February 2002:

Wallsend Post National Cross Country Races.
Rising Sun. Sun. 24th Feb.

North East Veterans' champion, Paul Merrison of Wallsend, easily won his own club's Post National Cross Country event, at Rising Sun, yesterday. Jarrow's Claire Smallwood, who also won in 2001, was the first lady, finishing in an excellent 6th position.

Results.

Senior 5M. 1 P Merrison (Walls, M40) 28:51; 2 J Moore (Heat) 30:53; 
3 G Moore (NSP) 31:50; 4 D Embleton (Walls) 32:02; 5 C Guy (Walls, M40) 32:11
M45 - L Cunliffe (H&P) 35:15 M50 - G Adamson (NSP) 38:07 
M60 - B Cordes (Morp) 36:22
Women: 1 C Smallwood (J&H) 32:53; 2 A Hunter (J&H) 37:17
Under 15 Boys. 3K: 1 J Wood (Morp) 11:26; 2 S Brewis (H&P) 11:33; 
3 G Edmonton (Walls) 11:38; 4 A Carmichael (Gates) 11:51; 5 T Carter (Walls) 12:20
Under 13 Boys: 3K. 1 M Brown (Walls) 12:04; 2 C Keir (Morp) 12:24; 
3 B Knighton (Walls) 13:01; 4 M Decanteret (Morp) 13:48; 5 C Patterson (Walls) 14:31
Under 11 Boys: 1.5K. M Ross (H&P) 5:39
(Newcastle Journal: Mon. 25th Feb 2002)

Additional Comments: Small report slightly edited. Weather overcast and ground cutting up due to thawing frost. Only 17 runners in Senior event, (not including George Routledge, who was returning from Bristol, with Aurora). Only fifteen finishers, as two dropped out including Colin McEntee, who was going to match (Sunderland 0 Newcastle 1). The organisers were hoping for a better entry due to venue of "National" but this was worse than ever. (Total runners 36 and only 2 Under 11's). Event unlikely to be held again, which is a pity as this is a good course. Also due to televison match, there was no space in club afterwards for presentation. John Moore had only returned from a 3 week trip to America, three days earlier, having finished 29th in the World Golf Croquet Championships. Good run from Joe Wood (advised by George Patterson, who rang up for result from Hud's in Wellingborough).

A.A.A of England Junior Indoor Championships.
Birmingham. Sat. & Sun. 23 & 24th Feb.

North East athletes gained three gold medals at the National Junior Indoor Championships, at the Birmingham Arena. Gateshead Harriers, Graham Jackson and Lewis Robson won the Under 17 Triple Jump and Under 15 400m respectively. Morpeth's Nisha Desai was successful in the Junior womens' 800m.

Selected Results.

Under 17 Men:  TJ: 1 G Jackson (Gate) 13.53
Under 15 Boys:  400: 1 L Robson (Gate) 52.67
Under 20 Women: 800: N Desai (Morp) 2:16.33 
(Newcastle Journal: Mon. 4th March 2002).

Additional Comments: Report not used. Meeting was on 23rd/24th February, but as usual results were in AW, before ukathletics website. Information from AW. Good performances from three athletes, but seemed a slow time in Under 20 Womens' 800m. Robson took title won by Craig Glanville in 2001.

View From National Cross Country Championships.
Ashton Court Estate, Bristol. Sat. 23rd. Feb.

A small contingent of North East athletes, still came home with medals, at Saturday's View From National Cross Country Championships, at a cold and windswept Ashton Court Estate, Bristol. Pride of place went to Elswick's Ryan McLeod, who finished second in the Under 17 Mens' race. Inter Counties and Midland champion, Tom Humphries of Cannock, had bulit up a healthy lead at the halfway point, but McLeod, who was running with Invicta's Oliver Freeman at this stage, pulled away from his rival on the second lap, to half the deficit at the finish line. There were also good runs from Chris Lamb of Chester Le Street (10th), Chris Parr of Gateshead (11th) and Marc Elliott of Gateshead, who had by far his best run of the season, to finish 20th.

Sunderland, who are the current North Eastern and Northern team champions, took the bronze medals in the Junior Mens' race. Lee Browell led home their challenge in 16th place, with able support from Richard Kemp (24th), Mark Hood (29th) and Gavin Massingham (56th). Andrew Toward of Morpeth, was the region's leading athlete, in 14th position.

