Northern Cross Country Championships - Saturday 28th January 2012 - Pontefract

Former member, Patrick Martin finished third in the Senior Mens race, improving by two places on his 2011 result at Herrington Country Park. The Under 15 Girls finished 12th team with Danielle Elliott finishing 50th in 19'08, Alex Pearson 108th in 20'43, Anna Robinson 111th in 20'48 and Meriel Smithson 115th in 20'50. The Under 15 Boys had Joel Jones finish 12th in 15'47. Ben Craig was 85th in 17'14 and James McAnaney was 137th in 18'44. Joel was the second runner from the North East to finish.

Amy Coulson finished 25th in the Under 17 Women's race in 19'11. Michelle Holt was 35th in The Senior Women's race in 34'37. Michael Wilson was 63rd in the Under 17 Men's race in 22'18 and Oliver James finished 56th in the Junior Mens race with 31'54

In the Senior Mens race, Steven Potts was 140th (46'44), Craig Isherwood was 172nd (47'43), Paul Redman was 203rd (48'37), Alan Hodgson was 297th (50'51), Fred Judson was 523rd (57'50), David Savage was 535th (58'43), Dean Phillips was 549th (59'09), Bill Bittlestone was 563rd (59'38) and Vince Emmett was 584th in 61'10. The team finished 30th.

North East Cross Country Championships - Saturday 10th December 2011 - East Cramlington

Former members, Patrick Martin and Jack Martin finished second and third respectively in the Senior Mens race .

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Saturday 26th November 2011 - Shibdon Pond, Blaydon

Sunderland Harriers Under 15 Girls took over the lead in the team race after being the only club to finish a complete team in all 3 races so far this season. The club were led home by Alex Pearson in 6th (12'22). Danielle Elliot finished 20th from the fast pack (11'45), Meriel Smithson was 23rd (13'20) and Anna Robinson was 25th from the fast pack (12'16). In the Under 17/20 Womens race, running from the fast pack, Amy Coulson was 8th in 18'11 and Alison Seadon was 10th in 18'30, with the 5th and 7th fastest times respectively. Amy is 6th in the individual Grand Prix and Alison is 7th.

In the under 13 girls race Laura Hand was 27th in 12'35. In the Under 11's race, Rowen James finished 5th in 4'33. Owen Jackson was 8th in 4'37, Robert Dunlop was 24th in 5'05 and Jospeh Lennox was 27th in 5'09. In the Under 13 Boys race, Luke Phillips was 18th in 12'21, Jack Smith was 29th (11'28), Sam Quinn was 33rd (12'51), Dominic Crombie was 37th (13'00), Sam Shotton was 41st (11'48) and Joe Gaffney was 47th in 13'24.

In the Under 15 Boys race Ben Craig was 25th (10'29), James McAnaney was 37th and Luca Irvine was 45th (12'00). All three ran from the fast pack. In the Under 17 Mens race, Michael Wilson took full advantage of his handicap from the slow pack to win comfortably in 21'10. Patrick Crombie finished 6th from the fast pack in 20'30 and now leads the individual Grand Prix.

In the Senior Mens race, Oliver James finished third from the slow pack in 30'05. Kevin calvert was 6th from the medium in 29'18. Alan Hodgson was 39th (33'32), Tom Campion was 44th (33'36), Paul Redman was 77th (31'53) and final counter was Noel Hitchcock in 82nd (31'58). Steven Graham was 97th in 32'17, Paul Merrison was 116th in 32'31, Kevin Carraher was 228th in 37'10, Fred Judson was 253rd in 37'44, David Savage was 271st in 38'03, Bill Bittlestone was 279th in 38'21, Dean Phillips was 336th (40'25) and Alan Chapman (wearing probably the oldest club vest in the race) was 396th 44'35

Start Fitness Davison Shield - Saturday 22nd October 2011 - Temple Park, South Shields

Sunderland Harriers finished third team in the Senior Women's race. Michelle Holt finished sixth in 24'25, Ingrid Hope was 16th in 26'10, Vicki Haswell was 2nd in 27'16, Caroline Kirsop in her first cross country race finished 76th in 31'26 and Susan Clughen was 89th in 32'12. Amy Coulson was fifth in the Under 17/20 women's race in 26'06 and Rebecca Martin was 24th in 33'06.

