In strong winds we had a good field out from Ponteland Runners in the Kirkley half marathon yesterday. Great results from some of our strong runners. Well done to all who took part.
Author Archives: Chris Heppell
Ponteland Tri Swimming Sessions going well
Tri4u Coaching in partnership with Ponteland Tri have expanded their Monday evening Coached swim session at Ponteland Pool to all 4 lanes. An additional 12 members of Ponteland Runners have now attended their first 3 coached swim sessions with Tri4u and are benefitting from the benefits of a structured coached swim programme. ( They have also had some great fun at the sessions ) They join a number of Ponteland Runners who already regularly attend these swim sessions.
The four lanes cover a wide range of swimmers, some club members are looking to complete their first Triathlon, others to improve their 
front crawl technique, and some, who’ve already completed a number of triathlons are benefitting from proper structured coached swim sessions as part of their training programme.
The session runs on a Monday evening from 19:00hrs to 20:00hrs, finishing just in time for the structured Run training session from 20:10hrs to 21:15hrs. This provides a great dual-sport structured session on a Monday evening for many athletes in the club. If you are looking for a triathlon club in the area we are a great place for beginners and experienced athletes, we offer a good variety of sessions and are keen to support anyone looking to try a triathlon or get back to running.
If you want to join the Monday evening swim session please contact Sue the club secretary.
For anyone who remembers the “Learn to Swim Young Man…….” advert will know there are many benefits to improving your swimming and it’s never too late. As many of you know I was a complete none swimmer until three years ago and have now completed three sprint triathlons with another three booked this year.
Thanks go to Triathlon England who have faciltiated these expanded swim sessions and provided great support for Ponteland Runners as they have become an affiliated Triathlon Club in addition to a Running Club.
Ponteland Runners Beginners Sessions
Ponteland Runners Beginners Sessions are a Great Success.
Two Ponteland Runners Leaders, Suzanne Dunn and Sue Heppell are running beginners sessions to get people from non-runners to a park run in 10 weeks.
Starting on Wed Jan 15th nearly 30 beginner runners set out from the sports centre with a view to completing the 5km run in 10 weeks time. It’s not too late to join and benefit from the support and encouragement that Suzanne and Sue bring.
If you are already comfortable with continuous running the club offers other sessions throughout the week to suit most abilities. Get in touch with the club secretary if you are interested.
Kielder Duathlon – 1st Dec 2013
This years event saw almost tropical conditions compared to last year. Start was around 8 degrees, compared with -7 last year. Three Ponteland Tri members were at the Duathlon, (which is run under British Triathlon Federation rules) all looking forward to the run-bike-run combination. Nick Winslow, Geoff Turner and Chris Heppell listened to a race briefing telling us to “expect to get wet” when we turn of the trails on deadwater fell, and they were right……
Geoff had a mechanical on the bike leg and had to limp back to transition where the marshalls talked him into going back out for the second run leg “to experience” the route. In Geoff’s own words “That 
6k felt more like 6miles….. ”
Nick literally fell during the fell run and returned with very minor injuries but enjoyed the experience. All are looking forward to next year to have another go. The bike photo is from last years event. There were 156 taking part with the winner home in 1:58. The two Ponteland Tri members who finished came in with Chris Heppell on 2:32, and Nick Winslow on 2:59, both doing well in the MV40 and MV50 categories respectively. Full results are on High Terrain Events Website. If you enjoy off-road events this is one worth considering, great views and well ran event.
Run Northumberland BIG 10 – Sun 24th Nov
Not to be overshadowed by the Harrier League 3 Ponteland Runners were also out racing at the Run Northumberland BIG 10 from Kirkley Hall on the same day.
Results are available here
Well done to Claire, Sarah and Joe who enjoyed a small local race with a few hills……… Hopefully next year it won’t clash with the Harrier League fixtues.
Membership Reaches 70
Ponteland Runners is going from strong and has just reached an all time high in membership of 70 members, with more on the way.
The club had 21 runners at the Great North Run and 18 at the Blaydon Race. In our closed club competition we had 24 women and 18 men complete 122 races. Our second season in the North East Harrier League is proving very popular with some new members joining the club specifically for the opportunity to run in the Harrier League. Our ladies team is currently second in the division.
The additition of “Ponteland Tri” for those interested in Triathlon has added another new dimension to the club with a number of new joiners who compete in Triathlon. We now have 10 club members signed up for the Ashington Tri in May 2014.
If you are interested in joining Ponteland Runners please get in touch or just come along to one of our runs and introduce yourself to the run leader. We pride ourselves on being a friendly and approachable club and we welcome new members.