UNITED WE STAND!
Photos courtesy of Tamsin Imber
Video courtesy of Aaron Gourley
Last Saturday’s Harrier League fixture at Herrington Park saw around 70+ Strider members in attendance. There were Strider men, women, young , old, fast, not so fast, new members, long servers, coaches and committee members all there wanting their club to do well and for everyone to have a brilliant day. It gladdened even the hardest heart to see it and it showed just what this club is all about. We Striders are able to come together no matter who we are, what we are or where we’re from and give our all in the service of the club. It was absolutely magnificent and all who were there should be incredibly proud!
The day itself was cloudy, mild and calm if a little damp and the tent and banner was soon up along with many more from our sister clubs. Some of these clubs have long histories stretching back to the nineteenth century such as Heaton Harriers; our next door neighbours for the day, while others are ‘new arrivals’ like Derwent Valley Trail Runners in only their second HL season. It was great to be among them all.
The Striders tent filled up quickly in anticipation of the senior women’s race. We had veterans such as Roz and Jan, welcome returners like Karen, Nina and Emma, fresh faced speedy Striders in Tamsin and Olivia, new devout converts such as Diane and Helen & tough campaigners like Mudwoman herself, Stef & Camilla. We also had one slightly apprehensive debutant, Carla, who quickly shed that apprehension and enjoyed her day to the utmost.
Although it was dry overhead the course was quite muddy in places with a couple of challenging hills and a long woodland section which contained a few obstacles for good measure. Not an easy course by any means. Nonetheless, well over 300 women lined up to do battle with purple vests well in evidence at the start particularly in the front rank of combatants.
Rachelle and Mudwoman were first to show followed by Lesley and they hurdled the fallen logs with eagerness and élan. Emma, on her long anticipated return to the Striders x/c fold, battled her way steadily from the medium pack to finish ahead of Rachelle & Mudwoman with another medium packer, Olivia, powering through at the end to finish as 4th counter. But what support they had from their team mates including the ever improving Helen, a determined Rachael, a committed Vics, a dogged Denise and many many more. No less than 30 Striderettes competed and they all ran their hearts out. But Harrier League is a savage and unforgiving arena, particularly the first division, and with some of our regular ‘counters’ absent through injury or illness our women’s team finished 9th on the day and slipped to 8th for the season just above the relegation zone. We now have a fight on our hands that we’re determined to win!
As well as fielding 57 runners across the two main races Striders had numerous members there who came along to cheer their club mates and have an enjoyable day out. An injured Conrad gave his impression of the ‘Shipman Roar’, Anna, Katy & Allan cast their coaches’ eye over proceedings while Catherine S, Jan E, Stan, Jo P & Diane W all did their best to spur on the purple hoards. Many thanks to them!
One or two of our male runners were so far into the zone during their warm ups that they failed to hear the whistles and shouts that heralded the imminent start of the men’s race. Consequently they had a bit of catching up to do after the gun was fired! Fighting through that 500+ field on what was now a very muddy course couldn’t have been easy but Striders were fielding a very strong team. An absolutely magnificent run by Stephen, coming from the fast pack, saw him finish in 35th place overall and first Strider home. Scott too did his fare share of bursting through finishing second Strider and being closely followed by Matt A (his best X/C race thus far?!), Gibbo, Phil Ray and Jason (from the medium pack).
These guys also had some fantastic support from our other fast packers Gareth & Michael M plus Michael L, Mark & Jack from the medium pack. Pictures on social medium have also shown the grit and determination displayed by the rest of the magnificent team particularly David Browbank (retaining his shoes), Douglas Jardine (putting his body on the line in his debut race), young Emil (thrown in the deep end on his first outing) and Richard Hocking (beating over 150 younger men).
This was Striders best performance in the first division so far. All 6 counters finished in the top 80 places – an excellent display but, such is the quality of our opponents, our 6th place on the day still keeps us in 8th place for the season but with a 2 point cushion over the relegation zone and now just 2 points behind the 7th place club. Like the women we too have a battle on our hands and one that we are equally determined to win.
So we have just two fixtures to go and if any one who manages to read this far and hasn’t yet run this season, particularly those for whom we already have numbers, then I urge you to turn up at Thornley and Alnwick and run for your club. You really are missing out on a fantastic experience if you don’t!