In the under 13 girls race Laura Hand was 11th in 14'22 with Abbie Little 24th in 15'30. The Under 15 Girls finished 4th team with Danielle Elliot finishing 9th in 13'26, with Anna Robinson 16th in 14'00 and Meriel Smithson 31st in 16'40.

Start Fitness Sherman Cup - Saturday 22nd October 2011 - Temple Park, South Shields

Sunderland Harriers finished third team. Kevin Calvert was 12th in 31'49, Brian Bewick was 27th in 33'19, Nathan Reed was 37th in 34'16, Steven Graham was 40th in 34'24, Jake Archer was 64th in 35'59, Alan Hodgson was 76th in 36'21, Paul Cooper was 94th in 36'57. Fred Judson beat George Harden but is not listed in the official results. George was 174th in 40'49. Len Christopher was 181st in 41'07 with Kevin Carraher one place behind in 41'10 and Bill Bittlestone was 196th in 42'02 with Vince Emmett finishing 200th in 42'07

Owen Jackson was third in the Under 11's race in 3'35 with Robert Dunlop 13th in 3'55. Jack Smith was 12th in the under 13 boys race in 12'38, Kian Walton was 25th in 13'42, Kyle Martin was 30th in 13'49, Aidan Paget was 34th in 14'04 and Luke Phillips was 35th in the same time. William Shotton was 37th in 14'18, Matthew McAnaney was 41st in 14'56, Joe Gaffney was 42nd in 14'59. The team finished 7th. Joel Jones was 4th in the Under 15 boys race in 10'48 with James McAnaney 19th in 12'15 and Luca Irvine 20th in 12'22. The team finished 5th. In the under 17 men's race, Patrick Crombie finished 5th in 22'21, Jack Kelly was 18th in 26'28 and Michael Hind was 20th in 26'58. The team finished third.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Saturday 8th October 2011 - Cramlington

Sunderland Harriers could only finish 7th in Division One at the opening fixture held at East Cramlington. Despite an excellent run by Paul Merrison who finished 7th from the slow pack in 35'32, the club had to wait nearly three minutes for the next counter. George Harden failed to take advantage of running from the slow pack and struggled to finish 67th in 38'18. He was chased to the line by Paul Redman from the medium pack who finished 69th in 35'30. Steven Graham was 75th from the medium pack in 36'02, Noel Hitchcock was 76th in 36'06 and final counter Jake Archer was 91st in 36'39. Fred Judson was 190th in 41'40. Len Christopher was 205th in 42'04, Peter Richardson was 219th in 42'39, David Savage was 220th in 42'41, Dean Phillips was 230th in 43'24 and Alan Hodgson struggled to finish in 258th position in 44'33 after twisting his ankle on the second lap when he was in the top 50. Peter, David and Dean had all run on the morning at the Sunderland parkrun.

In the combined Under 17/20 and Senior womens race, Alison Seadon finished 4th overall and first Under 20 in 27'17. Amy Coulson was third Under 17 in 28'43. The Under 15 Girls finished 4th team with Danielle Elliot finishing 9th in 13'56, with Anna Robinson 18th in 14'52 and Alex Pearson 19th in 14'54.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Prudhoe - Saturday 26th March 2011

Sunderland Harriers were unable to retain their Senior Mens Harrier league title. However, there was better news with the Under 15 Boys winning the title after a season long battle against Gosforth. On the day, Michael Wilson won the Under 15 Boys race despite a 1'50 handicap. Micahel ran 12'41. Backing Michael, James Myers had a good run on the demanding course to finish 10th in 15'13. James McAnaney was two places behind with 15'18. Hugh Danby-Platt battled through from the fast pack to finish 15th with 13'40. Luca Irvine was 18th from the fats pack with 13'58 and Joel Jones was 32nd in 15'05

