NYSD XC Richmond – 3rd March 2024
by Sam Etherington Fresh from Alnwick, myself & Amy headed to Richmond on the Sunday along with our parents & Bill (potential future mascot), to take on the last NYSD of the season and one of the more challenging of the courses. Amy was first off in the senior ladies/vet 65 race which was 3 small loops (just shy of 4 mile), she got herself to the front of the line and off she went up to the old racecourse grandstand where
NEHL Alnwick Castle – 2nd March 2024
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
NECAA Road Relay Championships / Royal Signals Relays Hetton Lyons Country Park – 17th Feb 2024
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
Northern Cross Country Championships – 27th January 2024
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
Birtley XC Relays – 14th January 2024
by Geoff Hewitson This annual event was traditionally held on a January Sunday morning in Durham for many years, when it was known as the Cathedral Relays. Towards the end of 2018 the long-standing host club (Durham City Harriers) pulled out of organising the event at which point Birtley AC stepped in to take it over, and moved the venue to the Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy in Birtley. It was held here for the first time in January 2019. The
Blanchland Moon Runner – 9th December 2023
by Sam Etherington This race was a new one to the series and going from the previous events it was going to be a good one. I didn’t realise however, before entering, that it clashed with the NE Champs so I’d double booked myself and felt I had to give both a go. After a good run out at South Shields I had a couple hours turnaround before heading up towards Northumberland, Amy came along as well to see if she could
North East Counties XC Championships 2023 Temple Park, South Shields – 9th December 2023
by Brad Wight One of the things I've loved most about this club since joining three years ago is the team spirit and camaraderie at team relays and cross country meets. There’s something about bad weather that amplifies this and Saturday was no exception, we had some good individual and team results and as far as I know, everyone really enjoyed the day! After a quick detour to South Shields parkrun, we had the tent set up in time for the first
Thornley Hall XC Relays – 18th November 2023
by Andy Turnell We submitted 3 teams for this relay as not many people came forward, so we had 1 senior ladies, 1 masters men and 1 senior men, after a few rearrangements we had our complete teams ready to tackle the not so easy course. As relays go, I would say this is the toughest you’re going to get with the XC conditions under foot and for someone who wasn’t actually racing this event and only spectating, the mud was unreal
Elswick Norman Woodcock Memorial Road Relays – 5th November 2023
by Geoff Hewitson History Hosted by Elswick Harriers, this is one of the longest established road races in the North East, in name at least. The event has undergone several changes of venue and distance throughout it’s long history. Most older runners will remember it as a 6 mile race, mostly up and down the minor road that runs through the centre of High Gosforth Park. Increased development of sports facilities within the park, such as the golf driving ranges and outdoor
Blackhill Steelworks Relays – 17th May 2023
by Geoff Hewitson Over 50 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 2022 we finished runners-up and were the overall winners the previous time it was