Morpeth Harriers make GB squad for European Cross Country Championships and veteran wins Sands Race

And a barnstorming brace of runs by Hoka-sponsored Morpeth Harriers Scott Beattie and Rory Leonard saw them come back in first and second to ensure their places on the plane to Portugal.

Having taken an early lead in the race and opened a gap to the chasing athletes behind him, Leonard found himself hunted down by training companion Beattie, and interviewed afterwards noted: “Nothing worse than being beaten by your best mate!”

He also spoke confidently of their expectations before the event – “I think we both know we’re two of the best distance runners in the UK” – and their hopes for high finishes in December’s race, where both will be hoping to win a medal.

A handful of younger Morpeth athletes also made the journey over the Pennines to take part, with Molly Roche 44th in the U/17 4.4km race in 17:23.

U/20s Will de Vere Owen and Molly’s older brother, Liam, also made the trip, with Will finishing 29th in 13:53 and Liam, back racing after a long injury-enforced lay-off and still working his way back to his best, 102nd in 14:36.

The same weekend saw cross country action closer to home, with several Morpeth teams performing well in round four of the North East Harrier League at Wrekenton.

There were a number of excellent individual runs from both Young and Senior athletes, with outstanding team victories also coming courtesy of the U/17 and U/15 Girls, and the Senior Women’s squad.

There was a delightful win in the U/15 Girls, where Heidi Wilkinson, fourth from Fast in 12:41, Faye Heatley seventh from Fast in 13:12 and Zoe Tomlinson, returning to competition, 14:35 and ninth from Slow, were on the day winners and moved themselves up to fifth in the overall table.

The club’s U/17 Girls continued their fine showing, despite missing Molly Roche who had run the day before, with Emma Tomlinson medalling in third, 22:34 from Slow, and ever presents Lucie Todd (24:40) and Charlotte Marshall (25:47) 12th and 14th respectively, both from Slow.

Winning on the day, the team are tied on points with Durham City AC’s squad at the top of their table, with the race likely to go to the wire over the next two fixtures.

Another outstanding showing from the club’s Senior and Veteran Women saw them also take the team win, and also steadily move up the overall division to fourth.

Won by Elswick’s Maria Catterall from Slow in 27:29, Morag Stead was the club’s first counter, recording the day’s fastest Medium pack time of 26:32.

She was followed home by Holly Lawrence, 12th in 25:07, Lizzie Rank, 16th in 25:20 with Jane Hodgson, 32nd in 25:50 completing the team count, all from Fast, with nine other Morpeth women finishing in a field of nearly 400.

There was also a better turnout from the Senior and Veteran Men in the day’s final race of over 450 finishers as they finished second on the day behind leaders North Shields Polytechnic Harriers.

The race was won by Gateshead’s Lewis Liddle, clocking 33:18 from Slow Pack, although Heaton’s Chris Larkin ran the day’s fastest time of 31:54 from Medium.

Connor Marshall led Morpeth’s team count with a great run from Medium, eighth in 33:48. NEHL debutant Bobby Hagen was 10th in 36:28 from Slow, Lee Cuthbertson 18th in 34:50 from Medium, Andy Lawrence 24th in 35:30, also from Medium, Oliver Tomlinson 56th in 33:51 in his first run from Fast with Tom Innes last counter, 59th in 36:24 from Medium.

Three Morpeth Harriers made the journey over to take part in the Valencia Marathon this weekend, which saw Olympic gold medal winning triathlete Alex Yee run a remarkable two hours six minutes 38 seconds to go second on the UK all-time list.

In a growingly popular race with over 18,000 finishers, versatile Ali Douglass ran 2:37:45 to finish just outside the top 1,000, with O/50 John Butters recording 3:04:20 and Lindsey Quinn 3: 52:21.

It might not have as warm as Spain, but conditions were the best for many years down at Blyth, where the 65th running of the Sands Race, from Blyth to Seaton Sluice and back (a distance of just short of five miles) took place.

There was even an unexpected bonus this year for those who took part in the uniquely handicapped event, with low tides meaning competitors avoided the dreaded groynes in front of the beach huts and were able to sneak round the bottom end, albeit at the cost of some wet feet!

There was an excellent win for the club too, with leading national Over-70 veteran Gavin Bayne finishing his racing year in fine style with victory in a time of 35 minutes 25 seconds off an 11-minute handicap.