On Sunday 29th May, Joanne Wall, from Teesdale AC, joined thousands of runners to take part in the Edinburgh Half Marathon. A beautiful, scenic course taking runners from Edinburgh’s city centre, via Holyrood Park and along the coast to the finish line at Musselburgh. Joanne finished with a half marathon PB and a course time of 2:27:15
On Sunday 8th May four members of the athletics club headed out to New Marske to take part in the Pizza 8K Trail race organised by Muddy Roads. On a hot and sunny day the course was set through bluebell laden Errington Woods with mixed terrain from trail to grass. From the top of the woods competitors could take in spectacular views of Roseberry Topping and the Saltburn cliffs and the temptation of a slice of woodfired Napoli pizza at the end kept the team going to the finish line. Rhys Foster was first to cross the line for TAC in a time of 45.40, with Barbara Crawley following in 50.07, Amanda Pettitt in 57.48 and Gail Foster in 65.05.
On Wednesday 13th April 8 members of Teesdale Athletics Club took part in the annual Children with Cancer 5K fundraiser organised by Darlington Harriers. The run took place in South Park on a sunny, spring evening, and followed the usual park run route. There was a lovely atmosphere with lots of support for all the runners as they ran the three laps. First man home for TAC was Dave Raymond in 22.32, followed by Rhys Foster in 24.32, Steven Mounter in 32.27 and Andrew Mounter in 33.05 for the men. First home for the ladies was Barbara Crawley in 27.46, with Louise Franks in 31.02, Christine Whitford in 31.09, Gail Foster in 32.27 and Alison Mounter in 33.03. Both Alison and Andrew gained 5K personal bests.
The final leg of the NYSD cross country season was marked with a relay race at South Park in Darlington. Blue skies and sunshine were in abundance as the seven Teesdale Athletics Club members, making up the female and male teams, congregated at registration. The ladies team of Alison Mounter, Tricia Child and Erika Dixon set off first, each completing two laps of the course before handing over to the next runner. Then it was the men’s team of Dave Raymond, Steven Mounter, Rhys Foster and Peter Wilcox’s turn. Once again each competitor completed 2 laps of the course. The cross country events can be fiercely competitive with teams from across the region taking part. As one of the smallest clubs participating, we were delighted to have had representation at all the events throughout this season.
On Saturday 12th March, Christine Whitford and Dave Raymond travelled to the delightful village of Dent in Cumbria to take part in the 2022 Dentdale Run. The race has a choice of two distances, 8 or 14 miles and is set on undulating roads in the scenic Dentdale valley. With cool but dry and sunny weather on the day making for perfect running conditions Christine completed the 8 mile course in 1h:28 and Dave completed the 14 mile course in 1h:51. A well earned and welcome hot drink,cake and sandwiches awaited the finishers after they crossed the line.
The challenging Stanhope 10K Trail Race took place on Saturday 5th March, organised by Greener Miles Running, with four members of TAC taking part. This was an eco-friendly event – there were no disposable cups, no t-shirts or medals, but instead one of the items in the finishers pack was a packet of mixed flower seeds to encourage bees. The mandatory kit list included a foil blanket and mobile phone which gave an indication of the challenge in store. Registration was at Stanhope Showground at Unthank Park with the event starting a short walk away. The first section was across a couple of fields below Ashes Quarry before climbing up a road and then on to a track, which went down and then up East Lane to Collier Law, a total of 1,200 feet ascent. Despite the blue sky and sun it was very chilly at the top of the moor. After a short flat section it was downhill, carefully crossing the road and on to a very tricky, stoney/rocky steep lane. The next section was in woodland and at times was only a single, very muddy path, with one section having a very steep drop to a waterfall – great care and concentration needed. Finally it was back into Stanhope and across the main road past the swimming pool and over the footbridge and alongside the river to the finish. Rhys Foster was first back in 1:15 and 28th place. Barbara Crawley crossed the line in 60th place in 1:30, Gail Foster in 1:45 and 82nd place and Amanda Pettitt finished in 1:51 and 89th place
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.
On Sunday 23rd January 2022, 8 members of Teesdale Athletics Club made the trip over to Carlisle Racecourse to take part in the Carlisle Resolution 10K and 5K races. The organisers, Sport in Action, were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the 10K run and there was an excellent turnout.
First off was the 5K race with Andrew and Steven Mounter competing. The run started with an uphill climb before turning onto quieter lanes and finishing back at the racecourse. Steven had a strong finish beating his Dad by 15 seconds to finish in 34:22, with Andrew crossing the line in 34:37.
The 10K race started a few minutes later with competitors making their way uphill for a good 3 kilometres. The course then turned off onto lanes but continued to be undulating throughout. After another long hill up to the 9K mark, the race turned back towards the racecourse with a welcome downhill section before turning into the finish line in front of the racecourse grandstand. First home for Teesdale Athletics was Alan Bray in 51:42,followed by Dave Raymond in 56:50, closely followed by Louise Franks in 56:51. Eleanor Buck crossed the line in 60:16, Christine Whitford in 64;37 and Alison Mounter in 69:56.
Congratulations to both Louise and Eleanor who gained personal bests on the day.