Mega May!

The month is not even over yet and already we have a raft of congratulations to dish out to our Green and Gold heroes:

This week saw 13 Wallsend Harriers brave the heat for the Clive Cookson 10k in North Tyneside. Alastair Willis, Dave Diston and Dan Weatherill all ran under 40 mins despite the very warm conditions. Dan was fastest Wallsender and third v40 in 38:04. Mick Skeldon was fifth v45 with 40:00 precisely. Alan Heslington was fourth v55 in 46:52.

Andy Wigmore, Kevin Hood, Ian Gowing, James Torbett, Darryl Row, Leanne Lewis, Mish and Brian and Sara Morgan all completed the race. Well done everyone. Full results here.

Over in Blaydon our crazy captains Simon Lyon and Sarah Robson were joined by the equally tenacious Elaine Ashton and Julie Williams at the George Ogle Memorial (trail) Race (trail). With 90m of elevation on a very warm evening this was no mean feat. But this did not deter the heady crew who clinched the following impressive titles: seventh male (Simon), fifth lady (Sarah), sixth lady (Elaine) and sixth lady in age category (Julie)!

Mish and Brian as well as Simon Williams took on Druridge Bay 10k.

Over the past couple of weeks there have been some inspirational performances in long distance races in the North of the UK:

Dave Diston ran a cracking 1hr23 in Leeds half marathon.

Joe Colligan ran his fifth (!!!) marathon at Stirling in an awesome 3hr23.

Kevin Wilson and Nina Wilkinson were fifth male and 10th female at Tynedale Half Marathon.

The Stretesky’s were taking over Scotland; first up Christine with a 29:42 in the 5k before Denver ran an impressive 40:36 in the 10k.

Kris Stobbs was 100th overall in the Edinburgh Half finishing 1hr23.

Keith O’Donnell and Gez Davidson completed Edinburgh Marathon in 3hr24 and 3hr13 respectively.

Joseph Hoben broke a four hour marathon in Liverpool with a time of 3hr53. Mick and Lyndsey Day crossed the finish line in under five hours.

Fresh from London Marathon our newly engaged Marie Collinson and John Dodds were also part of the Liverpool contingent, running the 5k on Saturday and then straight onto the half the next day (have you ever thought we have some pretty crazy folk in our Green and Gold pack?!?) And whats more, Marie only went and got a half marathon PB (2:06)! Well done you pair. And thanks for supporting our marathon runners too.

We may be guilty of complacency when it comes to our runners taking on marathons (and halves for that matter) but no one should underestimate what an undertaking completing 26.2 miles is. It is mentally and physically one of the hardest things an athlete can do and we salute all of you for such a fantastic achievement.

Thanks to all the aforementioned Wallsend Harriers for putting in great performances but mostly for just taking part and wearing our vest with pride.