Well done to the 7 Ponteland Runners who braved the freezing cold, howling gales and at times knee deep mud for the last harrier league race of the season.  This was the coldest outdoor event I have been to this winter and I think we were all grateful again to Blaydon Harriers for letting us use their tent to shelter from the worst of the wind before the race.  Much talk before we ran was about ‘the hill’ that had to be climbed twice by the ladies and three times by the blokes.  It certainly lived up to its billing and many I saw were reduced to walking stretches of it.  This proved to be the most demanding of the 6 courses we have run this season and once again the standard of the other racers was very high meaning every runner beaten has been hard earned.

Great credit goes to Mark Lyon for again leading the men’s team home in 142^nd place out of a field of 354, he continues to run well and can look forward to some good times on the road this coming season.  I followed in 233^rd place and close behind was Chris Wright in 250^th.  Look out for Chris near/at the top of the club championship scoreboard on this kind of form.  Our Chairman David Buffham was next home in 297^th place and kept narrowly ahead of Dave Legg in 310^th place.  Completing the team of 6 was hardened cross country runner Peter ‘Bart’ Bartholemew who finished his 5^th race this season in 342^nd place.

Only one lady from the club raced at Prudhoe but Eva Crowther certainly produced the goods and represented our club fantastically again.  Starting from the medium pack 2 minutes later than most runners Eva finished in 33^rd place out of 153, producing the 7^th fastest time of the day from the senior women.

Just a quick note to say well done to all runners that played some part in races in our first season as a cross country running club.  In all 10 men and 4 women raced at least once, and while the races are certainly testing I think all have enjoyed the challenge and team spirit that has been on show.  Hopefully many of you will continue running next season and others will be tempted into trying this form of running next season from October onwards.

Happy Running.

Hello mud lovers.

It was a beautiful day with wall to wall sunshine for the 5^th harrier league race of the season at Alnwick.  The race was 3 laps totalling approximately 6.2 miles and the course was probably the most enjoyable of any we have ran at so far.  Although there were the now accepted sections of calf high mud to wade through there were also long firm sections run in the shadow of Alnwick castle and through woods before belting (ish) down a steep hill back to the start area.  The winner was a guy from Sunderland Harriers who also happened to represent his native country of Eritrea in last summer’s Olympics.  Given that, I hope our 4 runners can be forgiven for not pipping him on the line and claiming the prize of tea with Harry Potter and the Duchess of Northumberland.  The finishing positions for our runners out of a field of 369 were as follows:

Jon Parkin           231^st       48:16

David Buffham    334^th      54:28

Dave Legg          336^th      54:42

Bart                      353^rd      57:54

Well done to all runners who took part today and we now look forward to the last race of this season held at Prudhoe on the 23^rd March.  It would be great to see a full turnout from Ponteland for this one and even if you have never run a cross country before you would be most welcome to join us.

A full team of six meant a second scoring race of the season in the cross-country at Wrekenton. Conditions were testing to say the least, with mud covering most of the course that wasn’t on a steep hill. Wrekenton has never looked lovelier. There were at least 352 runners (I know this because I was told at the end of the second lap (of three) that I was 351st) and I definitely beat at least one home. Full marks to those who took part: Mark Lyon (who led us home in a respectable 40minutes), captain Jon Parkin, Chris Wright, Joe Bell and Bart Simpson. If this has whetted your appetite for cross-country (and why wouldn’t it?) the next instalment is Alnwick on 2nd March. Tea with Harry Potter and the Duchess of Northumberland for the winner. David