National 12-Stage Road Relay Championships - 26th April 2008

Sunderland Harriers senior mens team finished first North East club in the National 12-Stage Road Relay Championships at Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham.  The team put in a good performance to finish in 35th place, considering several veteran athletes were unexpectedly called-up to complete the team after late withdrawals.  The race was won by Leeds, Gateshead Harriers finished in 40th and Morpeth had an incomplete team with just seven runners.

Patrick Martin (pictured) had a good run on the opening long stage to finish in 14th place (27:05).  Brian Rushworth ran the fastest short stage of the team on the second leg and lifted the club to their highest position of the race finishing in ninth place (14:54).  The team finished with a total time of 4:46:45 and were as follows:

Redcar Half-Marathon - 20th April 2008

Sunderland Harriers senior women comfortably retained the Redcar Half-Marathon team title with their last counter crossing the finish line in 19th position.  On the 25th anniversary of the event Louise Noble was the first of the team counters home, finishing in fifth place (83:33) with over 1,000 runners taking part.  Hayley Reed (pictured right) showed how much she has improved with her fine performance finishing in eighth place and a time of 86:46.  Gillian Barry was the last team counter finishing in 19th place (93:45).

In the senior mens race Steve Potts was the first Sunderland Harrier across the line in eighth place (71:23).  Following Potts was Paul Redman in 37th (81:07), Vince Emmett had a good run to finish in 86th with his time of 87:13 and Len Christopher was second in the over-60 category finishing in 117th (89:08).

Northern Athletics 12-Stage Road Relay Championships - 6th April 2008

Sunderland Harriers senior mens team were the second North East club to finish in the Northern Athletics 12-Stage Road Relay Championships, held at Catterick Garrison, finishing in seventh place with Morpeth Harriers finishing in sixth.  They finished four places higher than last year and easily qualified for the National event in blizzard conditions.

Gavin Massingham (pictured) had a fantastic run the fifth leg to clock the third fastest time overall for the short stage three mile circuit with his scorching time of 14:35 finishing in ninth place.  The team finished with a total time of 4:09:50 and were as follows:

British Masters Cross Country Championships - 29th March 2008

Brian Rushworth claimed his first gold medal in the over-45 category in the British Masters Cross Country Championships held at Banbury, Oxfordshire.  The Sunderland Harrier finished fourth (29:44) overall in the 35 to 49 age group, the race was won by Rob Whalley of Bristol.  Rushworth (pictured) won two gold medals while competeing in the over-40 category before moving up to the over-45's.

In the same event Sunderland Harriers veterans lost their team title, which they won at Mansfield last year, to finish the runners-up to Herne Hill Harriers.  Tom Doughty followed Rushworth home to finish in 19th (31:04), Tim Field finished 23rd (31:25) and Paul Merrison 48th (32:52).

Elswick Good Friday Road Races - 21st March 2008

Sunderland Harriers over-40 veteran men's team comfortably claimed the top prizes in the Elswick Good Friday Road Relays at Newburn and in the senior men's relay Sunderland came from behind to finish in third.

In the veterans race Tim field clocked the fastest time of the day (11:53) on the opening leg to put the over-40's team in first place.  On leg two of the 4 x 2.2 mile event Paul Redman (13:12) slipped to second place, with Elswick Harriers taking the lead.  Paul Collins (12:33) on leg three maintained this position, before Tom Doughty (12:00) surged past Elswick on the anchor leg to cross the finish line in first place and record the second fastest time of the day.

The senior team did well to claim the third prize with a less than full strength team.  On the opening leg Damien Weston finished in 12th place (11:47) before handing over to 18 year-old Matthew Foggin, who gained three places to finish in ninth (12:28).  Mark Hood then stormed into fourth place on leg three to clock the third fastest time of the day (10:47).  Gavin Massingham tried in vain to outsprint Chester-le-Street's Andy Coffer for the runners-up position on the anchor leg, but had to settle for for fourth.  Massingham recorded the fourth best time of the day (10:56) for his effort.

Sunderland Harriers under-15 boys finished runners-up in their race with Jake Archer in second, Shaun Smith in tenth and Joe Campbell in 13th.  The under-13 boys finished third with Michael Wilson in ninth, Luca Irvine in 13th and Tom Johnson in 15th.  The under-17 team also finished third through Nathan Reed 12th, Liam Wintrip 13th and Michael Kilbride 15th.

North Eastern Road Relay Championships - 9th February 2008

Sunderland Harriers senior men made a brave attempt to gain a hat trick of victories in the North Eastern Road Relay Championships only to be thwarted by the youth of New Marske Harriers in a thrilling race where the top three teams crossed the finish line within eight seconds.  Although the seniors missed out on the gold medals by just two seconds they clinched silver ahead of Morpeth Harriers.

In the veterans race Sunderland Harriers regained their title after slipping up last year and finishing runners-up.

