January 24th, 2012
Today, Saturday 21st January, the runners Macey Bradshaw, Josh Harvey, Lea Brown, Matthew Cleugh, Louis Gill and Danielle Coulson set off on their journey to Essex for the NACYP cross country championships. Although it was a long ride we all had great fun on the bus and when we eventually arrrived at the Holliday Inn we were shown into our lovely rooms. After a good nights sleep it was the big day for the cross country run. I could feel the tension in the room even I was nervous. It was about an hour and a half before we arrived at our destination. It was extremely exciting for us kids because we knew that once we had finished the run there was a huge adventure park awaiting us. The horn went off and the race started. Now the managers told us it was 1.7k but it was really much further so that was a big shock to us. For Danielle it was even further because she is in the under 15′s. Good races by everyone and here are the results: 1st. Lea Brown (National Champion) & team gold. 3rd Macey Bradshaw & team gold. 1st. Matthew Cleugh (National Champion) 2nd Louis Gill. 7th Josh Harvey. 1st. Danielle Coulson (National Champion)
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Tags: cross country
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January 20th, 2012
This weekend sees Birtley’s young athletes travel far and wide to compete in two tough cross country events. First off on Saturday morning a group of 9 athletes and 3 parents/coaches fly out from Newcastle airport destined for Antrim in Ireland to compete in the McCains cross challenge event. A few hours later 7 Birtley athletes and parents will join the DACYP county squad to travel by coach to Essex to compete in the NACYP national cross country championships. We wish all our athletes/parents/coaches/team managers an enjoyable and sucessful weekend. Birtley AC would also like to thank Hays travel in Birtley who’s kind sponsorship has helped to offset some of the costs of both trips.
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Tags: cross country
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November 30th, 2011
Coverage of the second McCain challenge. By Sophie Forster
After a very early start both the Goulding/Bailes car and the Forster/Fawcett/Gilhespy set off down to Liverpool for the second race of the Mccain challenge series. We were all tired but looking forward to the race. After the 3 hour journey we were looking forward to racing, whereas mammy and daddy Forster were pleased that they didnt have to endure more of our nattering!! We had a look around the suprisingly flat course planning our races. Tom Goulding was the first to put his toe on the line. Tom worked hard around the fast 3k course pushing himself the whole way and finishing in a fantastic 32nd out of a field of 112, the first good run of the day! The next race off, over 3k, was the under 15 girls, including both Anna Fawcett and Sophie Burnett. The girls set off around the course. Both had a good strong start and continued their good form, Anna finished strongly in 35th and Sophie Burnett finished soon after in 54th out of a huge field of 98! Both girls really worked hard! The next race was the under 17 and under 20 girl’s combined over a 4.4 km course including both Sophie Forster and Paige Gilhespy. The girls were not just racing in the Mccain Challenge, but were part of the IAAF european championships qualifiers as the under 20′s in the race were competing for selection to run for England, making the 126 strong field very tough! In the under 17 competition Sophie, full of cold, finished in 20th place and Paige followed in in 38th place very respectively even though she was suffering from knee pain throughout, making it a very gutsy run from Paige! Adrian Bailes was the final Birtley athlete to compete in the under 17 men’s race. Adrian raced very strongly around the 5.5km course constantly working through the field and finishing really strongly in 65th out of the biggest field of the day 117 athletes! It was a good day full of good results all round!! It made the tiring 3 hour journey and the hard training worth it!
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Tags: cross country, U15, XC
Posted in races
November 15th, 2011
The McCain UK Cross Challenge is back for 2011 – 2012, taking in 5 key cross country fixtures across the UK throughout the autumn/winter season.
With the support of UKA’s principle partner, McCain, there are 5 high quality competitive opportunities for athletes.
The McCain UK Cross Challenge gives up and coming athletes the opportunity to match themselves against established cross country stars, competitive fields catering for all age-groups, Senior, Under 20, Under 17, Under 15 and Under 13 will be contested at the McCain UK Cross Challenge events to be hosted at Bristol, Liverpool, Cardiff, Antrim, with the series final to be hosted once again in Birmingham.
Athletes from the Club will be competing in all the Challenge events except for Cardiff due to that fixture falling on the same weekend as the Schools County Cross Country Championships.
Due to the over 600 mile round trip a number of cars travelled down on the Saturday to stay just north of Bristol to race the following day.
The weather was perfect with the course being very testing and gave the athletes some great experience competing against other athletes from around Britain.
Results
2nd Lydia Turner 00:16:08
9th Anna Fawcett 00:17:30
16th Sophie Burnett 00:18:59
8th Sophie Forster 00:20:24
13th Paige Gilhespy 00:21:43
21st Adrian Bailes 00:24:57
25th Chris Peverley 00:26:02
Also travelling with the Club was Thomas Goulding who competed in the U15 Boys and came 8th.
Next fixture for the McCain Challenge is Liverpool 26th November.
For local press review click here
For full results click here
For McCain Challenge new click here
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Tags: cross country, England Athletics, U15, XC
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November 15th, 2011
Once again the National Cross Country Relays were held at Mansfield.
Eight athletes from the Club competed over the testing course, Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Girls teams and an incomplete Under 17 Boys team.
Conditions weren’t too bad when we first arrived but the weather got progressively worse through the day and the course and surrounding areas became very slippery.
The Under 15 Girls finished in 11th position and the Under 17 Girls in 30th position. This is the first time that the Club has been able to have a complete U17 Girls team, and the future of this age group and through to senior level is looking good.
Despite not having a full team Adrian and Chris still decided to travel and compete.
