The Debutants Ball!
The grand opening of this season’s Harrier League saw Striders field no less than 17 fresh faced debutants out of the 52 Striders who competed – that must be a record! The weather gods smiled on our newbies providing a mild, calm & dry day for them to get to grips with cross country for the first time. The fields around Tanfield were choka with club tents & flags making it look like a medieval battle was about to take place (if you ignored all the cars!) and when the cavalry charge of the 300+ senior women’s field set off at 1.15pm that’s exactly what it resembled!
Louise and Katy were first to show in the ‘fight’ hotly pursued by Sarah, Steph, Debs and a host of others. With Penny powering through from the fast pack to finish as fourth counter (behind Louise, Katy (both promoted to the medium pack!) & Sarah) the women’s team finished 6th on the day to get the club off to a solid start.
But that was only part of the story; there were some fantastically brave and gutsy performances from all the ten debutants and the other Striderettes behind them. Joan Reeves impressed on her long (very long) awaited debut together with Caitlin Mooney (more confident after running the tough Aykley Heads course on Wednesday), Joanne Parkinson (watched by a proud daughter), Rebecca Devine (nursing a dodgy ankle), Marita Grimwood (tough and determined behind her demure exterior), Jenny Search (striding impressively), Jan Ellis (joining the rest of her family in the mud), Helen Thomas (wearing the purple with pride), Clare Metcalfe (battling with so many experienced runners) & Catherine Elliott (with an impressive finishing position for ‘first time out’).
Please be aware all debutants that Mudwoman and I are very proud of you and grateful to you for joining us in what can be a tough and, at times, unforgiving arena and for wearing your Strider vests (the colours of the Suffragette movement) with pride! Well done to you all.
Well, after that emotional rollercoaster it was the men’s turn to run on what was a fairly dry course, apart from the wide water ‘jump’, a few ‘undulations’ rather than mega steep hills (they will come later in the season!) and a thick grassy surface. Dr Paul was first to show, in spite of his flu symptoms, only to be overhauled by a ‘canny’ Simon and an outstanding Stephen (finishing in 25th place, first Strider home and qualifying for the fast pack – as the kids say: “awesome”!). Other counters included Matt Archer (achieving what we know he can do), Jack Lee (perhaps the most impressive Strider debut of the day & after being given a gruelling workout by young Erin (Jo Richardson’s daughter) at Aykley Heads on Wednesday) & the ‘ever green’ James Garland. A seventh place finish for the team on the day which is solid enough but I know we can improve as the season progresses.
These ‘brave boys’ were supported by numerous other outstanding performances including Rob (making his fast pack debut and looking as good as ever), Chairman Tom & Shaun the Sheep (both making welcome returns after long layoffs due to ‘knee problems’) & Alan Smith (returning after being told what we all dread hearing: “you’ll never run again”) – well done the lot o’ ya! And then there were the other six debutants: Adam Bent (going from water polo to a water jump and loving every bit of it), Andrew Rayner (looking like there’s plenty more performances to come); Alex Collins (toughing it out all the way round); David Case (enjoying that water jump); Tim Matthews (another triathlete seeing mud as the way to go) and Richard Stollery (finishing ahead of many experienced rivals). Great performances all round and a wonderful reflection on our expanding club that so many newbies want to give x/c a try and see for themselves what all the fuss is about – you are very welcome!
A final word for all the Striders unable to run but happy to come along, watch the races, cheer their club mates, take photos and eat cake! Thanks for coming and I hope you all enjoyed your day. A further final, final word – Mudman and Mudwoman are unable to attend the next fixture (The Sherman Cup, South Shields, 10th October) but we’ll leave the tent, flag, race numbers etc in save hands – we’re sure you’ll be fine although we’ll be thinking (and worrying) about you.
