A few of you are already aware but just in case you aren’t, unfortunately due to work commitments I’m moving away from the North East to Lincolnshire. It’s not a permanent move; hopefully I should be able to be back in 2-3 years.

I’ve only been at the club for 3 years but even in my relatively short time it’s clear to see how much the club has grown, especially during the last 12 months. PB’s are getting smashed, people are moving up through the groups and there’s a feel good buzz about the club. The amount of new runners is very encouraging for the future but more importantly Wallsend Harriers is more like a family than ever before.

I’ve loved every single minute of being part of Wallsend Harriers; even on cold, wet, windy nights running up and down the Bogey Chain bank wishing I was at home with my feet up having a brew!
I’d like to say a special thanks to Terry’s group. My first night at the club was a hot Thursday evening in July and I remember vividly Terry asking if I could run for an hour; I confidently said yes but dear god, I was knackered, even though I spent most of the hour jogging and walking.
Even though my first night was a baptism of fire, I’m so pleased that I returned the following week!
I’ll never, ever be anywhere near the calibre of Terry but if I could have just 2% of what he had I’ll be an extremely happy man. He was an inspiration, a gent and a proper good bloke and it’s an honour to have run alongside him.
Julie; it’s your job to keep the spirit of Terry’s group going and make him proud.

When I knew I was moving away, apart from finding somewhere to live my priority was to find a temporary running club.  The closest club is Scunthorpe Athletic Club and they are more than happy for me to train with them while I’m ‘down south’. I’ll give them a try and see how it goes.
There aren’t many positives in moving away from home! In fact I can only think of one; moving to a new area opens up new races for me. 
Whichever races I do I’ll continue to proudly wear the green and gold around the country (Including Blaydon and GNR) and when I get back ‘oop north’ on leave I’ll be coming along on Tuesdays and Thursdays. (I haven’t told my wife yet!)
Hopefully I should be able to commute home most weekends, obviously to see my wife and son but also to go out with Kenny, Tony, Neil and anyone else on Sunday mornings for a cheeky little run 

At last week’s AGM it was great to see the committee reinstated for another year demonstrating the commitment and trust everyone has in them and with SOG at the helm, the club will no doubt continue to flourish and carry on with Terry’s spirit.

I’d like to wish everyone the very best for 2012, especially to those about to give birth to mini-Harriers and Harriets; happy running everyone.

Cheers
Mick
(stringysrunningblog.co.uk)

From all your pals at Wallsend, Mick, Thanks for your kind comments. We wish you well and hope you will continue to send us your running anecdotes from Scunny! We look forward to your speedy return!

8 out of the first 10 finishers all ran either PB’s or certainly season’s bests, which is what this competition is all about. 7 runners were competing for the 1st time this winter over the 3M+ course including new-to-the-club Andy Nichol and Andy Graham who both had impressive runs. Welcome lads and well done too!

Fastest time on the night was a fantastic 17:09 from Scott Boyd, knocking a further 23 seconds off his winning time from 20th December.

It was great to see Sarah Fordham, Debbie Thomas and Katie Neil figuring strongly in the top 10 home too, with ever-improving times!

In the series competition, an off night from pre-race leader (and only athlete to compete in every race) Tony Maddocks allowed second placed Neil Banks to leapfrog him to win the series, but it took another PB to do it and relegate Tony to 2nd place overall.

Hard luck Tony, but you were beaten by a man on a mission on the night. Well done Neil!

One of the features of the WGP series is that the final race always produces surprises due to the “best 5 from 8” format. This allows those who may not be able to make all 8 races due to work or injuries, still compete for the overall title and this is amply illustrated in the results table here

The last 2 columns show athletes’ positions going into the final race and the number of places gained or lost in the final race. John Dodds ran his 5th race last night with another PB, so all 45 points counted and moved him 5 places up from 8th to take the bronze medal place! Well done John!

Roll on the Summer Grand Prix which will start in April after the clocks go forward on 25th March and we are able to get onto the tracks for training!
Thanks to all 75 athletes who took part in the Winter Series, to Ian MacDougal for assisting yours truly in coping with the massed finishes and for all the supporters who braved the biting conditions since October. Bring on the Summer!

Lee Morgan writes...

After a number of months of muddy cross country, this weekend saw the happy (for some) return of road racing with the prestigious Royal Signals Road Relays (incorporating the North Eastern Championships).

The undulating 2 lap course over 2.2miles saw Wallsend field 5 teams - 3 men's and 2 ladies. The men's race was over 6 legs and the ladies over 4 and the momentum and feel good factor gained from our successful AGM continued to gather speed and spirits were high before the start.

