Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League - 2009/10

The Start Fitness North Eastern Harrier League started on the 24th October 2009 with the Sherman Cup and the Davison Shield at Temple Park, South Shields.  This 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.

The Harrier League competition started on the 28th November 2009 at Farringdon, Sunderland.  The league 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.  In each category there is a team race and each competitor gains points towards the individual Grand Prix.  The second league meeting due to be held at Cramlington on 9th January was cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Prudhoe - Saturday 27th March 2010

Sunderland did just enough at Prudhoe to regain the Men's team title, finishing 8th team on the day Cory Hood had an excellent 8th place from the medium pack (31'39).  Paul Cooper was 16th (34'37), Paul Redman was 38th (33'04), Steven Duffy was 85th (34'06), Damien Weston was 95th (34'19), Paul Merrison was 99th (32'02), Alexander Ross was 114th (35'01), Fred Judson 133rd (38'03), Michael Hill 135th (38'05), Len Christopher 181st (40'25), David Savage in his Harrier league debut 185th (40'43), Vince Emmett 188th (41'01), William Bittlestone 192nd (41'11) and Roy Baker 215th (42'44).

In the Under 15 Girls race Amy Coulson finished 5th from the fast pack (13'51).  In the Senior Womens race Hayley Reed finished 27th (22'32) and Susan Clughen was 84th (29'13).

In the Veteran Mens Grand Prix, Paul Merrison finished 2nd on 36 points.  Brian Rushworth had 20 points from the two races he ran.  Sunderland had 6 other scorers in the Veteran Mens Grand Prix series.

North East Veterans Cross Country Championships - Branksome Comp, Darlington - Saturday 20th March 2010

Brian Rushworth maintained his winning streak by easily winning the Mens 8.8k race.  Brian, trying to save as much energy as possible for the Northern 12 stage to be held the following day, was content to let Phil Walker of Morpeth push the pace, before easing away on the final lap to win by 7 seconds in 32'04.  Paul Merrison finished 4th (1st Over 50) in 32'37.  Michael Thompson was 5th (2nd Over 40) in 32'46.  Paul Redman was 8th (4th Over 45) in 33'31.  Keith Elliott was 19th (2nd Over 55) in 35'12.  Len Christopher was 36th (2nd Over 60) in 38'09.  William Bittlestone was 44th (3rd Over 60) in 41'06.  The men won the four to count 40-49 and the three to count 50+ team prizes.

Aviva ESAA English Schools Cross Country Championships - Heaton Park, Manchester - Saturday 20th March 2010

The club had 5 members representing Durham Schools.  In the Junior Girls race, Amy Coulson finished 141st (11'17) and Chelsea Gill 223rd (11'39).  In the Junior Boys race, Michael Wilson was 119th (13'45) and Luca Irvine 180th (14'02).  In the Senior Boys race, Nathan Reed was 75th in 25'51.

National Cross Country Championships - Rounday Park, Leeds

Luca Irvine finished 46th in the Under 13 Boys race in 12'27.  James Myers was 238th in 13'53 and Adam Baker was 372nd in 17'09.  In the Under 15 Boys race, Michael Wilson finished 54th in 15'08.  Dominic Hill was 220th in 16'35.

In the Under 13 Girls race, Sophie Burnett finished 119th in 13'56.  Amy Coulson finished 113th in the Under 15 Girls race in 16'21.  Eve Rogers was 351st in 20'53.

In the Senior Womens race, Michelle Holt finished 127th in 34'02 and Hayley Reed was 143rd in 34'33.

The Senior Men finished 76th team.  Steven Potts was the first counter in 194th in 44'22.  Paul Redman was 420th in 47'50.  Roy Baker was 993rd in 56'07.  Club Captain, Michael Hill, recovering from injury was 999th in 56'17.  Len Christopher was 1046th in 57'02, Fred Judson was 1055th in 57'13, Peter Richardson was 1120th in 58'36 and Bill Bittleston in his first ever National Cross Country race finished 1219th in 60'50.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - South Shields

Sunderland increased their lead at the top of the first division after an absorbing battle with host club South Shields, at the fourth meeting held at Temple Park.  Nathan Reed led the club home with victory from the slow pack in 34'34.  Andrew Macrae was 7th in 36'20.  Steven Duffy improved considerably from Wrekenton to finish 9th in 36'31.  Alexander Ross also improved to finish 14th in 36'52.  Over 55 veteran Keith Elliott finished 40th in 37'35 and the final counter for the club was George Harden who finished 58th from the medium pack in 35'31.  Sunderland finished on 129 points, with South Shields only 3 points behind.  Sunderland's lead had been greater until the withdrawal of Paul Cooper with a knee injury.

