It may have been that the runners were better prepared for the combination of monster hills and the 21+ miles or it could have been that weather conditions were close to ideal, but all 4 runners significantly improved on their times from last year!

Louise Griffin had an excellent run, completing the distance in 3 hours 33 mins – a whopping 22 minutes faster than 2011! This will be a major confidence boost for Louise who is currently training for the London Marathon which is still 10 weeks away.

Ivan Newton also goes from strength to strength at the longer distances. Ivan has only been running for around 5 years but now has 3 marathons under his belt and this is his second Buttermere Round. Ivan ran the first 7 miles with Ian Brown before leaving him on the first climb through the Honister pass. Ivan finished 2 minutes ahead of Ian in 2 hours 38 minutes but a full 9 minutes faster than last year.

Rachel Chinnery is becomming a bit of an ‘Ultra’ specialist with the Hardmoors 30 and Frostbite 50 completed so far in 2012. Rachel knows she should be taking it easy after these mamoth efforts but loves this part of the country so much she couldn’t resist slipping a 34Km roadrace into her programme. Rachel’s time was well within her 3 hour target she set herself at exactly 2 hours 56 minutes – 4 minutes better than 2011 despite having tired legs on the hills!

Ian Brown first completed this event in 2003 and today was his 7th attempt at the distance. Ian was delighted with his time of 2 hours 40 minutes (his 3rd fastest time) giving him first place in the MV55 age category.

Keswick AC should be congratualted for staging this event every year – its well organised and friendly with much apprecaited tea and cake afterwards!

The senior men didn’t have such a good day for despite great efforts at the front, they lost 2nd place in Division 2 to Low Fell. Two fixtures left to reclaim the second promotion spot. Barry Jameson was first Tynedale home, closely followed by Ian Bromley. Ronnie Coupland, Steve Hill, Andy Green and Rob Carter were the other counters.

The Junior performance of the day was probably the Under 13 boys, who finished as 2nd team on the day which keeps them at the top of the league. Matthew Jackson led them home, finishing in 4th place overall running from the fast pack – the 2nd fastest time on the day. He was followed by Callum Outerside and Max Pearson as the three counters, with Fabian Byron and Christopher Jackson not far behind. The under 15 boys did well to finish as third team, keeping them in 3rd place in the league. Fergus Robinson led them home in 4th place overall with a fine run from the fast pack. Toby Routledge and Dominic Morley also had strong runs to complete the team placings.

MEN/BOYS RESULTS    /  GP RESULTS

WOMEN/GIRLS  / GP RESULTS

VISIT THE YOUTUBE PAGE FOR SOME RACE CLIPS  HERE

Link to some great photos from Alan Currie.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42764975@N02/sets/72157629273179983/with/6857110951/

and more from Balazs! http://www.flickr.com/photos/71012987@N07/sets/72157629290550643/with/6865029785/

Tynedale Contact is Ian Cowell  ian@born4running.co.uk

U13 BOYS :-                                                                                        U13 GIRLS:-

1.       Alexander Tait (Alnwick HAC)                                     1.  Naomi Arkle (Morpeth HAC)

2.       Josh Turnbull (Alnwick HAC)                                        2.  Katie Young (Morpeth HAC)

3.       Sam Williams (Morpeth HAC)                                     3.  Chloe Williams (Tynedale HAC)

4.       Patrick Smith (Morpeth HAC)                                     4.  Tegan Dryden (Morpeth HAC)

5.       Euan Jones (Morpeth HAC)                                         5.  Laura Griffin (Tynedale HAC)

6.       Joseph Dowd (Morpeth HAC)                                    6.  Katie Bowes  (Tyndale HAC)

7.       Connor Stith (Tynedale HAC)                                      7.  Lara Wake (Tynedale HAC)

8.       Joe Hughes (Tynedale HAC)                                        8.  Ellie Franks (Tynedale HAC)

9.       Jack Peter (Tynedale HAC)                                           9.  Erin Scott (Blyth RC)

10.   Seth Kipax Jones (Tynedale HAC)                             10 Alice Dungworth (Blyth RC)

11.   Daniel Tait (Blyth RC)                                                      11 Lauren Robson (Blyth RC)

12.   Kai Burke (Blyth RC)                                                        12 Alice Gittens (Blyth RC)

Ian Cowell competes in British Masters Pentathlon (M50 age group) and finishes 8th RESULTS

The ladies of Tynedale Harriers added more medals to their expanding collection when they took part in the VAA NE Cross Country Relays in Durham at the end of last month, in which 35 teams competed.  Tynedale fielded two veteran teams, in the V35 and V45 age groups, and both came away with awards.

The more youthful team took gold as they proved to be the fastest overall veterans’ team round the flat grass course and they placed a magnificent 3rd in the open competition against much younger opposition. Kirstie Anderson led off for the V35-44 team, tactically starting quickly but sheltering from the strong head wind along the long riverside straight, behind a group of athletes. On the second of her two laps, Kirstie powered round, finishing in the fastest V40 time of the day, 11.46 minutes for the 3km course.  Also having a strong run was Steph White (13.12), leading off for the V45+ team.

