puddle to run through), finishing at the track at Churchill Playing Fields, where you have to do a lap of the track to finish (harsh)!

Well done to our Harriers Andy Wigmore (first Wallsend male), Kirsty Fearn (first Wallsend female), Ian Gowing, Catherine Graham, Emily James, Brian and Mish, Leanne Smith Lewis (so great to see her back in green and gold just months after having her baby) and Rob Strettle.

But if you thought that puddle was big, check out what our thrill-seeking Wallsenders had to contend with at Hedgehope Winter Wipeout Half Marathon!

Big respect to Stephen Sayer, Darryl Roe, Dave Collinson, Julie Collinson and son Jonny Atkinson who took on this brutal but seemingly enjoyable run. Lovely to see Kerri Turner out to marshal and support too!

That’s all for now! Don’t forget our own Winter Grand Prix race is on Tuesday 7th Jan at Cobalt (meet opposite Village Hotel at 6.30pm).