Archive 2007

The following article was posted on: 17th December 2007

A bust time of year saw the second North East Harrier League fixture take place over a very frosty 10km course at Cramlington.First home was Jason Allison in 36:55 which gave him 9th place out of 270 runners. The team finished 8th in Division One thanks to great runs from Mike Mallen 38:27, Geoff Hewitson 39:03, Willie Bell 39:54, Owen Weightman 40:10 and Liam Armstrong 40:50. Supporting runners were John Kelly 42:45, Dennis Brown 44:09, Paul Smith 46:03, Clive Golledge 50:08 and Percy Parkin 53:06.

At the Loftus Pultry Run over 7.5 miles Julia Steele came back in a time of 65 mins whilst the previous weekend saw the tough Hexhamshire Hobble over 11 miles of fells results in an excellent 13th for Mike Mallen in a time of 76 mins, Chris Fairless 23rd in 80 mins and Liam Armstrong 36th in 84 mins.

The following article was posted on: 20th November 2007

The club were in action at the first of the North East Harrier League fixture at Blaydon at the weekend. Despite missing some of their top runners they still managed to come 6th in Division One.

The following article was posted on: 21st September 2007

The challenging Hellvellyn Triathlon was a major team effort by several club members. Graham Bradshaw was first home in 61st position and 17th veteran in a time of 4hrs 17mins for the one mile swim, 40 mile bike ride and a run up and down Hellvelyn. Mike Mallen was close behind in 4-24 as 4th O'50, John Kelly 4-50, Owen Weightman 5-02 and Julia Steel 5-30.

At the Tees Pride 10K race Jason Allison continued his improvement by running 36-59 for 34th position, Paul Smythe Smith recorded 45-09 and Helene Rusby 46-06.

At the Tynedale 10 mile race John Stephenson collected another first O'65 prize for his 76-59 time, with Allen Purdham 2nd O'65 in 84-59.

The annual North-East Vets track & field series came to a close with Crook again winning the trophy. This was quite a remarkable triumph, their fourth win over the past five years. The team included: Allen Purdham, Willie Bell, Ian Bainbridge, Mike Mallen, Geoff Hewitson, Keith Lonsdale, Chris Foote-Wood, Karen Partridge, Colin Everson (Martin Harbisher and Alan Welsh not pictured here). Club President, Gordon Hope, shows off the trophy.

There were a number of individual age category champions:

• Mike Mallen won the M-50 Distance award
• Ian Bainbridge M-55 Sprints
• Allen Purdham M-65 Distance
• Karen Partridge W-45 Sprints and W-45 Throws
• Geoff Hewitson M-45 Distance and M-45 Jumps

The following article was posted on: 23rd June 2007

Club runners in the gruelling Durham Dales Challenge over 28 miles luckily avoided the worst of the weather the other weekend. On a course which started & finished at Wolsingham, Gerry Hehir completed the route in 5 hrs 50 mins for an excellent 4th position with compatriot Martin Harbisher equally good in 5th place in 5 hrs 54mins.

Down at the Humber Bridge half-marathon, Jason Allison continues his impressive improvement by running a personal best time of 1hr 25 mins.

The ever-popular mid-week Court Inn Clamber over 5 miles from Maiden Castle saw Geoff Hewitson continue his good form by finishing 16th in a time of 33.23, Jamie Steele 34.59, Mike Simpson 35.42, Ian Bainbridge 38.18, Helene Rusby ( 3rd female overall ) 39.07, Stuart McNulty 39.46 and Colin Everson 40.39.

The following article was posted on: 23rd June 2007

A mixture of old & new members produced a winning mens team at the Aycliffe 10km last weekend. Malcolm Ingram was not only 1st O`50 in 19th place overall but also first club member in a time of 39.05, closely followed by Jason Allison in 39.18, Geoff Hewitson 39.19 and Liam Armstrong 40.05 . Other times were Jamie Steel 41.17, Chris Fairless 41.52, John Kelly 42.04, Mike Simpson 42.31, John Stephenson 45.37, Clive Golledge 46.29, Helene Rusby 47.22, Stuart McNulty 48.03.

Earlier in the week Graham Laverick ran well in the inaugural Allendale 8 mile trail race finishing in a time of 60mins 59 secs on a very tough course; John Stephenson was 1st O`65 in a time of 68.02.

