By Steven Dawson
This week’s report is a little different with not as many races taking place, although the Junior Section had a hugely successful weekend by becoming County Champions!
The Under 13’s and Under 15’s took part in the in the County Durham Sportshall Athletics regional finals on Sunday 28 January coming first overall.
This is amazing for the club and shows not only their dedication and enthusiasm, but the potential that is there for years to come.
A huge well done to Abbie, Maisie, Persephone, Triunity, Isla, Luke, Henry, Lucy, Isabella and Elizabeth for their outstanding performance. We wish you very best for all of those progressing to the County finals.
If this is something you think your child may be interested in or you to find out more information about the Junior section and be part of a successful team, you can email [email protected]. There is never a better time for your children to get involved and the club caters for children of all abilities.
Races wise it may have been quiet for the adults with only two members racing at the weekend. This saw Kieron O’Connor set a new 5k PB at Croft 5k of 19:28. Paul Dalton took part in a new race, the Ormesby 10 which is a 10k route taking you up through the farmland and woods, down the drive and through Pennyman Woods in Middlesbrough. Paul’s unofficial time was 49:19 in tricky conditions.
This weekend saw the club’s presentation night which was a fantastic event that celebrated the achievements of members over the previous year. There had been some fantastic performance this last year and some of the awards were very close. Approximately 70 members turned up for the event and comments have been made about the positive atmosphere within the club at the present time and membership continues to grow. It was also the opportunity for a few to let their hair down and enjoy a bit of a dance with a disco afterwards. A huge well done to everyone that received an award and to those that were also in the running (no pun intended). The winners were:
• 3 mile female handicap winner – Em Flynn
• 3 mile male handicap winner – Matt Muir
• Male Club Championship Winner – Dave Blewitt
• Female Club Championship Winner – Yvonne Blewitt
• Most Improved (2023) – Ian Stothard
• Best Newcomer – Em Flynn
• Male Cross Country Award – Trevor Needham and Kevin Greenall
• Female Cross Country Award – Tamara Kirk
• Male Athlete of the Year – Richard Trowles
• Female Athlete of the Year – Tracey Surtees
• Rob Niven Trophy Winner – Anne Kellett and Alan Kellett
On Saturday, 38 members started their weekend with a parkrun, taking in the York, Whitley Bay, Sedgefield, Riverside, Hackworth, Northallerton, Bramley and Hamsterley Forest events.
At Whitley Bay, Angela Sutheran (24:59) completed the course for the first time.
Over at Sedgefield, John Surtees (17:47) finished second with Tracey Surtees (22:22) finishing as second female. Tamara Kirk (27:06) and new member Chris Holland (29:57) both set new PB’s for this course.
The club started with their first parkrun tourism event of the year at Riverside Park in Chester-le-Street with Gareth Hamblin (20:12) and Floyd Jones (20:15) both completing the course for the first time with Richard Trowles (18:49), David Stothard (setting a new course PB of 26:45), Richard Tonge (31:041), Kathleen Tonge (32:58) and Ian Stothard (35:19) also taking part.
At Hackworth, Robert Young (20:42) finished third setting a new course PB with Bernadette Cooper (24:38) finishing as first female. At Northallerton, Sandrine Hewitt (32:23) completed the course for the first time with Em Flynn setting a new course PB of 33:55. At Bramley, Alan Kellett (30:04) and Anne Kellett (33:28) both completed the course for the first time.
If you are feeling inspired and are interested in joining the club, you can turn up for one of our sessions.
More information is available on our website www.ayclifferunningclub.org.uk or our Facebook page.
If you would like to chat with someone, then you can email [email protected].
If interested in the Junior Section you can email [email protected].