In the Senior Womens race, long term leader Hayley Reed was eventually caught by Jane Mooney from the past pack.  Hayley battled on to second place, just holding off the challenge from a fast finishing Claire Simpson.  Hayley's time was 27'24.  Helen Ford finished 15th in 29'00.  Bev Blakeman finished 30th (4th fastest vet) from the fast pack in 26'51 and Ingrid Hope having a rare excursion over the country finished 36th (5th fastest vet) from the fast pack with 27'04.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Wrekenton

Sunderland moved clear at the top of the first division after a dominant Harrier League display, at the third meeting at Wrekenton.  Cory Hood had his best race in the Royal blue vest to lead the team home in third place (37'23) from the slow pack.   Richard Kemp was the fastest Harrier on the day with his time of 35'59 to move him up to 11th from the Medium Pack.  Veteran Jonathon Dobson made a welcome return to racing and was pleased with his run, finishing 25th from the slow pack with 39'13.  Fellow veteran Tim Field showed he is returning to form with a good run from the medium pack to finish 30th with 36'52.  Paul Cooper once again finished just outside the top 30 in 35th position from the slow pack with 39'32.  Final counter for the club was Alexander Ross who improved from 56th place at the Town Moor race to finish 41st in 39'45.  Backing up the counters was veteran Ken Bell, running 37'46 from the medium pack to finish 56th.   Ken just overhauled new teammate Steven Duffy, who was having his first race for the club.  Stephen struggled over the final lap after a fast start which saw him in 12th place at the end of the first lap, eventually finishing 57th in 40'20.  Graham Lancaster was 60th from the medium pack in 37'59, Paul Redman was 75th from the medium pack (38'27) and second quickest Harrier of the day was 52 year old Paul Merrison with 36'18 from the Fast pack to finish 90th.

In the Senior Womens race, Kathryn Watts was 75th in 34'50 and Susan Clughen was 88th in 36'42.  Unfortunately, Jo Buckley had car problems on the way to the race and was unable to complete the team.  In the Under 15 Girls, Chelsea Gill finished 5th in 13'19 from the fast pack and Amy Coulson was 9th from the fast pack in 13'51.  Sophie Burnett finished 8th in the Under 13 girls from the fast pack in 14'16.

In the Under 13 Boys race, Jack Robinson finished 7th, James Myers was 26th and Kirean Watson was 40th.

Start Fitness North East Harrier League - Newcastle Town Moor

Sunderland returned to winning ways at the second Harrier League, following the cancellation of the precious round at East Cramlington.  Gavin Massingham, made a welcome return to the Harrier League on a snowbound course at Newcastle Town Moor.  Despite running from the Fast Pack with a 5 minute handicap, Gavin ran through to fourth position with his time of 35'55.  Medium pack runner, Tom Doughty overtook team mate George Harden in the last half a mile to finish 12th overall with his time of 39'43.  George, who was in 6th position going into the last lap faded badly on the hill to drop back to 13th with his time of 42'21.  Brian Bewick, from the medium pack returned to form to get up to 16th in 40'03.  Brian Rushworth, running from the Fast Pack got up to 22nd with his time of 37'47 and final team counter was Paul Cooper in 34th with his time of 43'36.  With 6 counters in the first 34 runners, Sunderland narrowly defeated Morpeth who had 6 counters in the first 37 runners and two in the Top Ten.  Brian Rushworth was the fastest veteran.

With the local Schools Championships being held on the same day, the club had no representatives in the younger age groups.

In the Senior Womens race, Bev Blakeman had an excellent run to finish 6th from the Slow Pack in 32'35.  Backing Bev, were Jo Buckley who finished 75th in 38'50 and Susan Clughen was 92nd in 40'33.

Brian Bewick continued his racing the following day at the rearranged Loftus Poultry run.  Brian finished 10th overall and 4th M40 vet with a time of 47'48 for the 7.5 mile multi terrain course.  Brian was joined in the race by Michael Thompson who finished 12th (5th M40) in 49'30 and Robert Bewick who was 40th in 55'07.

Northern Cross Country Championships

The Northern Cross Country Championships were held at a cold and foggy Witton Park, Blackburn on Saturday 23rd January.  The club were without all of their leading Senior Men and Women so it was the younger members of the club who had the chance to shine.