Mudman
Ps I would like to give a special mention to Kerry and Denise for an act way above and beyond the call on duty – the removal of all the goose poo from the Striders tent!
results
women
position | bib | name | cat | pack | race time | actual time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1786 | Lorna Macdonald (Morpeth Harriers & AC) | Fsen | S | 27:30 | 27:30 |
64 | 372 | Emma Bain | FV45 | M | 32:51 | 30:56 |
67 | 419 | Rachelle Mason | FV35 | S | 32:49 | 32:49 |
71 | 431 | Susan Davis | FV55 | S | 32:56 | 32:56 |
119 | 416 | Olivia Neal | Fsen | M | 33:51 | 31:56 |
135 | 418 | Rachael Bullock | Fsen | M | 34:01 | 32:06 |
141 | 407 | Lesley Charman | FV40 | S | 34:07 | 34:07 |
143 | 432 | Tamsin Imber | FV40 | F | 34:09 | 30:19 |
151 | 428 | Stephanie Piper | Fsen | S | 34:35 | 34:35 |
158 | 433 | Victoria Brown | FV35 | S | 34:44 | 34:44 |
169 | 379 | Helen Thomas | FV40 | S | 35:12 | 35:12 |
177 | 414 | Marita Grimwood | FV45 | S | 35:28 | 35:28 |
191 | 423 | Roz Layton | FV60 | S | 36:43 | 36:43 |
195 | 356 | Camilla Lauren-Maatta | FV50 | S | 36:38 | 36:38 |
196 | 384 | Jenny Search | FV40 | S | 36:40 | 36:40 |
200 | 369 | Diane Harold | FV40 | S | 36:53 | 36:53 |
204 | 382 | Jan Young | FV60 | S | 37:15 | 37:15 |
206 | 427 | Stef Barlow | FV40 | S | 37:11 | 37:11 |
218 | 415 | Nina Mason | FV40 | S | 37:44 | 37:44 |
221 | 350 | Anita Clementson | FV45 | S | 37:53 | 37:53 |
234 | 409 | Louise Barrow | Fsen | S | 38:28 | 38:28 |
246 | 385 | Jill Rudkin | FV40 | S | 38:51 | 38:51 |
247 | 434 | Victoria Jackson | FV35 | S | 38:52 | 38:52 |
261 | 389 | Joanne Porter | FV45 | S | 39:23 | 39:23 |
281 | 393 | Karen Metters | FV40 | S | 40:56 | 40:56 |
286 | 357 | Carla Clarke | FV35 | S | 41:45 | 41:45 |
296 | 360 | Catherine Walker | FV55 | S | 43:29 | 43:29 |
303 | 348 | Aileen Scott | FV45 | S | 44:10 | 44:10 |
315 | 421 | Rebecca Dodd | Fsen | S | 45:32 | 45:32 |
318 | 368 | Denise Benvin | FV45 | S | 45:51 | 45:51 |
321 | 402 | Kerry Barnett | FV40 | S | 46:03 | 46:03 |
341 finishers.
men
position | bib | name | cat | pack | race time | actual time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1786 | Ian Harding (Morpeth Harriers & AC) | Msen | S | 33:20 | 33:20 |
35 | 556 | Stephen Jackson | Msen | F | 39:36 | 34:16 |
56 | 551 | Scott Watson | MV50 | S | 40:28 | 40:28 |
60 | 534 | Matthew Archer | MV35 | S | 40:29 | 40:29 |
66 | 507 | David Gibson | MV45 | S | 40:37 | 40:37 |
74 | 546 | Phil Ray | MV35 | S | 40:51 | 40:51 |
80 | 521 | Jason Harding | MV45 | M | 40:59 | 38:19 |
97 | 536 | Michael Littlewood | MV40 | M | 41:25 | 38:45 |
122 | 520 | James Garland | MV40 | S | 41:56 | 41:56 |
132 | 533 | Matt Claydon | MV40 | S | 42:04 | 42:04 |
162 | 514 | Gareth Pritchard | MV35 | F | 42:27 | 37:07 |
165 | 540 | Neil Sleeman | MV40 | S | 42:29 | 42:29 |
227 | 1734 | Michael Mason | MV40 | F | 43:46 | 38:26 |
232 | 532 | Mark Warner | MV35 | M | 43:48 | 41:08 |
263 | 515 | Geoff Davis | MV55 | S | 44:24 | 44:24 |
288 | 519 | Jack Lee | Msen | M | 45:04 | 42:24 |
293 | 487 | Aaron Gourley | MV35 | S | 45:19 | 45:19 |
362 | 549 | Richard Hockin | MV60 | S | 47:30 | 47:30 |
412 | 529 | Malcolm Sygrove | MV50 | S | 49:30 | 49:30 |
445 | 492 | Andrew Davies | MV40 | S | 51:19 | 51:19 |
470 | 511 | Douglas Jardine | MV35 | S | 52:45 | 52:45 |
477 | 498 | Craig Walker | MV55 | S | 53:10 | 53:10 |
484 | 504 | David Browbank | MV35 | S | 53:37 | 53:37 |
487 | 510 | Dougie Nisbet | MV50 | S | 53:43 | 53:43 |
499 | 1749 | Emil Maata | Msen | S | 55:53 | 55:53 |
508 | 496 | Chris Shearsmith | MV35 | S | 57:32 | 57:32 |
511 | 555 | Stephen Ellis | MV60 | S | 58:21 | 58:21 |
518 | 545 | Phil Owen | MV50 | S | 59:36 | 59:36 |
531 finishers.