Many runners again turned out in the sunshine at Bramham Park (near Wetherby) for a trail run over 5K, 10K or half marathon distance on offer. Josh and Nigel Mawer undertook the 10K route representing Teesdale AC. An undulating course in still bone dry conditions saw Josh coming home in 10th position in a time of 40.19 minutes with his dad finishing in 24th with a time of 43.08 minutes (coming 2nd in his age category). Another runner from Barnard Castle, Adam Lee-Shield completed the half marathon in a time of just over 1hr 25 mins which gave him 4th position in that event. Well done to all concerned.
Elvington Airplane Museum, nr York was the venue for the Big Flat Runway race series consisting of a 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon and full marathon races all being run on the same day.
With the races taking place on the airport runways there was plenty of opportunity for social distancing as runners were set off in groups of eight every fifteen seconds.
The 10kilometre course was run over two and a half laps of the airport runways and Alan Bray, taking part in his first race for over two years finished the 10k course in 52 minutes and 2 seconds and finished 154th out of 273 runners, he also finished 3rd in the over 70 age group.
On Saturday 10th April 318 people completed the Lambton 10K in the grounds of Lambton Castle. Due to Coronavirus runners were grouped in sets of 6 and started at 2 minute intervals. It was a very friendly atmosphere with everyone just pleased to be able to take part in what was probably their first race for over a year. The weather was perfect with bright sunshine, clear blue sky and not a breath of wind, although a chilly 2 degrees. The course was a mixture of wooded trail, fields and a small amount of tarmac. Gently undulating with some ‘steeper’ inclines in the second half of the race! Competing for Teesdale AC were Joshua Mawer and his dad Nige. Josh was running only his second 10K and came home in 3rd place with a time of 40.59 minutes. Dad was following (from afar!) and came home in 16th position with a time of 46.24, managing to finish 1st in his age category. Both were really pleased with their mornings exertions.
Despite postponement/cancellation of the London Marathon two Teesdale Athletic Club runners took part in their virtual London Marathon last weekend.
Amanda Pettitt chose to participate in the virtual London Marathon by walking the 26.2 miles of the marathon thus continuing to raise funds for Muscular Dystrophy UK. Amanda expects to have raised over £2800 for the charity this year which has been boosted by sponsorship of her running shirt by Dunelm Engineering. Amanda finished in 7 hrs 12 minutes and also managed a cameo appearance on BBC coverage of the Marathon event
Caroline Hamilton also went for a change of pace and walked the marathon distance along the Teesdale Way from Barnard Castle to Middleton in Teesdale. Walking with Caroline was Jane Gill, Karen Watson and Susan Sams. The route was challenging following the heavy rain the day before, but all enjoyed the day.
Two members of Teesdale Athletic Club, both in training for half marathons, took part in the Stanhope 10 miler race on Sunday. This challenging hilly road race for just 150 runners was well-organised by the charity ManHealth. Starting from the Stanhope Showfield there was plenty of space for the warm up and staggered start for social distancing. After a loop of the Showfield it was a tough climb up the hairpin bends and all the way up to the top before the sun shone on the descent into Bollihope. There was a pleasant respite with steady downhill running following Bollihope Burn until the halfway point before the last big climb over Hill End. The last 3.5 miles tracked the River Wear back past Stanhope and over the bridge before looping once more around the Showfield. First timer Steve Moss finished in 1:24:09 and Katy Smith ran an incredible 20 minutes quicker than last year with a time of 1:38:42. A bottle of Barnard Castle beer and a water bottle were welcome rewards for all the finishers to take home.
Jane Mardon took part in the Derwent Reservoir 5k, a Wild Deer Event 5k on Sunday March 1st
Great scenery at Derwent Reservoir near Consett for this 5k race in testing conditions – very strong, icy cold winds, waterlogged paths and muddy fields. Good undulating course route running alongside the reservoir and through fields. There was a 10 mile
race too and both events were sold out.
Jane was the only woman in her age group running and completed the course in 44.49 minutes a good time under difficult conditions. A well organised event by Wild Deer that included a ham and cheese roll, a bottle of beer, a t- shirt and a medal at the end!
6 Teesdale AC runners made their way over to Settle on Sunday 23rd February to take part in one of the Grim Up North series of races, consisting of half marathon, 10 mile and 10k races. The weather was very unpromising on the way over with some roads partially underwater but passable with care. It was cold, wet and windy whilst waiting for the start but once the half marathon started the rain settled to a drizzle and cleared up in time for 10 mile race. There were quite a few puddles en route but after trying to edge round the first one, the runners plunged through. The route could be discribed as undulating with some serious climbs. As the sky cleared, the views over to Pen y Gent were spectacular with snow still on the tops. It was an out and back route and the 3 race distances shared the route for a time, which added to the friendly atmosphere. Mike Jarman was second runner back on the 10k route, with a very impressive 47.25. Claire Hesketh was first back for Teesdale in the 10 mile race, in 1.31.06 followed by Barbara Crawley, 1.36.25, Andrew Crawley 1.39.44, Judith Rodwell 1.47.58 and Amanda Pettitt 1.51.21. Everyone enjoyed the challenging run, well supported by a cheerful posse of marshals and appreciated the beer or cider and chocolate at the finish. Judith Rodwell
Thousands of competitors ran in the English National Cross Country Championships held in the scenic grounds of Wollaton Hall on Saturday 22nd February. Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house standing on a small hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. The surrounding parkland is home to a large herd of free-roaming deer, and is regularly used for large-scale outdoor events such as rock concerts, sporting events and festivals.On Saturday there were no deer to be seen in the park but there were a lot of rough muddy paths and waterlogged areas for runners to splash through. The men’s race, attracting a large field of 1,710, took runners round four laps of ever increasing size to explore the extremes of the park and its muddy hills and watery ditches. Steve Moss representing Teesdale AC, persevered through to the end of the 8 miles and came in 1,526th in 1:14 which was 3 mins and about hundred places behind former Teesdale AC member son Andrew who now runs for North Dorset Triathlon Club.
On Sunday 16th February, 6 members of Teesdale Athletics Club travelled to York to take part in the Bloodaxe Challenge. Runners can complete as many 1km laps as they want within a 2 hour period and can stop whenever they want.
Weather predictions were dire due to storm Dennis but fortunately the temperature was mild for the time of year and despite blustery conditions the wind wasn’t too bad. A nasty hail shower half way through soaked everyone but a beautiful double rainbow afterwards almost made it worthwhile!
All runners once again thoroughly enjoyed this event and were rewarded with chocolate and cakes at the end.
Trudy Layton 17 laps 2.01 hrs
Mandy Harrison 11 laps 1.20 hrs
Astley Fenwick 11 laps 1.42 hrs
Janet Stables 10 laps 1.11 hrs (Pb)
Mim Fenwick 10 laps 1.46 hrs
Jane Mardon 9 laps 1.24 hrs
Andrew Aislabie took part in the Gretna to Carlisle 10k race on February 2nd.
The weather was cold and wet and he got soaked but completed the race in 51minutes and 11 seconds and finished in 322nd place