Patrick Martin (pictured) put in a fine performance on the opening leg for the senior team as he led the field and crossed the line first to clock the fourth fastest time of the day (9:43).   Tim Field (10:44) on leg two slipped a place when Morpeth took the lead.  Brian Rushworth then took over from Field to regain the lead with his superb stint of 10:11.  Mark Hood (9:59) then led the field on leg four before handing over to Damien Weston.  Weston (10:46) was overtaken by New Marskes Ricky Stephenson, who clocked the fastest time of the day (9:29).  This left Steve Potts on the anchor leg trailing New Marske by three seconds, and although he put in a fantastic effort to clock 10:16, he just lacked the extra pace to out kick his rival, finishing just ten metres short of New Marske.

In the veterans race Paul Merrison ensured that Sunderland Harriers claimed the gold medals when he overhauled Morpeth on the anchor leg with his superb run of 10:56.  On the opening leg George Harden finished fourth (11:06) before Jonathan Dobson moved up to third (11:20) on the second leg.  Paul Collins (11:14) maintained the teams position before handing over to Dave Ellis (11:52), who lifted Sunderland to first place.  Veterans captain Rob Rush (11:30) slipped back to second, when he was overtaken by the fastest veteran of the day Morpeth's Phil Walker, on the penultimate leg.   Merrison then clocked the fifth fastest time of the day and left Morpeth trailing by eleven seconds, with Elswick finishing in third.

Durham Cathedral Relays - 20th January 2008

Sunderland Harriers senior and veteran teams both returned home with medals from the 25th Durham Cathedral Relays after losing several key athletes due to injury and illness.

The senior team had an excellent start with Gavin Massingham (pictured) pushing the pace at the front of the field on the opening leg of the three stage event and finishing in first place.   Massingham knocked 21 seconds of his time from last year and recorded the second fastest time of the day (8:18).  Damien Weston took over from Massingham on the second leg and slipped back to fourth place (9:30).   On the anchor leg was Patrick Martin who lifted the team to second place (8:36) to claim the silver medals.  New Marske won the race with Gateshead Harriers finishing third.

The age categories for the veteran men's race were changed this year with the first veteran age group starting at 35 instead of 40.  This opened opportunities for some athletes that normally compete in the men's category, such as 35 year-old Sunderland Harrier Paul Given, who has only recently returned to competition.   Given put in a good performance on the opening leg, clocking a time of 9:18, to put the veterans team in the lead.  Following Given on leg two was Jonathan Dobson who slipped two places finishing in third place (9:51).  George Harden then took over on the anchor leg and kept the team in the medals with his time of 9:46 finishing in third place behind North Shields Poly and Elswick Harriers.   Sunderland Harriers veteran B team finished in eighth place with Paul Redman (10:18), Vince Emmett (10:46) and Michael Hill (10:49).

Hood selected to represent England in the Belfast UK Cross Challenge

Mark Hood (pictured) achieved a long term ambition of his when he was selected to represent England in the Belfast UK Cross Challenge on the 5th January 2008.  Hood was selected for the England team after he retained his North Eastern Counties Cross Country title at Hartlepool in December as well as his impressive performance in the European Trials at Liverpool in November, where he finished 18th.

Watching the Sunderland Harrier make his England debut in Belfast was Ken Jefferson, who has been coaching Hood since the age of eleven, and saw his first senior athlete to gain international recognition put in a good performance to finish the third team counter in tenth place (32:18).

Hood was rewarded for his performance at Stormont with a second England representation in the Elgoibar International Cross Country in Spain on the 13th January where he also finished third team counter in 16th place.

English National Cross Country Relays - 3rd November 2007

Sunderland Harriers under-15 boys team put in a fantastic performance to claim the only medals to be won by a North Eastern club at the hotly contested English National Cross Country Relay Championships.  The under-15 team claimed the bronze medals after a brilliant run from Scott Younger which propelled the team from 61st to fourth on the second leg of the three-stage 2K event, which was held at Mansfield.

On the opening leg was Phillip Hope who set team on their way and recorded a time of 7:11 to finish in 61st.  What followed is was one of the finest performances from a Sunderland Harrier in many years as Younger stormed through the field to fourth place to clock the fastest time of the day with 6:01.  On the anchor leg was Jake Archer, who then put the team into the medal winning position when he overpowered Shaftsbury Barnet with his solid run of 6:29 to seal the bronze medals.

In the senior men's four-stage 5K event Sunderland finished 11th for the third year running, they were also the first North Eastern club to finish, and the third Northern team.  Patrick Martin finished in 14th ( 15:21) place on the opening leg.  Brian Rushworth on the second leg slipped back to 25th (15.59).  Mark Hood on leg three then lifted the team to 13th with his time of 15:15, before Gavin Massingham on the final leg claimed another two places to finish 11th with a time of 15:33.