Morpeth Harriers win gold and bronze medals at Birtley Relays

A deceptively challenging two lap course of 3,000 metres per stage presented competitors with more than just the expected heavy going under foot, and with three separate races totalling well over 100 teams it was certainly a busy Sunday morning, with Morpeth picking up two team gold and one team bronze across the day’s action.

The first race of the day, for Men 35 and upwards, saw the club win its first medals, as a strong team of Andrew Lawrence, Rob Balmbra and Adam Pratt won in a total time of 32 minutes 58 seconds, well ahead of nearest rivals Tyne Bridge and Sunderland Harriers, for whom Steve Rankin ran the fastest Men’s Masters time of 10:41.

After Lawrence had run 11:02 on leg one, it was Balmbra who moved the club up to first on the second leg, with a powerful run that made light of the conditions, managing at the same time to get over a nasty fall in the mud – not the only runner to take a tumble on the day. Adam Pratt anchored the team to victory with their fastest time of 10:49.

The club’s Over-55s team of Neil MacAnany, Bill Tilley and Gavin Bayne missed out on a medal in their category in the same race when finishing fifth, but there was some consolation, with MacAnany recording the third fastest time for his Over-60 category and Bayne and Tilley the second and third fastest in the Over-60s.

There were 51 complete teams in the following Senior and Masters Women combined event, with Morpeth’s Senior Women coming in fifth in 42:23 behind winners and hosts Birtley Harriers (38:43).

Lizzie Rank had another excellent outing for Morpeth on leg one, clocking 12:45, the day’s third fastest time, with support from Over-45 Claire Calverley and Lindsey Quinn.

There was another team medal for Morpeth in the same race, with the Over-55 team of Shuna Rank, Jane Briggs and Nicola McCoy finishing over three minutes ahead of nearest rivals Gateshead Harriers, with Rank and Briggs recording the day’s second and third fastest Over-55 times.

The last race of the morning had the smallest field of only 15 complete teams, but also featured the day’s closest finish, with Sunderland, Morpeth and Gateshead Harriers fighting out a close contest.

Sunderland Harriers took an early lead thanks to Scott Armstrong, whose 9:52 was the day’s second fastest overall time, with Morpeth coming home fourth in 10:22 thanks to Connor Marshall’s strong run.

Tom Balsdon moved Morpeth up to second with Sunderland still ahead and Gateshead third.

All changed on the last leg, however, with 2020’s National Cross Country winner Calum Johnson looking in tremendous form as he set about closing down Morpeth’s George Lowry ahead of him, then going after Sunderland’s last leg runner, Stephen Jackson.

In the end, the day’s fastest time of 9:30 saw Gateshead finish in 30:31, more than 20 seconds ahead of Sunderland (30:56), with Jackson also falling down at one point, and Morpeth finishing third (31:17), with Lowry not quite able to make up the ground to a fading Jackson.