The fact that we even considered that we had a chance of medals in the men's race shows how far we have come in terms of quality in the past year or so. This was the case though and even in the absence of Club Champion Harry Coates we still thought that if everybody ran out of their skin, we could surprise some of the regions' big names. However, this was the Signals Relays, it's a massively prestigious race and many top clubs fielded incredibly strong teams. Indeed, eventual winners New Marske fielded 3 current International runners, broke the course record and would have been a match for any club in the country on today's performance.

However, the men's A team of Jordan MIddlemist, Chris Smith, Yared Hagos, Lee Kernohan, Brian Hetherington and Phil Aiston still held it together in one of the strongest fields in recent years to finish in 7th position. 

It was not until the results were analysed that we realised just how well the team had done. Yared was second fastest of the day (only GB International and sub 4 minute miler Ricky Stevenson was quicker in a new course record), Brian was one of the fastest vets of the day and both Kerna and Phil posted times that bettered many county standard athletes. 

The B team of Dan Weatherill, Scott Boyd, newcomers Andy Bays and Andy Graham, Paul Borsberry and Steve Armstrong ran solidly to finish in 27th position. Competition for future places looks set to become nothing short of fierce as only 22 seconds separated the two Andys and 'Bush' and there was only 6 seconds between Dan and Scott 

It was great to see the C team running their hearts out and fighting for every place as the team of Kris Stobbs, Barry Allsop, Neil Banks, Paul Brown, Steve Armstrong and Mick Bell romped home in 49th place. 
In the ladies race, the absence of Dan Hodgkinson, Stacey Rogers and Vicky Hindson did nothing to damp the enthusiasm of the Wallsend lasses (are we allowed to call them Terry's tarts yet??) and it was a chance for Chrystal Skeldon, Ruth Marshall, Caroline Hasson and Julie Hind to lead the girls' charge finishing in a highly creditable 20th place. 

The B team of Amy Bannister, Emma Buckton and Stacey Davidson, despite knowing that they were in an incomplete team still ran their hearts out to the cheers of the Wallsend faithful. 

Overall, a great day's racing with many encouraging performances as we head towards the road racing season. Well done to everyone that took part and a huge thanks to the supporters, horn tooters and cake makers. 

To see all the photos from the day click here
Full mens results click here
Full womens results click here
Leg times click here

The Committee of Wallsend Harriers are delighted  to announce that fittingly, following a unanimous vote at the AGM Steve O'Gara was voted in as Club Chairperson of Wallsend Harriers. 

We all wish Steve the very best in his new role and he has the full support and utmost confidence of the Committee and all the members of the Club. 

The following additions to the committee were also made at the AGM:

• Four new club members were voted onto the committee - Simon Gibbs, Kath Robertson, 'King' Kev Payne and Barry Allsopp (to see your full committee click here) Congratulations to all
  
• Lee Morgan was voted onto the committee as Coaching Advisor - Congratulations Lee
• Julie Hind and Brian Hetherington were appointed as Welfare Officers for the Club
• Subs increased from £30 to £35 per annum (this is the first increase in over 5 years) - to pay your subs for 2012 click here
• A limit was set on race fees owed of £50. If you owe more than this amount on race fees you will not be entered for a race through the club entry - to pay towards your race fees click here

If you were unable to attend the meeting you can read a full copy of the minutes if you access the members only section of the website. Click here to access

Please note: We have recently changed the password to the members only section of the website (this will be required for all the links above) - this has been emailed to all members. If you have not received this new password then please click here and let us know and we will make sure this is sent out to you.

Finally.....for those of you who were unable to attend on Thursday night - it was our fantastic Treasurer's (Alex Richardson) birthday and he simply loved his hat, badge, cake and banners! Happy Birthday Alex! 

On Saturday the Wallsend contingent travel to Hetton Country Park for the prestigious Royal Signals North East Counties Road Relay Championships.  The championship event consists of 6 runners in the mens teams and 4 in the womens teams, all taking part in the same race over a two lap, approximately 2.2 mile, course. Last year Wallsend Veteran Women were really rather brilliant and secured a bronze medal position! To remind yourself about last year click here to read the race report from 2011!

The race starts at 1pm and you need to park in the car park to the south of Hetton Lyons Park (Downs Pit Lane, Hetton-le-Hole) 

Yesterday the troops were rallied, the bobble hats were out in force, the cakes were baked and the pink spikes were on...and that was just the men of Wallsend getting ready to rock and roll! Although we were missing Terry, and we always will, Terry was there in our hearts and watching from above as Wallsend Harriers had a fantastic day full of fun and great exciting running! The beginning of the Senior Men’s race saw a minutes applause in memory of Terry and on behalf of Terry’s family and Wallsend Harriers we would like to thank the Harrier League and all the runners on the day for this. It was a fitting and heartfelt tribute to Terry. 