Sophie Burnett and Amy Coulson continued their conistent season with both athletes finishing fifth from the fast pack in their race. Sophie ran 11'37 in the Under 13 girls race and Amy ran 15'02 in the Under 15 girls race. In the Senior Womens race, Michelle Holt and Hayley Reed both had good runs. Michelle finished 22nd from the fast pack with 21'20 (fourth fastest time) and Hayley finished 40th with 22'16. In the Grand Prix series, Michelle finished fourth in the Senior women category with 27 points and Sophie finished fifth in the Under 13 girls with 25 points.

The under 13 Boys finished third team on the day. Leading them home was Jack Smith who finished third from the slow pack in 11'53. Ben Johnson was 10th with 12'12, Luke Phillips was 18th in 12'46. Samuel Quinn was 20th in 12'49 and Jack Robinson finished 29th from the fast pack in 11'36.

The senior men had to rely almost entirely on veteran men to finish a team. Paul Redman finished 30th from the medium pack in 32'37. Alan Hodgson continued his steady improvement finishing 53rd from the slow pack in 35'44. David Savage finished 147th in 38'00. Roy Baker was 160th in 38'50, Fred Judson was 176th in 39'19, Len Christopher was 207th in 40'35, Bill Bittlestone was 227th in 41'43 and Dean Phillips was 249th in 43'13.

VAANE Cross Country Championships - Saturday 19th March 2011

Sunderland Harriers won the M45 - 54 category at the North East Cross Country Championships held at Whitley Bay. After winning every year since becoming a veteran, Brian Rushworth, was unable to defend his title owing to an ongoing achilles problem. Brian Bewick made a determined effort to win the race leading for most of the way, but despite several attempts to gain a break was unable to drop Paul Waterston of Morpeth. In the last half mile, Paul (30'30) made his break, to leave Brian Bewick clear in second place (30'45). Behind the front two there was more changes. Paul Redman after a steady start which saw him in sixth at the end of the first lap, moved into fifth on the second lap and gradually closed the gap on the third and fourth placed runners before moving into third position halfway round the final lap to finish in 31'32. Ken Bell finished 7th overall and fourth over 45 in 32'18. In the womens race, Ingrid Hope finished fifth overall but was a convincing winner of the Over 50 category in 24'22.

BMAF National Cross Country Championships - Saturday 12th March 2011

Sunderland Harriers won the M45 - 49 category at the British Masters National Cross Country Championships held at Perry Barr, Birmingham. First finisher for Sunderland was Brian Rushworth in 12th place (third M45) with 27'48. Backing Brian was Tim Field in 29th (28'38). Brian Bewick was 41st in 29'11 and final counter was Paul Redman in 59th place (29'53).

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Blaydon - Saturday 12th March 2011

Sunderland Harriers maintained an outside chance of retaining their Senior Mens Harrier league title with their second consecutive victory. With two runners each from the slow pack pack, medium pack and fast pack finishing in the top 28, Sunderland were convincing winners at Blaydon. Leading the club home were slow pack runners, Norman Younger and Ken Bell, finishing second and third in 31'34 and 31'54 repectively. With the fastest Mens time of the day, Jack Martin had a superb run to finish fifth from the fast pack in 27'28. Three times North East Cros Country Champion continued his return from injury to finish eleventh from the fast pack in 27'59. Medium pack runners, Jake Archer and Noel Hitchcock finished 25th and 28th with 31'20 and 31'29 respectively.

Backing the six counters was Alan Hodgson who finished 77th from the slow pack in 35'13, Liam Johnson 174th from the fast pack (32'00), Len Christopher 183 rd from slow pack in 37'28, David Savage 186th from slow pack in 37'34, Fred Judson 203rd in 38'12 from slow pack and Dean Phillips 270th in 42'09 from slow pack.