On Tuesday night the clubs 10km road race was won by Jason Allison in a very respectable time of 37.33, 1st female was Julia Steele in 46.02, 1st veteran was Mike Mallen 38.02, and 1st junior was Philip Waite in an exceptionally good time of 43.27.

The following article was posted on: 4th June 2007

At the annual Hellvelynn mountain race in Cumbria, Mike Mallen returned back as 2nd O`50 in an excellent time of 2 hrs 12 mins after 11½ miles of running to the summit & back down. At the top the temperature was -12° and snow had fallen so the weather was equally as tough as the terrain. Chris Fairless, on his first attempt at the event, also performed tremendously well finishing in a time of 2-25 and Martin Harbisher ran 2-55. A good team performance .

At the Raby Castle 10km Jason Allison was first home in a time of 40.28, Geoff Hewitson 40.50, Mike Simpson 42.54, Dave Welsh 43.43, Ian Bainbridge 45.29, Graham Laverick 45.53, John Stephenson 46.43 & 1st O`65 prize, Colin Everson 49.09 and Allen Purdham 53.57.

The following article was posted on: 24th May 2007

As a beautiful day dawned over Lake Windermere there was little chance for marathon runners to feel in a tourist mode as the resurrected Windermere Marathon resurfaced after a 20 year absence. The temperatures & undulating course resulted in generally slower times with Julia Steele recording 3-49-23 and John Kelly ducking under his predicted 4 hours by 30 seconds on his first attempt at the distance.

Over on the East coast the Pier-to-Pier 7 mile race at South Shields - Sunderland had a big field of 700 runners . First home was the ever reliable Geoff Hewitson in 39th place with a time of 46.33, Jamie Steel 47.43, Phil Carter 50.53, Ian Bainbridge 51.01, Graham Laverick 51.52, Paul " Pooly" Smith 57.38 and Stuart McNulty 58.15.

At the Manchester 10km some 28,000 runners turned out & included Dennis Brown who continued his celebrity chaperoning duties for Nova / BBC by ensuring an injured "Eric Pollard" off Emmerdale got round safely in a time of 61 mins.

The following article was posted on: 10th May 2007

After his successful inaugural London Marathon, Jason Allison recorded a personal best for the demanding Keswick half-marathon finishing 28th in a time of 1-26-46, and his colleague Clive Golledge recording 1-43-22.

On the fells Mike Mallen finished 6th in a time of 1hr 32 mins for the tough 10 miler at Cronkley Fell; Willie Bell ran 1 hr 39 mins with Geoff Hewitson on a few strides behind.

The clubs Summer handicap resulted in a win for 16 year old Philip Waite who displayed his athletics potential by running the 3.3 miles in a time of 24-19, second was Clive Golledge in 22-52 and third was John Stephenson in a time of 23-54.

The following article was posted on: 3rd May 2007

The London Marathon proved to be a very satisfying event for first timers Jason Allison and Clive Golledge . Despite the testing conditions both coped very well and finished in 3hrs 31mins & 3hrs 46mins respectively. Gerry Hehir, a seasoned marathon runner, succumbed to to the heat and found the going hard, finishing in 3 hrs 58 mins.

The first race of the Wild Series was at Hamsterley Forest and saw Peter Carden come in 23rd overall with a time of 48-21. John Stephenson won the Veteran 60 category, running in 54-18.

At the Blyth 10km both Jamie Steel and Helene Rusby ran personal bests with times of 39-06 and 45-38 respectively. Meanwhile over in Lancashire Phil Carter continued his comeback with a time of 44-30 at the Garstang 10km road race.

The club had a number of runners at the North Tyneside 10K race. First back was Jamie Steel in a time of 39-44. John Stephenson managed to hold off Helene Rusby over the closing stages with 46-28 and 46-39 respectively. Stuart McNulty finished the course in 49-40.

The following article was posted on: 4th April 2007

The first of the seasons fell races based in Hamsterley Forest under the auspices of Durham Fell Runners took place over 10km and consisted of a multi-terrain route from The Grove car park to Doctors Gate and back. First home was Graham Bradshaw in 4th place in 44.40 beating team-mate Mike Mallen for the first time ever by 12 secs. Geoff Hewitson was 12th in 47.31, closely followed by Chris Fairless 48.21, John Kelly 48.52, Jennifer Partridge 15th in 49.37 (picking up the prize as first female back), Martin Harbisher 51.28 and John Stephenson 60.08.