The second leg runners were able to consolidate on these great starts for the two teams. Karen Robertson (12.05) ran superbly, bringing the leading Tynedale team through the field to 4th place behind Morpeth A, Durham University (later disqualified for infringement of the rules) and Morpeth B. This left Steph Scott with the final leg and the challenge of not being caught by any speedy third leg runners from the chasing teams.  Steph ran two consistently fast laps (12.33), despite sliding round the first corner on the now slippery loop!

As Steph Scott crossed the line, the Tynedale ladies were unaware of their finishing position due to the number of runners at different stages of their races around the course. It was only when runners up Elswick congratulated them that they realised that they had won the NE Championships, ultimately by a significant margin of over one minute.

Meanwhile, for the other Tynedale team, second leg runner Lynne Marr completed her two laps in 15.49 and handed on to super triathlete, Jan Oliver.  Jan ran an excellent anchor leg (14.26), securing the silver medals in the V45 category for the same team that won the NE Vets Road Relays last year.

Once again it was another successful weekend for the Tynedale ladies, bringing home medals from the NE championships and dominating the veterans’ running scene. They are not doing too badly amongst the youngsters either!!

KIM BLUCK

ALSO – Northern XC Championships in Pontefract Results now online – poor turn out (1!)  by Tynedale members but Jonathan Currie 79th in U17M race    RESULTS

A great time was has by all, lots of merriment caused by rather chaotic dancing to the Hedgehog’s Skin Ceilidh band’s music who tried admirably to create some order!

Hexham Golf Club supplied a lovely buffet supper and thanks to Keith Robson who spoke eloquently about Mike.  An excellent social event and lovely to see so many youngsters joining in the fun.

Bridget B.

Yorkshire mud is different to Northumberland mud. It’s paler, stickier, noisier and it doesn’t let go! Rachel Chinnery and Bev Redfern both came to this conclusion when they completed the Yorkshire Ultramarathon on January 28^th. The race is also known as the Frostbite 50 (or Mudbath 50 whichever you prefer) and is one in a series of six ultras all over the UK organised by AdventureHub.

The race begins and ends in Whitby and follows the Cleveland Way down past Robin Hoods Bay and on to Ravenscar before turning inland onto the North York Moors in a loop which brings you back to Ravenscar once more and the cliff top path north to Whitby again with about 2500m of climb overall.

Sounds simple, except with temperatures  well above freezing the mud was at its softest on the moors and there was an awful lot of it! Consequently runners were able to run freely for about twenty miles and spent the remaining thirty desperately trying to move forwards at a decent pace and remain upright. Bev was almost completely covered in the stuff by the end after executing three spectacular falls which kept Rachel laughing for hours. You had to laugh or you would cry; it was so frustrating.

Once again the women came up trumps and managed first and second lady; Rachel came in at 10 hours 52 and Bev at 11 hours 7 minutes in 18^th and 20^th place. The pair ran together for the first 37 miles and both agreed it was nice to have some company for the majority of the race.  On finishing Rachel felt as if she could have managed another 10 miles or so due mainly to the fact that she never stopped eating during the race, unlike her experience during the Hardmoors 30 earlier in the month where she didn’t bother. A lesson learned!

If  you  like your races long with a bit of coast and a bit of fell and potentially a lot of mud depending on the temperature, then this is the race for you. It’s well organised, with cracking coastal views and rolling countryside and makes for a lovely way to spend the day. And some of the night!

The ladies of Tynedale Harriers added more medals to their expanding collection when they took part in the VAA NE Cross Country Relays in Durham at the end of last month, in which 35 teams competed.  Tynedale fielded two veteran teams, in the V35 and V45 age groups, and both came away with awards.

The more youthful team took gold as they proved to be the fastest overall veterans’ team round the flat grass course and they placed a magnificent 3rd in the open competition against much younger opposition. Kirstie Anderson led off for the V35-44 team, tactically starting quickly but sheltering from the strong head wind along the long riverside straight, behind a group of athletes. On the second of her two laps, Kirstie powered round, finishing in the fastest V40 time of the day, 11.46 minutes for the 3km course.  Also having a strong run was Steph White (13.12), leading off for the V45+ team.

The second leg runners were able to consolidate on these great starts for the two teams. Karen Robertson (12.05) ran superbly, bringing the leading Tynedale team through the field to 4th place behind Morpeth A, Durham University (later disqualified for infringement of the rules) and Morpeth B. This left Steph Scott with the final leg and the challenge of not being caught by any speedy third leg runners from the chasing teams.  Steph ran two consistently fast laps (12.33), despite sliding round the first corner on the now slippery loop!

As Steph Scott crossed the line, the Tynedale ladies were unaware of their finishing position due to the number of runners at different stages of their races around the course. It was only when runners up Elswick congratulated them that they realised that they had won the NE Championships, ultimately by a significant margin of over one minute.

Meanwhile, for the other Tynedale team, second leg runner Lynne Marr completed her two laps in 15.49 and handed on to super triathlete, Jan Oliver.  Jan ran an excellent anchor leg (14.26), securing the silver medals in the V45 category for the same team that won the NE Vets Road Relays last year.

Once again it was another successful weekend for the Tynedale ladies, bringing home medals from the NE championships and dominating the veterans’ running scene. They are not doing too badly amongst the youngsters either!!

Steph Scott

Feb 2012