Results
men
position | bib | name | cat | pack | race time | actual time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1555 | Michael Edwards (Sunderland Harriers) | Msen | S | 38:15 | 38:15 |
25 | 549 | Stephen Jackson | Msen | M | 40:31 | 38:01 |
68 | 546 | Simon Gardner | MV45 | S | 42:25 | 42:25 |
99 | 535 | Paul Evans | MV35 | S | 43:18 | 43:18 |
147 | 528 | Matthew Archer | Msen | S | 44:19 | 44:19 |
159 | 513 | Jack Lee | Msen | S | 44:25 | 44:25 |
188 | 514 | James Garland | MV40 | S | 45:00 | 45:00 |
273 | 542 | Rob Everson | Msen | F | 46:36 | 41:36 |
277 | 552 | Tom Reeves | MV45 | S | 46:42 | 46:42 |
301 | 497 | Dave Halligan | MV50 | S | 47:18 | 47:18 |
314 | 483 | Aaron Gourley | MV35 | S | 47:38 | 47:38 |
320 | 488 | Andrew Rayner | Msen | S | 47:53 | 47:53 |
362 | 530 | Michael Hughes | MV45 | S | 48:55 | 48:55 |
404 | 541 | Richard Stollery | MV35 | S | 50:00 | 50:00 |
412 | 545 | Shaun Roberts | MV55 | S | 50:27 | 50:27 |
471 | 495 | Craig Walker | MV55 | S | 52:33 | 52:33 |
510 | 551 | Tim Matthews | MV50 | S | 54:26 | 54:26 |
518 | 484 | Adam Bent | MV60 | S | 55:10 | 55:10 |
527 | 486 | Alex Collins | MV35 | S | 55:55 | 55:55 |
542 | 491 | Ari Hodgson | MU20 | S | 57:34 | 57:34 |
547 | 506 | Dougie Nisbet | MV50 | S | 58:20 | 58:20 |
548 | 521 | Lindsay Rodgers | MV45 | S | 58:25 | 58:25 |
555 | 500 | David Case | Msen | S | 58:44 | 58:44 |
560 | 485 | Alan Smith | MV65 | S | 59:16 | 59:16 |
575 | 548 | Stephen Ellis | MV60 | S | 61:12 | 61:12 |
580 | 508 | Gareth Cardus | MV35 | S | 63:46 | 63:46 |
590 finishers.
Women
position | bib | name | cat | pack | race time | actual time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1094 | Joasia Zakrzewski (Dumfries RC) | guest | S | 26:31 | 26:31 |
30 | 418 | Louise Warner | FV35 | S | 32:12 | 32:12 |
31 | 408 | Katy Walton | Fsen | S | 32:16 | 32:16 |
42 | 433 | Sarah Davies | FV45 | S | 32:51 | 32:51 |
63 | 426 | Penny Browell | FV40 | F | 33:23 | 29:23 |
101 | 436 | Stephanie Piper | Fsen | S | 34:10 | 34:10 |
113 | 374 | Debra Goddard | FV40 | S | 34:28 | 34:28 |
129 | 367 | Catherine Elliott | FV35 | S | 35:04 | 35:04 |
140 | 438 | Susan Davis | FV55 | M | 35:22 | 33:22 |
171 | 390 | Jan Young | FV60 | S | 36:07 | 36:07 |
175 | 422 | Marita Grimwood | FV40 | S | 36:12 | 36:12 |
190 | 399 | Joan Hanson | FV45 | S | 36:46 | 36:46 |
192 | 435 | Stef Barlow | FV40 | S | 36:49 | 36:49 |
193 | 393 | Jean Bradley | FV55 | S | 36:51 | 36:51 |
206 | 396 | Jenny Search | FV35 | S | 37:12 | 37:12 |
261 | 388 | Helen Williams | FV40 | S | 38:48 | 38:48 |
273 | 406 | Kate MacPherson | FV40 | S | 39:09 | 39:09 |
297 | 386 | Helen Thomas | FV40 | S | 40:44 | 40:44 |
301 | 375 | Denise Benvin | FV45 | S | 40:54 | 40:54 |
308 | 818 | Claire-Louise Wells | FV35 | S | 41:24 | 41:24 |
317 | 369 | Catherine Walker | FV55 | S | 41:40 | 41:40 |
320 | 377 | Diane Watson | FV50 | S | 41:52 | 41:52 |
330 | 372 | Clare Metcalfe | Fsen | S | 42:35 | 42:35 |
342 | 402 | Joanne Richardson | FV40 | S | 43:55 | 43:55 |
346 | 373 | Debbie Mcfarland | Fsen | S | 44:18 | 44:18 |
350 | 389 | Jan Ellis | FV50 | S | 45:01 | 45:01 |
358 | 400 | Joanne Parkinson | FV40 | S | 45:42 | 45:42 |
362 | 430 | Rebecca Devine | Fsen | S | 46:00 | 46:00 |
364 | 365 | Caitlin Mooney | Fsen | S | 46:14 | 46:14 |
365 | 410 | Kelly Collier | Fsen | S | 46:18 | 46:18 |
388 finishers.