Sam Haughian of Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow, who has dominated the domestic Cross Country scene this winter, was again in winning form, taking the prestigeous Senior Mens' title. Haughian, a close second to Michael Openshaw at Durham, last year, came home 150m clear of Belgrave's Allen Graffin. North Eastern and Northern champion, Andy Caine of Tynedale, who forced some of the early pace, finished in a creditable 8th position. Though the snow had held off to a large extent, during the afternoon, most of the main race, was held in blizzard conditions, only relenting when the leading runners, were in their final mile. Northern champions Bingley, retained the team title.

Just as Haughian has dominated this season's Mens' competition, so Bedford's Liz Yelling has been the leading lady athlete. Yelling successfully defended her Senior Womens' title, this time by a margin of over a minute. Gemma Phillips of Kendal, finished in an excellent fourth position, and Southern bronze medallist, former Morpeth Harrier, Carolyn Dickie, running for Windsor, came home in 8th place. Dickie's twin sister Angela, wearing the Morpeth colours, had an excellent run to finish 18th. Gateshead's Charlotte Wickham (third last year), had to settle for fifth place in the Under 17 Womens' race, behind oustanding Bedford youngster, Katrina Wootton. Anghared Porteous of Morpeth, also a top golfer, was the leading North East athlete in the Under 13 Girls' race, finishing in an excellent 11th position. Morpeth, 15th in the team race, along with Aurora (92nd in the Senior Mens' competition), were the region's only other teams to close in the required number of counters, during the eight event programme. Scarborough's Suzanne Boyes, who has dominated this season's North Yorkshire and South Durham League competition, took the bronze medal in the Under 15 Girls' race.

Results.

Senior Men: 12K. 1 S Haughian (Windsor S&E) 39:26; 2 All Graffin (Belgrave) 39:52; 
3 E De Longe (Shaftesbury B) 40:04; 4 M Smith (Tipton) 40:12; 5 O Laws 
(Telford) 40:15; 6 D Taylor (Blackheath) 42:20; 7 W Levett (Vauxhall) 40:22; 
8 A Caine (Tyne) 40:42 Other Placings: 31 P Lowe (Mand) 41:52; 66 C Sampson 
(Morp) 42:47; 87 D Swinburne (Morp) 43:16 
Teams: 1 Bingley 184; 2 Shaftesbury Barnet 198; 3 Salford 247......92 Aurora 6497
Junior Men: 10K. 1 L McCash (Shaftesbury B) 30:49; 2 A Bowden (Harrow) 30:59; 
3 A Sherman (Swindon) 31:07; 4 J Mays (Kent) 31:26; 5 M Cryer (Salford) 31:33 
Other Placings: 14 A Toward (Morp) 34:19; 16 L Browell (Sund) 32:25; 24 R Kemp
(Sund) 32:46; 29 M Hood (Sund) 33:06; 50 P Best (Shil) 34:03; 56 G Massingham 
(Sund) 34:25; 69 P Groark (Sund) 34:48 
Teams: 1 Aldershot, Farnham & District 90; 2 Shaftesbury Barnet 118: 3 Sunderland 125
Under 17 Men: 6K. 1 T Humphries (Cannock & S) 19:29; 2 R McLeod (Els) 19:35; 
3 O Freeman (Invicta) 19:47; 4 T Lancashire (Bolton) 19:51; 5 J Blackledge 
(Belgrave) 19:51   Other Placings: 10 C Lamb (CleS) 20:21; 11 C Parr (Gate) 20:22; 
20 M Elliott (Gate) 20:40; 28 P Martin (Sund) 20:50; 34 N Younger (Sund) 21:00; 
51 J Douglas (Bord) 21:22
Teams: 1 Liverpool Pembroke & Sefton 125; 2 Peterborough 126; 3 Derby & County 162

