By Steven Dawson
It has been another busy week for Aycliffe Running Club which started off with the NEMAA Harrier League match one, which took place on the track at Monkton Stadium on Monday, May 20.
Four members took part, with Adam Harker (11:05.1), Karl Hume (11:21.7) and Tracey Surtees (11:22.2) competing in Heat 4 of the 3,000 metres. John Surtees (9:37.9) finished third in heat 5 of the 3,000 metres.
Last Thursday, eight members travelled for the second in the Muddy Roads summer series of races and the Saltburn 5k trail.
Representing the club were Bernadette Cooper (28:25), Sarah Gill (28:28), Lucy Heron (28:29), David Stothard (30:07), Keith Hatton (31:32), Melanie Varley (34:49), Kevin Greenall (35:39) and Peter Varley (39:15).
On Sunday, two members took part in the Run Northumberland Alnwick Races, with Shaun Dodds (24:57) the sole representative in the 5k race, finishing first in the men’s over 50 category. In the half marathon, Carley Cooper (2:26:31) was the sole representative for the club.
On the same day, nine members took part in the Northallerton 10k.
Dave Blewitt (49:06), Sammie Metcalfe (51:46), Kevin Tatham (51:39), David Stothard (57:17), Sue Podmore (1:00:38), Sam Harding (1:01:35), Yvonne Blewitt (1:02:59), Lou Mann (1:05:53) and Kirsty Cameron (1:05:47) all represented the club.
At the same time, three members travelled to Edinburgh to compete in the Edinburgh Marathon.
All three performance exceptionally with Matt Muir (3:08:33), Kieron O’Connor (3:10:38) and Gary O’Connor (3:26:47) all achieving personal bests for the distance.
This was also a special day for one of our members who competed in the Great Manchester Run Half Marathon.
Judith Porter only realised in January when staying with a friend that the Essar 4 Villages half marathon was an England qualifier event where you needed to be in the top three in your age category and do the half in under 2hrs 30min.
Judith managed to finish in the top three in the over 70 category and beat the qualifying mark which meant she qualified for the England vest.
Judith wore her England vest with pride for the Manchester half marathon and after some excellent training, managed to complete the race in a time of 2.10.56.
It says a lot for the quality and number of older runners that there were nine ladies over 70 in the England team with the fastest running the half in 1:44. Judith was 7th in her category, an amazing achievement.
On Saturday, 44 members started their weekend with a parkrun.
At Hackworth, Richard Trowles and Gareth Hamblin finished in joint third place in a time of 21:39.
At Cliffe Castle, Paul Dalton (22:52), completed his 250th ever parkrun which is an amazing achievement and first at this event with Jayne Rudd (33:36) completing the course for the first time.
At Herrington Country Park, Sam Harding and Sue Podmore completed the course together for the first time in a time of 31:33.
At Jubilee, Kevin Russell (19:29) completed the event for the first time, finishing second. At Queen’s parkrun in Glasgow, Jean-Pierre Hupin (30:49), Richard Tonge (32:59), Em Flynn (34:51) and Kathleen Tonge (34:51) all completed the event for the first time.
At Hamsterley, 16 members travelled as part of the club’s parkrun tourism.
Martin Turnbull (21:59), Bernadette Cooper (26:19), Sarah Gill (28:04), Salv McDonnell (28:35), Susan Rees (29:19), David Stothard (29:35), Keith Hatton (30:49), Carley Cooper (30:58), Cath McDonnell (31:50), Melanie Varley (32:26), Rob Nicholson (33:19), Kelly Dickinson (33:29), Sandrine Hewitt (35:35), Peter Varley (35:40) and Ian Stothard (49:05 and tail walker) all represented the club. This also saw two fantastic milestones reached with David Stothard completing his 400th ever parkrun and Rob Nicholson his 250th, amazing achievements.
If you are feeling inspired and are interested in joining the club, you can turn up for one of our sessions, or visit ayclifferunningclub.org.uk for more info.