North East Masters Athletics Association (NEMAA) Track and Field League Meetings 5 and 6 – July/August 2024

by Geoff Hewitson

The penultimate NEMAA Track & Field League meeting of the 2024 season took place on Monday 29th July. Once again, it turned out to be a successful one for both of our teams. The Men’s team collectively scored another impressive 115 points to consolidate their 3rd spot in the league table, whilst 56 points was enough to move our Ladies team up a place from 4th to 3rd. It was great to have Jason Marr making his first appearance of the season, whilst the ladies squad was strengthened by Julie Turnell making her NEMAA debut. As can be seen from the summary of results below, both performed well and made useful contributions to the points tallys of their respective teams. (Note: the numbers in the table refer to the League points earned in each event)

At the conclusion of Meeting 5, the Men’s team were in 3rd place, with a 29 point advantage over the only possible challengers North Shields Poly. A nice cushion to have, but no room for complacency as that advantage could easily be wiped out by just 2 more competitors performing reasonably well. The ladies were also in 3rd spot, but with only a slender 5 point lead over NSP in 4th, and 32 points clear of 5th place Elvet Striders. Still all to play for as we moved on to the final meeting one week later (Monday 5th August). There were only 5 scoring events this time, due to time pressures of having to fit in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays which traditionally bring the season to a close. We had a few absentees due to injury (Peter Coser was a late withdrawal from the men’s team), holidays, and other commitments, but still managed to field a decent squad of 15 athletes. The individual performances and League points for Meeting 6 are again summarised in the table below.

So, would the 108 points accumulated by the Men’s team and 79 (a season’s best!) by the ladies be enough to achieve our target of 3rd place in both leagues? The answer was an emphatic “Yes”! As things turned out, our closest rival NSP rather fell away towards the end of the season, with relatively modest points scores for a club of their size at the last two meetings. Hence, both of our teams finished in a clear 3rd place, an outstanding effort all round, and one where everyone’s contribution was important.

So, assuming the situation with the other clubs remains the same, could we do any better next year? Given that the winning totals in both leagues were over the 1000 point barrier, at this stage I doubt we could raise the numbers to challenge a score of that magnitude. However, to challenge for runners-up spot would not be insurmountable. To put this into perspective, the men’s team would have required another 147 points. Over six meetings this averages out at 24.5 points per meeting – just 2 more competitors scoring 12 or 13 points (plus a couple of people doing 3 events instead of 2 now and again for a bit of extra insurance) would be enough. The ladies would have needed a rather more demanding 173 points to overhaul Jarrow & Hebburn. This would average out at about 29 extra points per meeting. However, it’s worth remembering that we were without Jo Raine all season and Lisa D for the last 5 meetings. I’d be confident of these two ladies picking up at least 140 points between them if they attended 5 of the 6 meetings next year, so again, it’s not unrealistic. As mentioned earlier, the meeting closed with the 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m relays. These do not count towards the leagues, but there are NEMAA records (in 5 year age categories) to aim for. Mixing age categories is allowed but the team must run in the category of it’s youngest member. Eligible teams could also include one guest runner (must be age 35+ and from the same club). Mixed sex teams and composite teams made up of runners from more than one club are allowed to compete but such teams would not be eligible for NEMAA record purposes. Crook AC fielded 3 teams in the relays. Our M65 team set out to set new NEMAA records and achieved this in both relays (it says “subject to verification” in the results below, but unless they are still studying video footage of our changeovers, I don’t think there’s any problem!) Our M45 team, made up of runners from 4 different age categories, produced decent times in both events, as did our ladies team. For the latter, it was lovely to be able to welcome Jo Raine back for a cameo appearance in the relays. We’ve certainly missed her contributions this season, but she clearly hasn’t lost any of her speed judging by the way she flew round the track. Also, after much persuasion, we managed to get Jill Berry to come along and run as a guest in the relays. It gave Jill the opportunity to sample the atmosphere of a NEMAA T & F meeting, and we’re hopeful that next year she’ll be fully involved as a signed up member of the team. Incidentally, in addition to the new records established by our M65 team, Crook and District AC still hold the NEMAA F40 4 x 100m record (set in 2016) and the F45 4 x 400m record (from 2019). Results from the 4 x 100m relays

Results of the 4 x 400m relays

As well as our success as a club in both of the leagues, we also had a number of athletes who won medals for their performances in the various Individual Grand Prix disciplines. The age-category winners and runners-up from our club are set out below (apologies if I’ve missed anyone out):     Category Sprints Middle Distance Jumps Throws Mel Riley F35   GOLD   Silver Paul Campbell F45     GOLD   Peter Coser M50 GOLD       Joe Hall M55     GOLD GOLD Phil Healey M60     GOLD   Andy Turnell M65       GOLD Geoff Hewitson M65     Silver Silver Heather Jones F65     GOLD GOLD Patricia White F70   Silver     Ken Cawkwell M75       GOLD As another Track and Field season draws to a close, I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to what we achieved as a club. The great thing about this competition is that everyone can contribute, irrespective of age or ability. Indeed, you only need to look at the league points scores to appreciate that people like Ken, Heather, Patricia, and several others are worth their weight in gold. There were so many positives to take from the past 3 months or so that to try to list them all would be very difficult. However, I would like to mention the contributions of our new NEMAA debutants Mel R, Peter C, Mark S, Julie T, and Lisa D, and returnee (after several years) Sharron T. Lots of individual PBs were achieved during the season – Amanda T (of course), Joe H (apparently, although he preferred to keep them quietly to himself), Peter C, and Phil H in particular. The return of Patricia after her hip replacement surgery earlier in the year was also a very welcome sight.  Hopefully we can encourage a few more of you to sign up and give NEMAA a try in 2025 – I’ll be putting out all the information on how to join at the turn of the year. And last but not least, a big thank you to anyone who came along to support us during the season. President Gordon was an ever-present, and was joined on occasions by others, including Sarah F and Clare R who both came to add their support at the final meeting.  Geoff H