Senior Women: 8K. 1 L Yelling (Bedford) 27:36; 2 A Allen (Birchfield) 28:39; 
3 L Elliott (Shaftesbury B) 29:04; 4 G Phillips (Kendal) 29:06; 5 S Dixon
(Parkside) 29:08; 6 B Jenkins (Salford) 29:23; 7 L Hasell (Bristol) 29:26; 
8 C Dickie (Windsor S&E) 29:28  Other Placings: 18 A Dickie (Morp) 30:16; 
60 C McKeown (Bord) 32:14 
Teams: 1 Shaftesbury Barnet 67; 2 Bristol 79; 3 Tipton 157
Junior Women: 5K. 1 Jane Potter (Charnwood) 17:47; 2 E Ward (CoStoke) 17:51; 
3 K Reed (Bristol) 17:53; 4 F Fullerton (Havering) 18:04; 5 A Hoban (Wakefield) 18:21 
Other Placings: 36 R Robinson (Kendal) 20:21; 42 K Douglas (Bord) 20:38; 
53 N Duggan (Morp) 21:34 
Teams: 1 Bristol 64; 2 Charnwood 67; 3 City of Norwich 143 
Under 17 Women: 5K. 1 K Wootton (Bedford) 18:09; 2 R Nathan (Lincoln W) 18:16; 
3 B Sanders (Saracens) 18:56; 4 C Best (Crawley) 18:58; 5 C Wickham (Gates) 19:04 
Other Placings: 13 R Smith (Dur) 19:28; 28 A Fox (Morp) 20:18; 41 D Watts
(Morp) 20:33; 45 J Page (Dur) 20:47 
Teams: 1 Aldershot, Farnham & District 116; 2 Bedford & County 119; 3 Bristol 240 
Under 15 Girls: 4K. 1 C Browning (Aldershot F&D) 16:38; 2 N Sykes (Leighton B) 16:52; 
3 S Boyes (Scarborough) 16:59; 4 H Jones (Aldershot F&D) 17:00; 5 E Heaton (Leigh) 17:05 
Other Placings: 41 E Nesbitt (Morp) 18:13 
Teams: 1 Aldershot, Farnham & District 18; 2 City of Salisbury 132; 3 Kettering 189
Under 13 Girls: 3K. 1 E Pidgeon (Gloucester) 12:54; 2 S Preston (Aldershot F&D) 13:26; 
3 E Pallant (Aldershot F&D) 13:30; 4 C Tarplee (Solihull) 13:36; 5 L Bache (Tipton) 13:40 
Other Placings: 11 A Porteous (Morp) 13:59 
Teams: 1 Aldershot, Farnham & District 25; 2 Royal Sutton Coldfield 114;
3 Tipton 133.....15 Morpeth 387
(Newcastle Journal: Mon 25th Feb 2002).

Additional Comments: Report slightly edited, mainly at end. Only 4 Morpeth Seniors competed, which was disappointing. Ben Harrison and Ben Groves (a creditable 986th in 56:53), were the others. Heaton's sole runner was George Routledge, who was 1217th out of 1220 runners in 78mins 24secs. There were eight less finishers than at Durham in 2001, which suggests that venue was not that popular. I would certainly not call this the Midlands. It is further away from Newcastle than London, and 5 hours would be a quick journey time. Underfoot conditions were very firm, but venue was on high ground. The wind reminded me of Hexham Racecourse, and the Northumberland Schools Championships. Administation of event was in too big an area, with key points well spread out. All travellers to the venue, had a lengthy trek to main parts of course. There was also a 6 minute walk between start and finish, which meant a lot of brisk strolling throughout the afternoon. A nearby School (near the finish) was to be used as the Race Headquarters, but was made unavailable only 3 months ago. All "facilities" were either tents or "portable". Event was honoured to have George Patterson present (he was staying at Huds for a week).

Two who did not like the conditions were Charlotte Wickham and Rosie Smith. Andy Caine was also shivering when he crossed the finish line. Did not see much of Senior race, due to adverse conditions. Excellent run from McLeod, who would have enjoyed the "going". Did not know Chris Parr was running till he tried to sprint past Lamb, in the last 200m. Reasonable runs from Morpeth runners Gareth Driscoll (Under 17), and (come on) Amanda Turnbull (Under 13 Girls), who finished in the first hundred.

Dixon Sports Gateshead Lunchtime Road Race Handicap.
International Stadium. Wed. 20th Feb.

Result. Distance: 5K.

1 D Lucas (unatt) 26:04; 2 A Elders (Low F) 26:19; 3 C Lee (Gosf, L) 26:21; 
4 G Yates (unatt) 26:23; 5 P Graham (Tyne) 26:34; 6 I Tulloth (Dur) 26:38; 
7 G Hurst (NEVAC) 26:53; 8 D Bostock (Low F) 26:53; 9 A Smith (unatt) 26:56; 
10 K Sutton (Gosf) 26:46 
Fastest Times: 1 S Anderson (unatt) 16:47; 2 P Morgan (S Sh, M40) 17:34; 
3 I Tulloth 17:38
Women: 1 D Wilson (CleS) 20:10; 2 G Butler (Gosf, W45) 21:07; 3 C Lee (W60) 22:01 
(Newcastle Journal: Mon. 25th Feb 2002).