Ingrid Hope won the senior women's race from the slow pack in 24'19. Michelle Holt had a good run from the fast pack to finish 32nd overall in 22'49, with Hayley Reed being the third counter also running from the fast pack finishing 53rd in 23'39. Michelle had the third quickest womens time on the day with Hayley running the ninth quickest.

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Oliver James, was a convincing winner of the Under 17 Boys race on his Harrier League debut. Oliver also had the quickest time on the day of 19'38. Backing Oliver was Jack Kelly who finished 24th in 25'50 and Phillip Coulson in 27th with 28'56.

In the Under 15 Boys race, Sunderland had all four runners competing from the fast pack. Michael Wilson finished 20th in 10'22. Joel Jones was 23rd in 10'23, Luca Irvine was 30th in 10'52 and Dominic Hill was 33rd in 10'58. The team finished fifth.

In the Under 13 Boys race, Jack Robinson was disqualified after finishing third from the wrong pack. Kieran Watson was promoted to fourth place with 11'47 Ben Johnson was 13th in 12'21. Luke Phillips was 29th in 13'00 and Sam Quinn finished one place behind in an identical time. The team finished third.

In the Under 13 Girls race, Sophie Burnett finished seventh from the fast pack with 11'39. This proved to be the fifth fastest time on the day.

In the Under 15 Girls race, Chelsea Gill was disqualified after winning the race from the wrong pack. Amy Coulson was promoted to fifth overall, running the fourth best time of 11'36

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Wrekenton - Saturday 26th February 2011

Sunderland Harriers returned to winning ways with victory over Morpeth at the fourth Harrier Laegue fixture. Sunderland had five finishers in the first 20 with Paul Redman closing the scoring in 49th position, after passing Morpeth's sixth counter on the last hill. Sunderland were led home by Paul Besford, in his first harrier league for the club, finishing fourth from the slow pack (37'27). Fellow slow pack runners, Graham Lancaster finished 10th in 38'21, followed home in 11th by Paul Collins (38'27). Steven Gordon had an excellent run to finish 16th in 38'53, before Steven Duffy finished 20th from the medium pack in 36'36. Paul Redman, from the medium pack was the last counter in 49th (37'40). Quickest Harrier on the day was Brian Bewick who finished 74th (fourth vastest veteran) from the fast pack in 35'55. The club also had Alan Hodgson finish 115th in 42'13, Paul Cooper 126th (40'02), Michael Hill 129th (42'42), Tom Campion 154th (41'15), Len Christopher 179th (45'22), Fred Judson 191st (46'02) and Bill Bittlestone 226th in 48'07.

The under 15 boys were clear winners of their race, with Dominic Hill winning from the slow pack in 12'29. Michael Wilson finished third from the fast pack with 11'22, overtaking teammate Luca Irvine in the finishing straight. Luca was fourth in 13'05. The final counter was Hugh Danby-Platt in 25th from the fast pack with 12'40. Michael had the quickest time in the race.

The Under 13 Boys finished 7th team with Kieran Watson 26th in 15'44, Luke Phillips 31st in 16'42 and Sam Quinn 32nd in 16'44 .

Michelle Holt was the only female from the club to run and finished 39th from the fast pack in 27'50, after struggling with stomach pains on the last lap.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League

After a three month gap the Start Fitness Harrier League cross country season restarted at a rearranged meeting on Newcastle Town Moor. The original meeting in early January was postponed to enable the North East Cross Country Championships to take place.

Sunderland unfortunately struggled in the Senior Mens race, with non of the regular medium and fast pack runners participating. Noel Hitchcock was first club finisher in an excellent 8th place (42'34). Team Captain, Michael Hill, finished 111th in 47'42. Dave Savage finished 178th in 51'33. Len Christopher was 192nd in 52'27, Bill Bittlestone was 196th in 52'45 and final counter was Dean Phillips in 242nd (58'28).