Over at the Grizedale Forest 10 mile race in Cumbria it was a good restart for Phil Carter after long-term injury in a time of 72 mins, whilst at the other end of the country Jason Allison tuned up for his first London Marathon by finishing 17th in a pb time of 1 hr 29 mins at the Bungay half-marathon.

The following article was posted on: 19th March 2007

An amazing set of results at the last Winter Harrier League event at Prudhoe saw Crook athletes' never say die attitude obtain a 3rd team place in Division One whilst their rivals for the second relegation spot could only finish 9th thus giving Crook a safe position by one point.

After a season disrupted by injuries to key runners the club was trailing by an almost impossible 5 points gap but a rallying call at this very popular traditional 5 mile cross country course saw Peter Shuttleworth finish 7th in 34.04, Graham Bradshaw 35.25, Owen Weightman 35.38, Jamie Steel 36.23, Jason Allison 36.28, John Kelly 36.35, Geoff Hewitson 36.52, Ian Sumler-Hutchinson 34.34 (medium pack), Mike Mallen 35.19 (med. pack), George Boyek 38.06, Martin Harbisher 38.23, Dave Welsh 40.14, Phil Carter 40.19, Dennis Brown 40.21, Ian Bainbridge 41.49, Paul Smith 42.19, Alan Welsh 44.02 and John Nightingale 44.13.

The following article was posted on: 8th March 2007

The final event of the Winter cross-country season at Prudhoe in a weeks time will be a tense affair as relegation from Division One looms large after a season of results badly affected by injuries to key runners.

Last weekends crucial 5 mile race at Chester-le-Street riverside resulted in 9th place; first home was Graham Bradshaw in 36.01, Ian Sumler-Hutchinson 33.43 (fastest from medium pack handicap), Chris Fairless 36.18, Geoff Hewitson 36.26, John Kelly 37.25, Dave Welsh 38.35, Willie Bell 36.23 (medium pack), Ian Bainbridge 39.44, Phil Carter 40.11, Paul Smith 41.36, Colin Everson 42.55, Alan Welsh 44.09 and John Nightingale 44.50.

Meanwhile over in Cumbria, Julia Steele tackled the tough Haweswater Half-Marathon, made worse by wind & rain, but still managed a very creditable 1 hr 45 mins.

The following article was posted on: 24th February 2007

The following article was posted on: 2nd February 2007

The AGM and Presentation Night was held on January 30th 2007 and all the present incumbents were re-elected for the forthcoming year. They are:-

• Dennis Brown ( Honorary Secretary & Captain )
• Leo Noble ( Chairman )
• Harry Binyon ( Treasurer )
• Colin Everson ( Vice Captain )
• Allen Purdham ( Vice Chairman )

You can contact these people (as always) if you have some business or issues regarding the club. See how here.

Gordon Hope was on duty again to present the awards on the evening.

The 2006 awards went to the following members:-

The Cathedral Relays were run at Durham's Racecourse and saw a great turnout for this popular event, comprising of teams of three, each running 3000m. The senior men strove hard against a quality field.

The veteran men had a number of team entries with the A-team finishing in 14th place overall, closely followed by the B-team in 15th position. The C-team finished in 25th place, D-team came in 28th and the E-team completed the course in 32nd place.

The third N-E Harrier League fixture was held at Farringdon, Sunderland, saw a change of fortune for the athletes as they achieved a creditable 6th place in Division One thanks primarily to Peter Shuttleworth 35.30, Jason Allison 36.06, Geoff Hewitson 36.15, Graham Bradshaw 36.17, Peter Carden 36.46 and Owen Weightman 36.47.

Also Supporting the team were John Kelly 37.54, Jamie Steel 38.03, Willie Bell 36.27 (medium pack), Clive Golledge 41.11, Paul Smith 43.09, Colin Everson 43.53, John Nightingale 45.21 and Allen Purdham 51.44.

The following article was posted on: 11th January 2007

The cross-country season continues to be a massive battle for Crook AC runners up against much bigger clubs in Division One. The latest round was a 6 mile route at Consett where a 10th place team finish was all that could be achieved.

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Page last updated on January 7, 2009 .