Additional Comments: Waited till Monday to forward results, as there was little to report on. 48 runners on a very windy, damp and cold day. Ted Joynson was last, his time off a minus 7 minutes handicap, was 38:14. Reg Checkley and Allen Mulliss were 11th and 13th respectively. Trevor Hopkins was 22nd. I Tulloth (do not know first name), seems to jog up and down home straight for ages before race. He did this at Chester Le Street, three days earlier, led out of Stadium, was ninth at halfway, but eventually dropped out. Anderson's first name is Scott. Dave Whitmore, second in January, was second last, this time. Good runs from older veterans, Ken Sutton (M60) (20:46) and Joe Prudham (M65) (20:49).

Chester Le Street and District A.C. Road Races.
Riverside. Sun. 17th. Feb.

Rob Hand of Durham, repeated his 2001 victory at yesterday's feature 10K event, at the Chester Le Street Road races, at the Riverside. Hand soon headed the field, holding a 25 sec advantage over Mark McDonald of Low Fell, at the halfway point. As McDonald dropped back, Hand had increased his lead to nearly 2 minutes at the finish line. Brad Simpson of North Shields Poly took second place, with triathlete Paul Utterson of Blaydon, coming home in third position. Hand, 40 in January, had less than 24 hours earlier, broke the veterans' course record in the North Eastern Road Relay Championship. North Shields Poly comfortably won the team event, with leading Over 60 athlete, Phil Lancaster, their third counter in a magnificent 12th position. Sunderland's Alyson Dixon, won the Womens' 5K race, holding off the persistent challenge of the host club's Heather Robinson, who had the consolation of taking the first veterans' prize. Michelle Ford of South Shields, took third place, ahead of the leading Under 17 athlete, Vanessa Raw of Chester Le Street.

Inter Counties' Cross Country team medallists, Chris Lamb of Chester Le Street (Under 17 Men) and Samantha Crowe of Elswick (Under 15 Girls), duly won their respective events. James McCrerie of Sunderland and Marc Docherty of Birtley, gained victory in the Under 15 and Under 13 Boys' races, respectively. Samatha Coleby of Durham, at the bottom of her age-group, won her first race in the Under 13 category, hopefully following in the footsteps of her parents, former Internationals, Max and Julie.

Results.

Senior Men: 10K. 1 R Hand (Dur, M40) 31:32; 2 B Simpson (NSP) 33:27; 
3 P Utterson (Blay) 34:02; 4 M Grainger (Darl) 34:09; 5 M McDonald (Low F) 34:17; 
6 S Holmes (Blay) 34:18; 7 S Clark (NSP, M40) 34:18; 8 G Thraves (CleS) 34:53; 
9 S Marshall (Dur, M45) 35:11; 10 S Winter (CleS, M45) 35:55; 11 A Jenkins 
(Morp, M45) 36:18; 12 P Lancaster (NSP, M60) 36:26 
Further Veterans: M50 - A Rowell (Dur) 38:46  M55 - B Evans (Elvet) 43:56 
M65 - A Millett (NEVAC) 52:48 M70 - H Craven (Heat) 56:46
Teams: 1 North Shields Poly 35; 2 Durham City 52; 3 Chester Le Street 72 
Junior Men: 5K. 1 C Lamb (CleS, U17) 17:05; 2 R Smee (Els) 17:35; 3 A Greenwell 
(Els, U17) 18:19; 4 P Dodd (Els) 18:40; 5 A McRay (H&P, U17) 18:52
Under 15 Boys: 3K. 1 J McCrerie (Sun) 10:23; 2 M Taylor (Gate) 10:30; 
3 J Rackstraw (Sun) 10:41; 4 C Glanville (Gate) 10:59; 5 C Rimmington (Birt) 11:04
Team: Sunderland 11 
Under 13 Boys: 2.4K. 1 M Docherty (Birt) 8:42; 2 R Cunningham (Birt) 8:59; 
3 G Docherty (Birt) 9:02; 4 J Pearson (Els) 9:05; 5 M Foggin (Sun) 9:09 
Team: Birtley 6
Under 11 Boys: 2K. 1 K Bell (CleS) 6:42; 2 J Foggin (Sun) 7:01; 3 M Ross (H&P) 7:10 
Team: Houghton and Peterlee 18

