Alex Hird Tag

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by Alex Hird. Saturday saw the curtain come down on the 2024 Track & Field season with the Pentathlon at Monkton Stadium in Jarrow. I've always wanted to give it a go, and for once I was free to enter. In the men's competition, we had: long jump, Javelin, 200m, Discus, and 1500m. I threw a Javelin once in PE about 20 years ago, and I've never thrown a Discus or taken part in the long jump. What could possibly go wrong?

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by Geoff Hewitson A total of 43 teams took part in this popular mixed team format relay on the site of the former Consett Steelworks. The course is a challenging loop of approximately 2.1 miles with the notorious hill coming near the end. Our Club has enjoyed a great deal of success in this event, having either won it or finished in the top 3 on several occasions. In 2023 we finished 3rd, were runners-up in 2022, and overall winners the

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by Alex Hird Wednesday evening saw the return of the NEGP track and field series at Monkton Stadium. Three Crook members were entered; Matty Richardson, Rory Hart, and myself. All of us taking part in the 1500 metres. Rory and I were up first in heat C. We ran the first 400 side by side, then Rory started to show his talent and engine and kept up with the leader who made a breakaway from the pack. The leader probably should've been in

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by Alex Hird On Saturday I made the trip down the A1 to Doncaster, for my 2nd track race in the space of a few days. It's the first time I've been to the facility, which is situated right next to the Doncaster Rovers football stadium, and it's a cracking setup. I was told that it was built at the same time as the football stadium, and given to the athletics club, which now boasts over 700 members. The event was a well

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by Brad Wight Another cracking club day out despite the downpour which managed to soak everything inside our once waterproof tent… The U11 lads were off first with Joe Hall Junior completing the 1km race in 5:20, he looked so determined on the long downhill finish, teeth gritted just like his dad at a NEMAA sprint! The U11 girls were next up, Eleanor Shaw and my youngest daughter Adelaide making their XC debut alongside Meadow Winham. All three slogged up the hill then

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by Brad Wight What an unbelievable turnout for Crook! 66 runners across 14 teams with all age categories represented. More runners than any other club! The organisers weren’t joking when they responded to our entry submission with “I’m beginning to worry I haven’t ordered enough numbers.” Alistair Hart had to run with a hand drawn number and I noticed a few XC numbers being re-cycled too! The first race of the day saw the Women, Veteran Women (over 35) and V50 men

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by Brad Wight The Northern Cross Country Championships were held last Saturday at Sedgefield and what a cracking event it was. The organization was excellent, the weather behaved, and we had some cracking results! Rory Hart and Alex Merryweather were first up for Crook in the U17s race. The front runners were extremely fast, covering the 3.5 mile course in little over 18 minutes. Rory finished 20th overall in a time of 19:28 (roughly equal to a 5K time of 17:15) which

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by Brad Wight Where to start? Safe to say from both a running and a weather perspective it was a right mixed bag! All week the weather forecast was looking far from ideal for distance running. Brendan Foster wrote to runners saying “Sunday will not be a day for PB’s.” Well, what does he know? I’ve counted NINE personal bests in the results, and there may be more as some of our newer members registered without a club name. At the front end, starting

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by Alex Hird It was the final North East Track & Field meeting of the season on Sunday 27th, this time at the Gateshead International Stadium. Sam Etherington and myself were our only entrants, both in the mile. The weather was absolutely shocking. The track was covered in puddles. Not what you want to see when you're sat waiting for your race to be called. It's a shame because it was a day jam packed with events. Of the 17 seniors in the mile,

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by Alex Hird What a cracking day it was on Sunday at our very own Shildon Stadium. Despite the heavens opening just as the meeting got underway, the weather soon turned, and it became a fantastic summers day. Summer, remember that? Overall, it was a really well attended meeting, which can only work in favour of Shildon being used more next year. People (Athletes, Officials, and spectators) could not believe how good the facility is compared to the more regularly used facilities,