By Paul Dalton
The cold weather conditions led to the cancellation of the parkruns in Darlington South Park and Hackworth Park last Saturday – but the club was still represented by 15 members across the Durham, Hamsterley Forest, Sedgefield, Stewart and York events.
Carley Cooper and Ian Stothard both celebrated parkrun milestones, each running their 50th parkrun event, and qualifying for one of the prized red commemorative t-shirts.
The biggest race of the weekend was on Sunday morning. The Brass Monkey Half Marathon, which starts and finishes at the York Racecourse, is a popular race, with many runners using the race to gauge fitness after the Christmas period. The course is flat and fast, and therefore the race attracts many of the best runners from around the North-East.
First home for the club and setting himself a new Personal Best (PB) for the distance, was John Firby in 1:17:30.
Gareth Kyle made a huge improvement on his previous Half Marathon best, crossing the line in 1:23:09.
Stuart Joyce also managed to record a PB, finishing in 1:31:06, with Richard Holland not too far behind in 1:39:42.
Trish Kay was our first lady home, completing the race in 1:58:30, and Jayne Rudd started 2022 by taking over twelve minutes off her previous best Half Marathon time, crossing the line in 2:11:06.
Elsewhere on Sunday, the Club fielded four teams in the Birtley XC Relays which took place at Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy in Birtley.
Each team featured three members, with each participant running a leg of approximately 3K.
In the Men’s Masters Race, our V35 Team of Richard Campbell (11:34), Paul Dalton (11:45) and Rob Young (12:30) completed the race in 35:49.
Our V55 Team, comprising Andy Talbot (13:16), Graham Atkins (13:45) and Trevor Needham (13:49), completed the course in a combined time of 40:50, with our V45 Team of Shaun Dodd (14:20), David Stothard (16:15) and Ian Stothard (20:25) finishing with an aggregate time of 51:00.
Our sole Ladies Team competed in the F35 Category and finished with a combined time of 52:40.
Kelly Dickinson was first off for the ladies and completed her leg in 17:40, and she was followed by Susan Cranswick (14:49) and Eve Doe (20:11).
Also on Sunday, three members took part in the Gerry Kearsley Winter Handicap, held over a multi-terrain 10K course, and hosted by Sedgefield Harriers.
Entrants were ‘handicapped’ based on their most recent 10K time.
Lorraine Sweeney was first back for the club with a total time of 1:00:02, and a net time of 54:02.
Melanie Rowland completed the course in a total time of 1:00:49, with a net time of 59:49, and Rob Nicholson completed his run in 1:01:47.
Paul Rands was also in action in his native North-West on Sunday, taking on the 38th Essar Four Villages Half Marathon. Paul had an excellent run, completing the course in 1:40:43, recording a new Personal Best.
If you have any queries about the activities of Aycliffe Running Club, or would like to know more about joining the club, visit www.ayclifferunningclub.org.uk or contact the club’s Secretary, Donna, at [email protected].