In the Senior Womens race Michelle Holt finished 10th from the fast pack in 30'45, which proved to be the third fastest time. Hayley Reed was 32nd from the fast pack with 32'35.

The Under 13 Boys finished 5th team with Kieran Watson 16th in 17'01, Samuel Quinn 22nd in 17'35 and Luke Phillips 24th in 17'57.

Northern Cross Country Championships

Patrick Martin was our leading runner finishing 5th in 40'21 in the Senior Mens race. Paul Redman finished an excellent 117th in 47'10 with Jonathan Dobson not far behind in 134th (47'52). Steven Gordon (193rd) just failed to catch Steven Duffy (184th) (who ran half the race carrying his spikes). Len Christopher (382nd), Bill Bittlestone (413th), David Savage (443rd) and Dean Phillips (467th) all battled gamely around the ever worsening course. The club finished 11th team.

The Under 15 Boys finished 9th team, led home by Michael Wilson in 40th (16'55). Dominic Hill was 57th in 17'21. Joel Jones was 83rd in 18'19, James Myers was 102nd in 19'12 and Luca Irvine was 112th in 20'31.

The Under 13 Boys were led home by Jack Robinson in 77th (12'02). Ben Johnson was 112th (12'39), Luke Phillips was 136th in 14'24 with Kieran Watson 138th in 14'46 and Samuel Quinn 139th in 14'49. The club finished 15th team

Sophie Burnett was 43rd in the Under 13 girls race in 12'06. Amy Coulson was 48th in the Under 15 girls race in 19'28.

Michelle Holt finished 50th in the Senior Womens race in 35'46

Durham Cross Country Relays

The Over 45 team were comfortable winners of the VAANE championships, being held in conjunction with the relays. Tim Field led from the start, eventually finishing with a 60 metre lead over Guy Bracken of North Shields Poly with his time of 9'33. Brian Rushworth went on to stretch this lead with his time of 9'15. Iain Twaddle from NSP running on a different team to Guy, ran the quickest time with 9'08. On the final leg, Brian Bewick, with 9'50, led the team to a 62 second winning margin, as Morpeth passed NSP on the final leg for second. Brian Rushworth was the fastest Over 45 runner.

Sunderland over 35 team finished fifth overall and 3rd over 35 team. Jonathan Dobson ran 9'58 on the first leg, before handing over to Paul Merrison. Paul was the fastest over 50 with his time of 10'12 and caught NSP on the line. This meant Paul Redman on the last leg, had Vaughan Hemy to race over the two laps. Despite repeated efforts, Paul forced to get away from Vaughan, and as the turned into the finishing straight it was Vaughan who had the faster finish. Paul eventually crossing the line in 10'06.

The Over 55 team were 25th overall but 3rd over 55 team. They were led off by Steven Winter in 12'07. Len Christopher ran 1'12 and Jim Wightman ran 12'24..

The Senior Mens team were hit by late withdrawals which meant Tim Field had to run the final leg to finish a team. On the first leg, Jake Archer ran 9'23 to finish 10th. Steven Duffy gained a place on the second leg with 9'47 before Tim with his second race of the day gained another place and was only marginally slower than his first run with a 9'36.

The Senior women, with Michelle Holt on the first leg, Hayley Reed on leg 2 and 50 year old, Ingrid Hope on the final leg put in a strong race to finish 5th. Ingrid ran 11'50 to finish fastest over 50 woman. Michelle finished third on the first leg with 10'57. Hayley lost a place with 11'40 on the second leg.

North East Counties Cross Country Championships

The Championships which were postponed in December due to snow were eventually held at Temple Park, South Shields on Saturday 8th January 2011.

