Mums and sons were the order of the day on Sunday 20th February as Gail and Rhys Foster, and Alison and Steven Mounter crossed the Pennines to take part in the Wetheral Three Villages 5 Mile race. The race started at Wetheral Community Centre, with the wind and rain easing, and quickly descended out of the village before steadily climbing to the country lanes which led to the village of Scotby. Once through Scotby the run continued to the third village of Cumwhinton before turning back towards Wetheral and the finish line at the Community Centre. It wasn’t too long before the weather deteriorated and driving rain and wind left us all wet through but the runners kept going regardless. Rhys was first of the four to cross the finish line in 47.13, followed by his mum, Gail, in 55.49. Steven finished in 56.09 with his mum, Alison, close behind in 56.19.
The unusually named ‘Bloodaxe Challenge’ was held on Sunday 13th February, taking place in the middle of the Jorvik Viking Festival. It is named after the notorious Viking King – Eric Bloodaxe. Teesdale Athletics Club members Janet Stables and Mandy Harrison travelled to the York Sports Village to take part in the event, running on the 1km cycle route. Both ladies have participated in this event three times previously and love the fact that it is an all-inclusive event. Being in February, the weather conditions are always challenging and this year was no exception. Janet says her hat wouldn’t stay on her head, it was so wet! It is a two hour event and participants can do as much or as little as they wish. This year Janet and Mandy covered 8.3 miles in 1 hour 44 minutes.
On Sunday 6th February, four members of Teesdale Athletics Club attended the sixth round of the NYSD cross country season, this time hosted by the Richmond and Zetland Harriers at the Old Racecourse in Richmond. With stunning views across the valley, there was a bitterly cold wind blowing but the sun was shining for our pre-start photo. However, as the ladies started to assemble for their race start, the skies darkened and some of the team tents were blown away, giving a real indication of the turn in the weather. The course started with an uphill challenge with a strong head wind to make conditions trickier. As runners reached the old grandstand the second half of each lap was a steady downhill with a tail wind giving time for recovery before turning once again and starting the climb back into the wind. As the ladies were heading towards their finish, after completing two 2.5K laps, and the men were lining up to start their race, a hailstorm added to the already freezing conditions, with driving hail making the men’s uphill section an even greater challenge. With conditions worsening the organisers thankfully shortened the men’s race to 3 laps. Tricia Child finished the race in 35.39, Alison Mounter in 37.54, Dave Walters finished in 34.58 and Dave Raymond in 42.16.