Rising to the occasion, the highest placed finisher on the day was Jason Waite (pictured) in the Junior Men's race.  Jason finished 21st in 29'38.  Nathan Reed was 50th in 32'04 and Cory Hood was 62nd in 33'20.  With only three runners on the day the club missed out on a bronze medal in the four to count team competition.

In the Under 15 Boys race, Michael Wilson led the club home in 23rd place with 14'19.  With a very strong finish, Dominic Hill gained several places on the run in to finish in the Top 100.  Dominic eventually finished in 97th place with his time of 15'33.  Hugh Danby-Platt was not far behind in 125th position.  Hugh's time was 15'59.  Completing the team was Jack Kelly with 18'11 and 196th place.  The team finished in 18th place.

The Under 13 Boys also finished in 18th place.   They were led home by Luca Irvine, who finished 22nd in 11'44.  James Myers, finished 102nd in 12'49, Jack Robinson was 130th in 13'17, Kieran Watson was 150th in 13'53 and Adam Baker was 181st in 16'12.

The highest placed girl was Sophie Burnett in the Under 13 Girls race.  Sophie finished in 38th place with 12'53.   In the Under 15 Girls race, Amy Coulson had an excellent run to finish 42nd in 17'04.  Chelsea Gill finished 88th in 18'05 and Eve Rodgers finished 154th in 21'29.  Alix Waites unfortunately pulled up injured during the race.

In the Under 17 Men's race, Philip Coulson finished 128th in 28'30.  The club had only 2 Senior Men competing.  Steven Potts finished 90th in 46'05 and Paul Redman was 185th in 50'09.

Patrick's just Champion

Patrick Martin won the North Eastern Cross-Country Championship on a muddy course at Branksome School, Darlington.  After a steady start Patrick eventually dropped his nearest challenger, Chris Sampson of Morpeth, on the last lap.  Patrick was a former winner of the Under 20 race in 2004, and is the third Sunderland Harrier to win the Senior Men's race this century, following Brian Rushworth's victory in 2000 and Mark Hood's hat trick in 2006 - 2008.  Patrick's winning time was 38'46 for the 11.8k course.

Despite Patrick's win, the Men with four Veteran's in the team could only finish third team, following the late withdrawal of Patrick's brother, Jack.  Mark Hood was also unable to defend his title through injury.  Backing Patrick was 10 time Champion, Brian Rushworth in 13th (41'27), Stephen Potts was 23rd (43'04), Paul Merrison was 39th (44'01), Michael Thompson was 43rd (44'01) and final counter was George Harden in 51st (45'39).

Not too far behind George and having their own private battle, Paul Redman just managed to hold off Tom Campion.   Paul finished 59th in 46'10 with Tom one place behind in 46'16.   Stephen Gordon had a steady run to finish 103rd in 49'07.  Paul Cooper had a day to forget, eventually finishing 138th in 51'09, after problems with his spikes.  Team Captain and Club Secretary, Michael Hill, finished just behind Paul in 141st (51'22).  Fred Judson was 167th in 53'25 and Len Christopher, who was the club's sixth counter last year at Wrekenton, finished 191st in 55'34.

In the Under 20's Men's race, 17 year old Jason Waite had a superb run to finish fourth (29'21).  Nathan Reed was 13th (30'58) and Michael Kilbride was 17th (33'46).  The team finished second.

The Under 15 Boys finished 5th team.  Michael Wilson led the team home in 5th (14'40), followed by Hugh Danby-Platt 25th (15'57) and Jack Kelly 34th (16'58).

The Under 13 Boys finished 7th team, after Luca Irvine had to withdraw due to injury.  Jack Myers was first home for the club in 23rd (13'34), followed by N Fitzsimon in 34th (14'22) and Jack Robinson 40th (14'58).

In the Under 13 Girls race, Sophie Burnett finished 7th in 13'29 and in the Under 15 Girls race, Amy Coulson, finished 7th in 17'00, closely followed by Chelsea Gill in 8th (17'02).

Jason Leads The Way

Jason Waite (pictured) had a superb run in the first race of the 2009/10 Start Fitness North East Harrier league cross country races.  The race around three 1.7 mile laps of a testing course at Farringdon, had 17 year old Jason finish second with the sixth fastest time of 29'26 in his first Senior race in the slow pack, only 6 seconds behind the winner Terry Wall of Morpeth Harriers.  Backing Jason was Tom Campion who finished 18th in 32'25.  Steven Potts finished 23rd (30'19) from the medium pack, Paul Redman was 26th (33'12), Paul Cooper was 31st (33'26) and Michael Kilbride was 37th (33'34).  The team finished 2nd behind Morpeth in the six to count team race.  Jason, Tom and Paul Redman now move into the medium pack for the next Harrier League race at Cramlington in the New Year.