Sunderland won two team bronze medals, but no individual medals. Many of the younger runners had participated at the Sunderland Schools Cross Country Championships the day before. The under 15 boys won bronze with Dominic Hill 12th (15'08), Hugh Danby-Platt 15th (15'22), Luca Irvine 30th (16'32) and James Myers 33rd (16'52). In the Under 13 Boys race, Jack Robinson was 17th (13'31), Ben Johnson 38th (14'46), Jack Smith 41st (15'01), Joseph Gaffney 48th (15'54), Luke Phillips 50th (16'02) and Sam Quinn 52nd (16'21)

Sophie Burnett was 9th in the Under 13 Girls race (14'23). Amy Coulson was 13th (18'00) in the Under 15 Girls race. Michelle Holt was 11th (33'39) and Hayley Reed 27th (35'36) in the Senior Womens race.

With a team depleted by injuries and late withdrawals the Senior Men with 5 veterans counting were led home to a team bronze by 48 year old and 10 time Champion, Brian Rushworth. Battling with a stomach upset, Brian lost two places on the last lap to eventually finish 8th (42'39). Gradually returning to form, Tim Field, battled through the field to eventually finish 16th (43'45). Paul Merrison finished 32nd (47'15), Paul Redman after a race long battle with Kevin Stephenson, Elswick, which he eventually won finished 35th in 47'32. The only non vet scorer in the team was Steven Gordon who finished 60th in 49'24. Alan Hodgson was the final team scorer in 105th (53'32) after Team Captain and Club Secretary was forced to withdraw at the end of the second lap with a calf injury. Len Christopher was 118th in 54'05, Roy Baker was 134th in 55'25, David Savage was 153rd in 56'46, Bill Bittlestone was 176th in 59'17 and Dean Phillips was 215th in 66'52.

The Under 20 men just missed out on team medals. Led home by Jake Archer in 11th (29'41), Jason Waite made a welcome return to running after a long time off injured to finish 13th in 29'52. Nathan Reed struggled home in 14th in 30'38 after the wrong choice of footwear hampered him.

Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League - 2011/12

Senior Men at Farringdon XC

The Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League starts again in October with the first fixture being at Farringdon, Sunderland. There will be No parking allowed alongside the course.

The fixtures are listed below.

The Start Fitness Harrier League competition is based on a handicapped system for all athletes, with six meetings through the cross country season.  At each meeting there are races for both boys and girls in the under-13 and under-15 category, the under-17 men and women, the junior women, the senior women and the senior men.   Also for the first time in the history of the league there will be a race for the under-11 age category at the discretion of the host club.   This will start at 12:15pm before the normal race schedule at 12:30pm.  In each category there is a team race and each competitor gains points towards the individual Grand Prix.  This year, the senior women race will also feature three packs and this year will also incorporate two leagues, which will allow promotion or relegation between the divisions.

The Sherman Cup/Davison Shield is a one day competition based on the points scored from all the age groups.  The Sherman Cup is for the male age groups and the Davison Shield is for the female age groups.

North East Harrier League Fixtures
Date Venue Time
29th Oct. 2011 Sunderland (Farringdon) 12:30pm
26th Nov. 2011 Blaydon (Shibdon Pond) 12:30pm
8th Jan. 2012 Newcastle Town Moor 12:30pm
11th Feb. 2012 Wrekenton 12:30pm
3rd Mar. 2012 Alnwick (Alnwick Castle) 12:30pm
24th Mar. 2012 Prudhoe 12:30pm
Sherman Cup/Davison Shield
Date Venue Time
22nd Oct. 2011 South Shields (Temple Park) 12:30pm
Cross Country Championship Fixtures
Date Event Venue
10th Dec. 2011 North East Counties Blyth
28th Jan. 2012 Northern Counties TBC
25th Feb. 2012 English National Parliament Hill, London
NE Harrier League Table - Senior Men Division 1
Pos. Club Points
1 Morpeth Harriers & AC 4
2 South Shields Harriers & AC 7
3 Heaton Harriers 8
= Wallsend Harriers & AC 8
= Sunderland Harriers & AC 8
4 GatesHead Harriers & AC 9
5 Elswick Harriers 14
6 North Shields Poly 16
7 Low Fell Running Club 17
8 Tynedale Harriers & AC 24
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