By Donna Campbell
As has been the trend for the last few weeks, our racing was again affected by the weather with Storm Dennis causing two of the cross country races to be cancelled.
These were the Richmond fixture in the NYSD league and the Thornley Hall fixture in the Harrier League. This fixture had already been cancelled the week prior due to storm Ciara.
It didn’t stop the Signal relays from going ahead however in Hetton le Hole Country Park.
These were legs of 2.2 miles per person with ladies running in teams of 4 and men running in teams of 6. Despite the wind and rain we managed to get three ladies teams out (albeit one was incomplete) and two men’s teams.
The ladies results were:
a) Helen Boyd 22.24, Hannah Richardson 23.05, Marie Rudd 25.45 and Jan McLuckie 23.37.
b) Paula lambert 22.23, Susan Clark 23.01, Sandra Rudd 25.45, and Eve Doe 24.31.
c) Tracey Surtees 14.09, Julie Nisbet 17.10 and Katie Dodds 15.18.
In the men’s race the results were:
a) John Surtees 11.53, Paul Dalton 12.50, Floyd Jones 13.23, Richard Campbell 13.44, Andy Talbot 13.49 and Corey Horn 13.48.
b) Matt Heron 15.45, Stuart Joyce 14.56, Simon Matthew Turner 15.43, Shaun Dodds 16.34, Peter Smith 15.31 and Alan Wilks 16.53.
ARC still had good attendances at the parkruns earlier that day also with some completing the parkrun before the relays.
Given the weather it was no surprise that we didn’t have any PBs this week but mention must be made of Sandra Collins who took part in and completed her 250th parkrun at Shildon.
It was also a good day for racing on Sunday despite the continued bad weather.
Close to home we had four members take part in the Absent Friends trail race. This takes place at Cowpen Bewley Park.
Usually it is just over 5 miles long, but because of conditions underfoot and flooding the route was shortened this year to just under 4.5 miles.
First home for ARC was Julie Nisbet in 40.33 (1st female O35 overall) followed by David Stothard in 42.27, Kevin Greenall 43.37 and Pat Edwards in 49.18.
Also in Durham, Richard Tonge took place in the Saturn Running – To Infinity and Beyond event. This is a timed event in which participants complete as few or as many 3.28 laps as they can in 7 hours. Richard completed two full laps covering 6.67 miles in 1 hour 14 minutes.
Slightly further away down in West Yorkshire, one member Trish (top picture) completed the Liversedge half Marathon. This was described as a tough, hilly course through some extremely rural areas and definitely was not for the ‘faint hearted’.
She also had to contend with hailstones and crosswinds which took away from the enjoyment. Despite this Trish completed this race in 2.02.04.
A little further away, four members were also taking part in another half marathon. This was on the coast at Blackpool in the Great North West Half. This is an out and back course along the front of Blackpool and so again the runners taking part had to contend with very blustery winds.
First home for ARC was John Richardson in 2.09.16, followed by Bev Phillippo in 2.14.55, Ian Baronowski 2.26.27 and Helen Boyd in 2.47.24.
For anyone interested in joining the club, you can simply turn up at one of our sessions all of which start from the Oakleaf Complex in Newton Aycliffe. Monday night is beginners run at 6.30pm, Tuesday is endurance/speed session from 7pm, and Thursday is a track session and this takes place at Shildon Track.
Further details can be found on our website or facebook pages or alternatively you can message the club via facebook for more information.
