A warm clear night provided the perfect backdrop for the Newburn River run this year.  Ponteland Runners had 8 runners in the race, (plus a few second claim members) including regulars from Monday and Thursday club sessions so a great opportunity for some from the club to meet each other.

Jon Parkin & Mark Lyon came in with very close performances for the Men,  followed by Joanne Brown (Right) and Eva Lowther for the ladies.  We also had good performances from  David Buffham,  Paul Holborow ( First race as a Ponteland Runner ), Sue Heppell, Fiona Harker and Nikki Morrow ( Photos below ) from the Thursday morning sessions. Great to see a good turnout from Ponteland at a race which continues to prove popular.  Again our thanks go to Elswick Harriers for running an excellent race.   Next is the Weetslade relay next Wednesday with Ponteland having 2 teams entered as we did last year.

Sunday 9th June,  as always, is the Blaydon Race.  2013 saw 18 Ponteland Runners enjoying some warm weather and running this traditional Race.  For the ladies, Joanne Brown came in first with an excellent 37.49, Claire Tumia came in second with 40.49 and in third place came Chrys Hudson in 44.11.

The Ponteland Runners men were led in by Mark Lyon in 36.18 followed by Jon Parkin at 37.36 and third across the line was Joe Bell in 40.09.  Everyone enjoyed the race and were pleased that the weather wasn’t a repeat of last years downpour. In fact it was a complete opposite with the sun breaking through the clouds at 2pm in time for us gathering at the start. It was hot, very hot !

Our thanks go to Blaydon Harriers for a well organised day, as always, and everyone is looking forward to next year.

Sunday 12th May, early morning, in Alnwick was the location for a chilly and breezy Alnwick TriAthlon with 3 Ponteland Runners taking part.  Paul Gerrard and Sue and Chris Heppell participated in this very popular event.  The pool swim is 500m,  followed by a 23k bike ride and then an off-road 5k run. Sue had a great race, finishing 8th in the ladies Vets category with a 1:26:25.  Paul (Right) finished in 1:23:38 and Chris in 1:20:27, placing them 42nd and 31st in the mens Vets respectively.  Alnwick Tri host a great event and it normally sells out on the day it’s released each year.  Pool based sprint triathlons are the best start to tri’s before moving to open water swimming and longer events.  Duathlon’s are also a good introduction to multi-discipline events providing an opportunity to try the bike to run transition. Full results can be found here.  Sunday’s breezy day was nothing new for Alnwick Tri as the proximity of the coast usually makes for a windy bike leg.  The off-road run climbs steadily from transition testing the legs after the move from the bike.  The off-road gradient kicking in whilst the legs were still in transition……..  All Ponteland Runners enjoyed the event and plan to be there again next year to try and improve on the times.  Maybe Adam and Paul Armstrong will join in after great performances in Ashington last week.

Ashington, early morning on Bank Holiday Monday 6th May saw three Ponteland Runners taking part in an event which becomes more popular each year.  Paul Armstrong, Adam Graham and Chris Heppell all took part and enjoyed a very friendly event, well known locally as a good beginners triathlon.  Adam has only recently returned to running after injury but was determined to complete his first tri this year.  Paul,  ( although lacking the  fantastic RAF Tri-suit we had heard about ), had a strong overall performance.  Chris was looking forward to this event after doing it last year and is grateful that Ashington Pool is 25yds not metres in length so the swim is one of the shortest TriAthlon swims around at 368metres.  The bike is 20km, and includes two ascents of Bothal bank, the run is three laps around the park and totals 5km.  Adam finished in 1:26:18, Paul in 1:17:41 and Chris in 1:11:44.  A great event,  watch out for race report on Alnwick Triathlon next weekend where we again have three Ponteland Runners taking part.

Full results can be found at here.  Any other Ponteland Runners who are interested in tri-athlon are encouraged to try this event next year.  We now have an increasing proportion of the membership who have tried tri-athlon and enjoyed the experience.