Blaydon Seniors have been Busy Busy Bee’s!!!

A race overview of what our lads and lasses have been up to in the last few months!

I normally manage a decent length round-up of what the Blaydon Seniors have been busy doing every couple of months, it soon became apparent that this may be a slightly longer round-up than usual so grab a cuppa and relax before you go any further… or maybe even request a day off work haha, I’ll try and make it more frequent in future!

Hopefully I’ve covered all relevant races but apologises if I’ve missed anything. They aren’t in any particular date order and photos are members random pics of what I have found from any of the events.

Sunderland 10K & Half Marathon Lee Pattison, Phil Jobson & Philip McGuire were are trio of lads running in this event and they all achieved a new 10K PB!! Well Done Lads! Nicola Alderson was one of three lasses running, Lyn Hepple and Shona Gillespie making up the trio with their 10K debuts. In the Half Marathon event we had quite a swarm with Kat, Gemma, Sharon, Chris, Tracy, Anitha, Victoria, Shereen, Amanda, Emma and Nicola. Great Swarm!

Durham Trail 10K We had three #blackandamber vests in this event. Jen and Deborah for the ladies, and our one male participant was Paul Young who finished 31st overall and 6th in his age category.

Andrea Clarke ran the Derwent Reservoir Trail and scooped 1st female award receiving a trophy too! Andrea also wins the prize for most interesting location having taken herself and her stripes on the Suzuki Midnight Sun Run in Iceland! Matthew & Hedley have been dividing their talents as usual between road races and triathlons. Hedley competed in the Nottingham Half and Tri and was 13th overall and 1st in age category and more recently been ‘Triing’ his best in Roth, Germany. (If triing isn’t a word it should be .. if it’s good enough for skiing!! haha) Matty achieved 4th place in the Lakesman Iron Tri and also fantastic results in the Edinburgh Marathon and Great North 10K, finishing 13th and 6th respectively.

Edinburgh Marathon Matthew was joined in Edinburgh by Adam, Tim and Paul for the lads and Anitha, Victoria and Mandy for the lasses in their debut marathons. Big shout out for Mandy who much to my disbelief managed to complete the race after an extremely painful last 6 miles proved afterwards to be down to a fractured femur! Hope you’re recovering well Mandy after that inspired feat.

Great North 10K Matthew, Lee, Philip, Jen, Chris, Kat, Emma and Sharon took part in this popular event which finishes at the track in Gateshead Stadium. I think Lee, Jen and Kat are probably present at most of the events I’m covering! .. If Blaydon Harriers had Musketeers lol ..

Newburn River Run Alex Muir was first bee home coming 7th in this local run which loops from Newburn over Wylam Bridge and back along past Ryton Willows. This was a popular run with the Bees out in force. Joining Alex was Michael Friberg, James Ramshaw, Alan Storey, Philip McGuire, Eric Lewis, Jen McDonald, Michael Henderson, Claire McConnell, Jaqueline Elliot, Gillian Ellin, Mandy Curtis and Shona Gillespie. John posted some great photos on here after the event.

Bridges of the Tyne 5 Mile Race Well done to our nine seniors who made it for this flat, fast one along the quayside. Alex Muir was 35th overall and Michael Friberg 45th. We had seven ladies compete, Nicola Alderson, Amanda Haley, Carolyn Simpson, Victoria Thomas, Alison Kelly, Shona Gillespie and Anitha Howard. Well done!

Penshaw Pieces of Eight Half Marathon Three lads in the top 50 in this one! Lee Pattison 30th, Phil Jobson 45th and Ian Brooks 50th. Four of the lasses ran, we had Tracy Bowers, Gemma Scott and you guessed it .. ever committed Jen and Kat! Well done Everyone!

Tynedale 10K Jen and Kat … I recommend new trainers at this point haha… Jen achieved a new PB of 51.49 and Izzi Jackson also ran finishing 10th female overall and 3rd in age. Alex Muir finished in 10th place with Jack Boaden in 16th coming 2nd in U20 men and Liam Friel finished 1st in his age category as always a strong performance.

Dalton Park 5 Miler Nicholas Stevenson was 4th in the Dalton Park 5 miler joined by Kat for the ladies.

Three lads competed in the Coquet 10K and all finished top ten. Well done Neil Fellows 4th, Lee Pattison 7th and Phil Jobson 10th.

Michael Friberg finished 7th in the Kirkley Hall 10K with Victoria Thomas and Shona Gillespie making a trio of #blackandamber.

Lee Pattison .. trainer check too please lol… and Jayne Cuskern both ran in the Bamburgh 10K.

Anita Nott 5K Memorial Race This ladies only event hosted by Heaton Harriers is always a great night. The run through Jesmond Dene area is quite tough and that’s before the heat became a factor. It was a very successful evening for Blaydon with a 22 strong team with two of our women winning prizes. Doreen Craig and Amanda Crooks both 1st in their age category! Massive congrats ladies! Izzi Jackson was the first Blaydon lass across the line. Our other 19 ladies running were Joanne R, Elaine S, Andrea, Joanne W, Steph, Gemma, Kat, Rachel, Amanda, Julie, Jayne, Emma Mc, Tracy, Victoria T, Anitha, Lois, Alison, Sheena and Shona. Fabulous turnout for the club!

St Begas Ultra 2018 Bernie James completed her first Ultra participating in this 36 miler with Tracy, Vicky and Gemma who had prior experience in this particular field of craziness lol, the route had a 4,000ft ascent and 4,500 descent and now joins them and Rachel Grant in the ranks of Ultra greatness. Well Done! Speaking of Rachel and Ultras, she’s done a few already this year. Competing in Endure 24 she spied a fellow bee along the way, Alan Dent. Alan competed in a pair team with his sister and he covered 65 of the 105 miles they ran in total. Well Done!

NEMAA (North East Masters Athletics Association) Grand Prix Standings Nicola and Andrew have both attended four meetings at Monkton to compete for the club and James R and Peter one meeting. Nicola is currently sitting in 1st place in the ladies middle distance grand prix results table competing in events at four meetings and having run twice in the sprint events and is currently 6th in the ladies grand prix sprint standings while James Ramshaw is in 8th place in the sprint grand prix. Andrew is currently in 2nd place in the men’s middle distance grand prix table with Peter in 8th.

Nicola Perry completed the tough Northumberland Coastal half on 1st July.

Hexham 10K & Half Marathon Jayne Cuskern and Sheena Orkney competed in the 10K and in the half marathon we had Nik Stephenson finishing in cracking fashion in 4th place with four other lads running, Lee Pattison … Trainers Lee!!!! … James Ramshaw, Ian Brooks and Phil Jobson. Lady Bees out en route in the blazing sunshine were Jen, Kat, Tracy and Gemma.

Victoria Thomas competed in the Darlington Trail 10K and in the DVTR Red Kite Trail Race James Dias finished with a fantastic 6th place!

Phew!!! I think that’s us all up to speed, literally.