7 Ponteland Runners enjoyed an early season run out in fantastic sunny conditions at Tanfield near Sunniside this afternoon (28th September). Results for the ladies were as follows (184 runners):
Eva Lowther 7th 25 mins :25
Joanne Brown 19th 26 mins :48
Jo Shallcross 52nd 28 mins :56
All 3 women ran really well and will hopefully be the core of a very strong Ponteland women’s team this season. Well done to Eva for such a strong showing against some of the North East’s best runners. Joanne’s first cross country race went well and suggests it will be not long before she moves into the medium pack with Eva. Welcome to the club to Jo Shallcross and a great first run in our club colours.
The men’s results are as follows (324 runners):
Jason Old 106th 38:44
David Stroud 115th 39:03
Jon Parkin 252nd 45:44
Paul Holborow 263rd 46:25
It was a great performance from Jason and David in their first race and both finished really high up the field in a scratch race with no slow/medium/fast pack. Well done to Paul for his performance in his first cross country and as I tailed him for most of the race I can vouch for how well he climbs hills!!!
Hopefully the ladies who seemed to be taking pictures galore with their phones can post some pictures that will hopefully entice a few more of us to turn out on the 26th October for the first race of the league season at Blaydon.
Jon.
Come along and Run with Ponteland Runners
Next week we are inviting anyone to come along and try any of our running sessions. You don’t have to pre-register, just turn up to one of the sessions. If you’ve just done the GNR and need some motivation to keep that fitness, it’s an ideal time to come along and try us. Sessions are as follows:
Monday 8pm Ponteland leisure centre – main club session of about 6 miles training run (intermediates/advanced)
Tuesday 7pm Ponteland leisure centre – ladies only social run 3 to 4 miles at 10-11min/mile steady run (beginners)
Thursday 9.15am Meet on the corner of Darras road and eastern way. 4 to 5 miles training run (beginners/intermediates)
Friday 7pm from Ponteland leisure centre. Steady run 4 to 5 miles (intermediates/men’s beginners)
Please share the post with your friends and relatives. It’ll be great to see a load of new faces coming along and it’s always easier when you know that you’re not the only new one there. For more information email secretary@pontelandrunners.org
Jelly Tea 1st September
In the end only three Pont. Runners did this 10 miler from Hexham to Ovingham but they 
were rewarded with fast times and helpful conditions. Although running for Elswick (inferior tent, no flag to speak of) Mark Turnbull broke the one hour mark for the distance for the first time when finishing 39th.
David Buffham broke his distance PB by two and a half minutes in 1.14.04 and – unknown to him – was very closely followed home by Sarah Huntley in 1.14.04. Very well organised by Tynedale Harriers, a great warm up for the GNR and jelly as well. Put it in your diaries for next year. Club Championship update to follow. David
Mars Refuel Fund
Ponteland Runners to buy tent and flag for Harrier League.
Many thanks to the Mars Refuel Fund who have awarded Ponteland Runners £300 grant to purchase a tent for the Harrier League this winter.
Last winter in our first season in the Harrier League we suffered much “tent and flag envy” as we saw the other 
clubs and we tried to stay warm and dry. This year no such problems for Ponteland. Jon, who organises the Harrier League for Ponteland Runners, now has the funds to buy a Day Shelter ( Right ) to protect us all from the elements. ( I don’t envy Jon having to wash the tent out after each event…… )
The £300 will also fund a flag, so we can all find where Jon has pitched the tent at each event. Probably the smaller size on the left……
If there is anything left after the tent and the flag we’ll put it towards Triathlon England affiliation as it’s another of the club plans.
Once again our thanks go to Mars Refuel fund for their support, it’s very welcome from all our members.
2013-2014 cross country race details
The change was agreed to run the women’s race before the men go off so the schedule is as follows:
Race 1 Under 11s (all fixtures apart from Wrekenton)
Race 2 U13 Girls
Race 3 U13 Boys
Race 4 U15 Girls
Race 5 U15 Boys
Race 6 U17 & 20 Women
Race 7 Senior & Veteran Women
Race 8 U17 Boys
Race 9 Senior & Veteran Men
This should not affect the men who wish to run too much except they now should arrive later than last year. Where this will be really good news is in encouraging more women to take part with their race being run immediately after the junior races have been completed and before the 400+ men have churned up the course.
The organising of when each race would take place is not 100% settled. Agreed details and dates are as follows:
28th September (or possibly 19th October) – Sherman Cup & Davison Shield, venue & hosts to be confirmed
26th October – Blaydon, Shibdon Pond
24th November – Jarrow, Bedewell Park (Sunday)
30th November – Morpeth, Wallington Hall
14th December – Temple Park, S Shields NE Championships
8th February – Saltwell, Wrekenton
1st March – Alnwick, Alnwick Gardens
22nd March – Tynedale, Prudhoe
Of the 8 races listed above 6 are in the harrier league (the other 2 being championships and therefore no slow/medium/fast packs!) and 5 are at the same venues as last year. The first race last year was held at Cramlington but car parking on wet ground caused too much damage and a new venue had to be found. Many of us have run road races based at Wallington Hall and now we get to try races of the off road variety on the 30th November. Anyone who is really keen can win themselves a free t-shirt this year coming (subject to sponsorship approval) if they complete both the championship races and at least 5 of the 6 harrier league meetings. Easy as that then… More news nearer the time (including pictures of our new tent hopefully!!!)
Cheers
Jon Parkin
WeetSlade Relay – Wed 26th June
Ponteland Runners had 2 teams in the Weetslade relay hosted by Claremont Road Runners. This event requires a lady and a vet within each team of 3. Ponteland A finished 20th out of 64 teams, an excellent result. With our B team ( all vets ) coming in 48th. A big thanks go to Claremont who ran a great event, even managing to hand out results at the end of the race. Full results are available from Claremont’s website here.
Last year the race had 40 teams taking part, this year that increased to 64 so this race is well supported by local clubs. Maybe next year Ponteland Runners will be able to enter 3 teams, if we can tempt enough ladies to take part……. Well done to both our teams this year.