The London Landmarks Half Marathon took place on Sunday 1st August. Katy Smith proudly represented Teesdale AC in what was her first official half marathon. Around 12,500 runners set off in waves from Trafalgar Square following a mostly flat course, passing landmarks such as the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tower of London amongst others. Runners were spurred on by musical performances along the route – live DJ’s, string quartets, choirs and even the Bow Bells rang out! The weather was kind, good running conditions with an overcast sky and one or two showers to cool runners down. Katy achieved a PB of 2:10:00.
Teesdale Athletic Club runners Vicky Bainbridge and Alan Bray both took part in the Darlington 10 kilometre road race on Sunday 1st August. The weather was warm but the clouds kept the sun at bay and running conditions were good.
The race was well organised and over one thousand runners were set off socially distanced, in waves, one minute apart. Alan was first back in 411th place in a time of 50 minutes and 50 seconds and finished 3rd male over 70, Vicky followed soon after in 495th position in a time of 53 minutes and 38 seconds which was a personal best time over the 10k distance.
Teesdale AC were out in force on Thursday evening for the Children with Cancer charity 5k in South Park, Darlington on Thursday 1 July. Everyone was pleased to be out and racing, especially for a good cause and on such a lovely evening. Alison, Steven and Andrew Mounter ran as a family for the first time and stayed together all the way round. Erica Dixon was first home for the club; she was running as part of her training for the Great North Run in September. She enjoyed the race so much she did an extra lap to keep Jane company!
Results are as follows :Erica Dixon 26.35, Barbara Crawley 27.05, Judith Rodwell 30.36, Amanda Pettitt 31.02, Tricia Child 31.09, Joanne Wall 32.05, Simon Pettitt 32.21, Gail Foster 33.27, Alison Mounter 34.37, Steven Mounter 34.38, Andrew Mounter 34.38, Fiona Turnbull 38.22, Jane Mardon 44.42
Some members’ offspring also entered the run and Rhys Foster came in at 25.14, Jevon Crawley 25.18 and Fiona’s two, Henry and Stella finished in 26.34 and 38.14 respectively.
Teesdale Athletic Club runners made the short trip down the A1 to Scorton for the Kiplin Hall 10k trail race.The race was run in the gardens and grounds of Kiplin Hall with two laps of the lake, 1 large lap and 1 small lap near the finish. The course went through the grounds which had a couple of rough sections but was very dry underfoot, it was also well marked out and well marshalled.The race was still subject to Covid rules with a socially distanced start with runners setting off in groups of six, twenty seconds apart, 192 runners set off . On a warm and muggy evening, Steve Moss was the first Teesdale runner back in 29th position and first vet over 60, in a time of 45 minutes and 39 seconds. Steve was followed by Alan Bray in 81st position in 54 min 7 seconds, Caroline Moss 64 min 45 sec, Joanne Wall 67 min 36sec and Tricia Child in 67 min 55secs, this was Tricias first ever 10k race. Fiona Turnbull started but unfortunately had to withdraw after two miles.All runners enjoyed the race which was finished off with tea and cake on the green kindly supplied by Kiplin Hall
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!