The 3rd Harrier League of the season was held on a cold but dry day at Aykley Heads – Durham, it was a testing course and although it was dry, it was uneven and narrow in places, making over taking difficult at times especially with the large numbers taking part .
The programme as always started with the U/11 races, which gives our very young athletes an introduction into X-country running, and in the Girls event Aoife Bell ran really well in a very big field to finish 3rd with Annabel Milburn close behind in 6th position. While in the Boys race the club were represented by Tristan Crang and Jai Diddee who gained valuable experience for the future.
With the club having lots of competition within U/13 Girls age group, we had a another good turnout, with a mix of Slow and Fast pack runners and they perfomed well with the “A” Team counters of Jessica Ord, Freya Bell and Anya Crowder finishing in 7th place, Lucy Oliver, Scarlett McMillan, Jessica Milburn and Mili Diddee really supporting well and all part of the team.
As with our Girls the U/13 Boys have consistently improved over the season and they finished a very creditable 4th Team with their counters all running from the Fast pack, they battled their way through the field, the team being Oliver Douglas, Theo Barron and Noah Curran with Ben Asquith backing up.
We only had one runner in the U/15 Girls but it gave the club it’s first indivdual win of the day with Ines Curran running from the Fast pack and obviously recording the fastest time of the day, ran a brilliant race.
What the Girls can do, the Boys can match and in the U/15 Boys race David Race truly did the honours when he led from start to finish to record another individual winner, with Jack Garrett supporting so well done.
There was strong competiton for counters in the Ladies U/17-20 combined race, so much so that the Ladies finished a very creditable 2nd Team, Emma Dixon, Elisha Tate and Jasmine Crang being the counters but with Amy Baker close behind pushing them all the way, so a really good team performance and augers well for future.
Our U/17 Mens Team have steadily progressed through the season and they continued to do so over 2 laps of this testing course and although it was 3 counters we had 4 lads who battled it out all through this race to be a scorer for the team, it finished with Charlie McMillan, James Morris and Alex Armstrong bringing the Team home in 3rd position, but Will Dixon close by it was a strong overall team performance, and we hope they can move on together as a team.
In the Senior Womans, our ladies had another really good solid performance with the Team finishing a very creditable 3rd place in strong opposition, the team was lead by Michelle Nolan who lead the race for quite some time and who just got piped on the run in, but was pleased with her 2nd position, the other members of the team were Charlotte Perkins, Jane Giles and Liz Raven who backed Michelle up well.
Finally the Senior Men set away on their 3 lap journey on this narrow (in places) tough course and with the huge numbers in this race it was difficult for the Medium and Fast pack runners to work their way through the field, but good practice and experience for the Championship races ahead. The club was well represented in this race and again the team finished in a very pleasing 4th position, with a mix of slow, medium and fast pack runners making up the 6 counters for the team, who were James Cripwell, Joseph Cherry (first run for the club) Conrad Franks, Kevin Franks and David Old, and Ross Christie.
So another well satisfying day for the club both Individually and Team Honours, well done to all who competed in the Gateshead Vest and also those Coaches, Officials and Parents who gave their help and support on the day.
The Clubs next major target is the North Eastern X-country Champ. at Redcar on the 9th December, we look forward to seeing you all there.