The Senior Women finished ninth team, after Hayley Reed was forced to pull out of the race on the first lap with a recurring calf injury.  Helen Ford finished 16th (25'38), Jo Buckley, a week after completing the Newcastle Town Moor Marathon, finished 45th (27'41) and Susan Clughen was 103rd in 31'10

In the Under 13 Girls, Sophie Burnett finished 13th from the fast pack.  Her time of 11'40 was the 6th fastest.  In the Under 15 Girls, Chelsea Gill finished 6th in 11'48, closely followed by Amy Coulson in 7th with 11'55.

In the Under 13 Boys, Sunderland were 11th team.  Kieran Watson led the boys home in 30th (12'18).  Jack Robinson was 41st (12'50).  Jack Myers finished 42nd from the Fast Pack (11'31).  Adam Baker was 58th (14'42) and Ryan Ashbridge was 64th (15'31).

In the Under 15 Boys race Hugh Danby Platt finished 15th in 10'50 and Jack Kelly was 24th in 11'20.  In the Under 17 Boys race Philip Coulson finished 23rd in 24'32.

Davison Shield - 24th October 2009

Sunderland Harriers, despite winning 3 out of the 4 women team events, failed in their bid to win the Davison Shield, eventually finishing third overall.  The club were set off to an excellent start in the Under 13 Girls event, with Sophie Burnett leading the club home in 4th (13'33), quickly followed by Rebecca Burnett in 5th (13'39).  Tapanga Burney completed the team with 12th (14'20).  The team won with 21 points with Durham second with 34 points.

The Under 15 girls also won their team race with 26 points.  Alix Waiters finished 5th (12'54) followed by Chelsea Gill 8th (13'22) and final counter Amy Coulson 13th (13'56).  Eve Rogers finished 21st in 15'50.  The clubs bid to win the overall trophy ended in the combined Under 17/Under 20's race when Sara Crosby was the only counter finishing 14th in 27'48, with both Gateshead and Morpeth finishing teams.

The senior women were more successful, winning with 22 points.  The club were led home by Hayley Reed, 5th in 24'37, who passed teammate Michelle Holt in the last half mile.  Michelle finished 6th in 24'45.  Bev Blakeman, the Womans Northern 800 metre champion in 1998, had a steady run to finish 11th in 26'26.  Andrea Irvine, struggling with a knee injury, battled on gamely to finish 69th in 34'07.

Sherman Cup - 24th October 2009

Sunderland Harriers had a brilliant start in the Under 13 Boys event, with Luca Irving winning the race by a convincing 38 seconds.  Luca's winning time was 11'35. Luca was backed by James Myers 13th (13'08), Jack Robinson 28th (13'52), Nathan Fitzsimon 34th (14'20) and Adam Baker 46th (16'34).  The team finished 4th with 42 points with Tynedale being clear winners.

The Under 15 boys finished their team race with 54 points for 6th place.  Michael Wilson was first counter in 8th (11'34).  Michael was backed by Dominic Hill 18th (12'04), Tom Johnson 28th (12'48) and Jack Kelly 30th (12'57).  In the Under 17 Boys race Jake Archer finished 8th in 22'14, Philip Coulson was 24th in 26'33 and Phillip Hope was 28th in 28'17.

The senior men finished just outside the medals in fourth.  The club were led home by 17 year old Jason Waites, who after a steady start worked his way through the field to finish in an excellent 10th place with 32'09.  Following Jason was 51 year old Paul Merrison, with another consistent run finishing 14th in 32'28.   Triathlete, Andrew Macrae, after a fast start, faded slightly on the last lap, but hung on to finish a creditable 24th in 33'18.  Backing the three counters, were George Harden 28th (33'39), Nathan Reed 34th (34'26), Cory Hood 35th (34'28), Tom Campion 36th (35'37), Michael Kilbride 50th (35'21), Paul Redman 54th (35'29), Paul Cooper 68th (35'59), Team Captain, Michael Hill, 88th in 37'08, Jack Foggin 130th (39'18), Fred Judson 146th (40'25), Len Cristopher 157th (41'08), Bill Bittleston 168th (41'46) and Roy Baker 194th (43'44).  In the Sherman Cup the club eventually finished fourth overall, one point behind Jarrow & Hebburn.