First off for Wallsend was Adam Hill who is growing in strength week by week. Adam was racing in the U15 race and as ever (we expect nothing less from him!) showed his usual grit, spirit and great smile as he took to the start line and headed off in the race. Finishing in a creditable 16th position – well done Adam keep up the good work!

Next up were the Senior men and 13 hardy Wallsend Warriors braved the icy cold conditions lining up on the start line. First off were the ‘slow’ pack followed by Brilliant Bri and the Sturminator in the medium pack with Harry (HMMC) Coates bringing up the rear as the lone Wallsend soul in the fast pack.

The race was off and although the conditions were far from muddy underfoot the hard ground and icy conditions meant that other obstacles such as trying to stay upright at times was challenging in itself. With support aplenty on all of the hills the men were cheered and the bells were rang as each of the Wallsend team passed through. Over the first lap our first runner through was our fell runner George Nicholson who was looking comfortable as he cruised up the hills. On the coat tails of George was the man behind the bobble hat magic Paul Borsberry. Now here is a fella who is really taking off with his running – Paul was on fire running hard (and making it look easy) having a cracking run holding his position well over all 3 laps.

As the laps went by the troops continued to work hard and before long we saw Brilliant Brian starting to come through the pack motoring past other runners – a man well and truly on a mission! As Brian was working his way through the guys continued to be uplifted by the support from the crowd and the hard work was paying off with John, Will, Micky, Steve, Mick, James, Kenny, Kev (coming through to the chants of Relaaaaaxxx King Kev, Relaaaaaaaaaax!) and Mick continuing to dig deep as they ticked off each lap. 

Before long Harry was coming through the pack and was chasing the first Wallsend Harrier finisher of the day. Brian was working hard and not dropping a second but Harry had located his target and slowly tried to close him down. And close him down he did....JUST! As the guys turned the last corner Brian was ahead but on this occasion youth won and Harry pipped Brian at the post to claim the victory (much to Brian’s protest of ‘he dipped for the line’! back at the tent!)

Now at the front of the Wallsend pack there was a great race taking place and some excellent performances from the 6 counters for Wallsend – Harry (who also ran 4th fastest on the day!), Brian (who was 6th fastest vet on the day!), George, Paul, Will and John – well done lads. But mid pack the performances were still fantastic and noteworthy – well done all. Now the back of the pack....this is a true sportsman like performance. Captain Courageous – Mick Skeldon. Mick gives so much time and energy to the club as a brilliant mens captain and although picking up an injury during the race he kept going to the bitter end (even if it did mean being overtaken by Kev!) to finish the race – a great example for us all Mick – well done – great performances from the front to the back of the Wallsend Mens pack.

Next up were the women and it was the return of the pink spikes (unfortunately we were down to just 2 pairs as Emma Buckton was off enjoying wine this weekend!) but it was good to see them out ready and raring to go.

It was  a fashion frenzy this weekend with the pink spikes and bobbly hats and Chrystal was not missing out on this as she revealed her new yellow shorts......fantastic! Just like the men the women were out in good numbers with 10 of us braving the cold and for once not having to brave the churned up muddy conditions!

All the girls were off in the first pack except for me (Website Wally!) who, missing the company of her Captain Hardcore Hindson who was studying hard, was the only Wallsend vest in the medium pack starting 2 minutes after the rest of the girls. Although it was a cold day you soon forgot about this as you headed out on the course and soon started the climb up the hills and carefully descend as you headed off round the back of the course. Now coming up that second hill was nothing short of magic! The support was immense and I am not sure that I have ever had such a feeling in a race before – as you looked up it was like the parting of the green and gold bobble hat sea with just your name being shouted from all sides of the path – it was AWESOME so thanks to all for the support!

That certainly helped me and after passing an injured Becki (get better soon!) at the end of the first lap we knew we all had to dig in to try and gain as many places as possible to get the points for the team.  We all worked really hard and pushed right to the end – everyone giving a magnificent performance shouted in by Becki who was willing us all on. Well done to all the ladies – team counters – Myself, Laura and Chrystal followed by Ruth (improving her time from last year!), Sarah (also improving her time from last year!), Stacey, Amy (racing into the finish!), Katie and Jo. Well done ladies – what a team eh and what a great day!

A final note to those who cheered, rang bells, baked cakes...just gave a whole lotta love!  Thank you thank you thank you! You were all fab and made the day even better!  (And thanks Emily for managing to hold the little one in and not go into labour on the side of the big hill! Good luck for the next week from all your friends at Wallsend – we cannot wait to meet the newest addition to Wallsend Harriers!!) 

More photos click here (not too many of the men sorry – too busy bell ringing!)

Mens results click here

Womens results click here