Senior Women. 5K. 1 A Dixon (Sun) 18:20; 2 H Robinson (CleS, W40) 18:25; 3 M Ford 
(S Sh) 19:50; 4 V Raw (CleS, U17) 20:05; 5 K Bentley (H&P, W35) 20:43; 
6 B Ingman (NSP, W50) 21:13; 7 H Stratford (CleS, U17) 21:49; 8 A Adams 
(CleS, W40) 21:55; 9 S Parr (CleS, W45) 22:12; 10 G Barry (H&P, U17) 23:37 
Team: Chester Le Street 21 
Under 15 Girls: 3K. 1 S Crowe (Els) 11:33; 2 R Forster (J&H) 12:18; 3 F Parkinson 
(Sun) 12:23; 4 J Miller (Tyne) 12:38; 5 R Barnes (J&H) 12:48  Team: Elswick 14
Under 13 Girls: 2.4K. 1 S Coleby (Dur) 9:38; 2 C Wood (Els) 9:54; 3 L Dodsworth 
(Gate) 9:56; 4 K Giordano (Sun) 10:01; 5 S Nurowski (Birt) 10:04  Team: Birtley 24
Under 11 Boys: 2K. 1 S-K Crowell (J&H) 7:11; 2 L Loan (CleS) 7:34; 3 E Murray (J&H) 7:44
Team: Jarrow and Hebburn 12
(Newcastle Journal: Mon. 18th Feb 2002).

Additional Comments: Most of Report used. Conditions were overcast, chilly and breezy. Very poor entry. Only 51 finishers in 10K (14 in Womens' 5K). Heaton had four runners and were fifth team. Sean Kelly was 16th (38:02), Allen Mulliss (38th), George Routledge (48th) and Harry Craven (50th), were the counters. Have mentioned this before, but date of race and venue do not help. Also Women on the whole, prefer to run in main race. Programme took longer than normal (nearly 4 hours). Felt some races, could have been combined. Ted Joynson turned up, but luckily did not run (he was watching his grandson, Chris Lamb). Only two Morpeth Harriers, Archie Jenkins + Under 15 Boy. Could it be because of high entry fees? Seems to be conflicting reports, as to whether McDonald went off course (he was a clear second halfway round second lap), or he stopped and walked (according to Brad Simpson)

North Eastern Counties Road Relay Championship.
Team Valley, Gateshead. Sat. 16th Feb.

Morpeth Harriers successfully defended their North Eastern Counties' Road Relay title, at Team Valley, on Saturday, taking the Royal Signals Trophy, for the fifth successive year. Morpeth's B team took second place, ahead of Sunderland. Andy Caine led for Tynedale on Leg 1, ahead of Ivan Hollingsworth of Wallsend, with Sunderland in third place. Sadly Caine, making up for his previous run in the Inter Counties' Cross Country Championship, when he dropped out, had no fellow team member, to hand over to. At this point, Morpeth A were placed 7th behind their B team (6th). Morpeth B took the lead on Leg 2 ahead of the A team, and still headed the field after the third stage. Andrew Toward took the A squad into the lead on Leg 4, and Chris Sampson and Mark Hudspith on the last two legs, extended the advantage to 1min 49secs, at the finish line. Hudspith's time was the fastest of the day, bettering that of Caine by 1 sec. Sunderland took the Veterans' title ahead of Durham. Rob Hand, running the last leg for Durham, clocked the fastest time, bettering Les Atkinson's year-old course best figures by 1 sec. Jarrow and Hebburn, retained their Womens' title, ahead of Chester Le Street and Elswick. Sunderland, through Bev Blakeman (with the day's fastest time), and Alyson Dixon, led after the first two legs, but were unable to field any more athletes. Chester Le Street, through Heather Robinson were second at this stage, just ahead of Jarrow. Emma Grant took the lead for the South Tyneside club on Leg 3, before Claire Smallwood extended the advantage on the final leg.

A minute's silence was observed before the race, in memory of top North East official, Dave Scanlon of North Shields Poly, who died two days earlier.

Results.

Senior Men: 6 x 2.2M. 1 Morpeth 64:20 (K Harker 11:09, R Kay 10:52, 
M Brown 10:35, A Toward 10:38, C Sampson 10:54, M Hudspith 10:12); 
2 Morpeth B 66:09 (A Shepherd 11:07, S Swinburne 10:46, C O'Connell 10:40, 
K Wilson 11:09, N Armsworth 11:16, B Harrison 11:11); 3 Sunderland 66:48 
(M Hood 10:56, M Donkin 11:17, G Massingham 11:02, S Potts 11:17, 
A Lilliendale 11:26, T Field 10:50); 4 Chester Le Street 69:50 (G Thraves 11:49, 
M Tomlinson 10:51, C Lamb 11:27, I Bloomfield 11:26, G Dickinson 11:54, 
S Winter 12:23); 5 Elswick 70:48 (M Veitch 12:26, R McLeod 10:47, S Horn 11:03, 
M Connelly 12:02, R Smee 12:01, P Dodds 12:29); 6 North Shields Poly 71:48;
7 Gosforth 72:11; 8 North Shields Poly B 75:42; Blyth 76:39; 10 Middlesbrough 
and Cleveland 76:43; 11 Birtley 76:52; 12 Durham City 77:26 
Fastest Times: 1 M Hudspith 10:12; 2 A Caine (Tyne) 10:13;
3 I Hollingsworth (Walls) 10:24; 4 M Brown 10:35; 5 A Toward 10:38; 
6 C O'Connell 10:40
Veterans: 6 x 2.2M. 1 Sunderland 70:09 (R Rush 11:30, K Elliott 11:55, 
R Wills 11:56, D Robertson 11:21, J Watson 11:56, S Coxon 11:31); 
2 Durham City 72:28 (R Brown 12:55, E Tait 12:27, S Everett 11:06, 
A Rowell 13:14, S Marshall 12:02, R Hand 10:44); 3 Elswick 73:26 
(John Bell 11:33, M McNally 12:11, T Hall 12:34, R Coulson 12:40, Jim Bell 11:57,
D Nicholson 12:31); 4 Morpeth 74:56; 5 Wallsend 75:23; 6 North Shields Poly 75:46; 
7 Gateshead 77:07; 8 Sunderland B 77:08 
Fastest Times: 1 R Hand 10:44 (Course Rec); 2 S Everett 11:06; 3 L Atkinson 
(Morp) 11:08; 4 T Power (J&H) 11:18; 5 D Robertson 11:21 
(S Parr (Gates) 10:58 for Senior team).

Women: 4 x 2.2M. 1 Jarrow and Hebburn 51:32 (A Hunter 13:03; D Todd 13:08; 
E Grant 13:28; C Smallwood 11:53); 2 Chester Le Street 52:55 (V Raw 13:21; 
H Robinson 12:49, D Wilson 13:42, C Brennan 13:03); 3 Elswick 53:53 
(S Milburn 13:20, E MacFarlane 13:32, J Nutt 13:08, J Elliott 13:53); 
4 Elswick B 56:24 (S Morton 13:30, Y Swinhoe 14:36, A Banner 13:46, A Smee 14:32); 
5 Gateshead 56:42 (E Alberts 12:57, V Bennett 14:50, M Hood 14:18, Z Craddock 14:37); 
6 Houghton and Peterlee 58:02; 7 Tynedale 58:33; 8 North Shields Poly 59:27; 
9 Heaton 60:23; 10 Alnwick 64:03 
Fastest Times: 1 B Blakeman (Sun) 11:50; 2 C Smallwood (J&H) 11:53; 3 A Dickie 
(Morp) 12:24; 4 A Dixon (Sun) 12:43; 5 H Robinson 12:49; 6 E Alberts 12:57
(Newcastle Journal: Mon. 18th Feb 2002).

Additional Comments: Report edited, implying Rob Hand broke overall course record. However most of report used in Sunday Sun. Conditions sunny, mild but blustery. However, times seemed faster than 2001. A parade for Morpeth. Gateshead crossed the finish line in 4th and 5th places, but were disqualified as the "wrong" runners took over on the final legs (causing Paul Besford to clock 8:56 !). As B teams do not qualify for medals, Chester Le Street, who were 6th across the line, gained bronze. A "bleep" on the computer, meant manual results were used, which meant a long wait, after the last runner had crossed the line. Heaton had two Womens' teams (B team were 12th out of 16). This was a much larger Womens' turn-out than last year. Anita Nott (14:45), Kelly McEntee, Sara Ledger and Shirley Atkinson, were the A team. The B team consisted of Jo Parkinson, Lynn Swanson, Margaret Finn and Jo Parkinson again (naughty !). Sheila Allen clocked 13:06 on second leg for Houghton (I gather that Maureen Dodsworth on leg 3, was having her last Road Race). Heaton had only three male "athletes", Colin McEntee, Gary Campbell and Allen Mulliss (surprise surprise !). They had a few behind them after three legs. Slight correction to report. An incomplete Morpeth team (Angela Dickie + Carley Wilson) were second after leg 2 of Womens' race. Principals were third and fourth.

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