U15 Girls 11th 0:23:36.60 Birtley AC 0:07:45.15 (16) Anna Fawcett 0:08:21.65 (18) Sophie Burnett 0:07:29.80 (11) Lydia Turner
U17 Girls 30th 0:30:59.75 Birtley AC 0:09:57.30 (34) Paige Gilhespy 0:11:37.60 (48) Bethan Oakes 0:09:24.85 (30) Sophie Forster
U17 Boys 0:20:40.60 Birtley AC 0:10:34.20 (67) Chris Peverley 0:10:06.40 (47) Adrian Bailes
Well done to all athletes on what was the first of many trips away during the winter season.
Many thanks to the parents who travelled to support the athletes and also provide transport.
See The Evening Chronicle coverage here
Click here for full results
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Tags: cross country, England Athletics, Relays, U15, XC
Posted in races
October 12th, 2011
The CYP Durham region Cross Country is being hosted by Birtley AC on Sunday 16th October 2011.
On the day they will be mixed races for Under 11, Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17.
Individual/team registration 10am prompt. Race numbers will be given upon registration.
The first race (U11) starts at 10.30am with the remaining three races running one after the other.
Winner and runners up awards will be made for individual placing’s. Team trophies will be presented to the winning teams in all age groups (Three to score).
These races are the selection for the CYP National Cross Country which are being held in Essex on the 22 January 2012.
Course is suitable for spikes although some tarmac areas are to be crossed.
Directions to Lord Lawson click here http://birtleyac.co.uk/contact/
Refreshments available at the school.
If you are available to help out with organising/marshalling please put your name on the club notice board or see Ed Lown on the day.
Thanks
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Tags: cross country, CYP, Durham, Volunteer
Posted in events, races
October 9th, 2011
Whilst the older athletes in the Club were lining up for the first Harrier League meet of the season at Cramlington, 15 of Birtley’s under 11 athletes were taking part in the Minor’s cross country races at Monkton. Birtley’s next generation of “stars” did not disappoint. With one or two having their very first race for the club they came away with a haul of medals and a lot of satisfaction having completed their races over a testing course varying in distances. This event used to be held in the early 90′s and attracted up to a thousand runners at that time. After an absence of many years it was good to see the Jarrow and Hebburn Clubs attempt to reintroduce the event to the race calendar. The first race saw the year 4 girls take to the start line with Molly Elliott (best known for her 60m and long jump exploits on track this summer) deciding to lead from the front and was never headed to cross the line in 1st place (4.23). Birtley’s Erin Oakes and Caitlin Milmore, veterans of the Junior North run were next in at 5th (4.44) and 10th (5.24). This left our very young Naomi Sheavills to show a tremendous fighting spirit finishing in 11th position (5.25). The first three counters give Birtley 2nd team position. Next up were the year 4 boys where Birtley had 2 athletes competing over a slightly longer distance than the girls. Matthew Cleugh, who had ran at Farringdon earlier in the season in the u/11s, had a tremendous run in what was a competitive race finishing in 2nd place (5.00). Chris Coulson (another of our very young atletes) battled all the way to the line finishing an excellent 9th place (6.05). Year five girls next and relative newcomers Jasmine Gill and Abbie Sheavills tackled an even longer course to finish 11th (8.03) and 13th (8.14) respectively – a tremendous effort. On to the year 5 boys where Ryan Smailes, Louis Gill and Jonny Butchart set off in the rain in what turned out to be a very competitive race. Ryan had ran earlier in the season at Farringdon and had an excellent run finishing in 4th place (7.04. Next came Louis, having his first race for the club finished a creditable 8th (7.24). Jonny – better known for his track and field performances made a tremendous effort to finish in 12th position (8.25) and close the team in to 2nd position. The “oldies” next with year 6 girls Lea Brown, Martha Laws and Macey Bradshaw ready to show that they are getting ready to step up to the under 13 age group when old enough. Lea (this year’s CYP National champion over 800m) showed her versitility by having a tremendous run to finish in second place (7.05) despite having a stitch half way round. Next came Martha (another CYP national champion at shot put) finished a gallant 4th (7.21). The ever improving Macey, who is gaining in confidence week on week, finished in 8th position (7.43) to ensure that the Birtley trio took the first team spot ahead of a strong St Alloyisious contingent. Last but not least our sole representative in the year 6 boys, Josh Harvey, had the unenviable task of running the furthest distance of the day, put in a tremendous effort finishing in 5th position (11.28) overall. To round off an excellent day for the club the efforts of all our young athletes were sufficient to be rewarded with the overall trophy for the best scoring club outside of the South Tyneside area being presented with the prestigious David Sharpe plaque to be held for a year. Thanks to all the parents who were there to support the athletes throughout the day and also coaches Alison, Fiona Debbie & Ed (accompanied by Pauline) who were extremely proud of our young athletes achievements.
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Tags: cross country
Posted in Uncategorized, races
April 22nd, 2011
If your thinking of doing your first race, here’s words of inspiration from our very own Val Baxter. Mother, Club Secretary and now an Athlete.
Hi, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Val Baxter and my 13 year old son Andrew has been an active member of the club for a few years. I became club secretary last year to try and make myself useful, though I’m still finding my feet! Anyway, finding myself at a loose end on club nights while Andrew was training, I decided to start power walking around Birtley to try and tone up a bit. After a few weeks, I found myself attempting to run very short sections, and these gradually built up until I was running (almost) all of the 3.2 mile circuit. I had a moment of madness one day and told Ed I’d be willing to run a crosscountry for the club, and so the Sherman cup race at Blaydon was destined to be my first (and possibly only) attempt at a proper race!
The day of the race came frightening quickly, and following a night of rain, I had expected to find a course full of mud, but luckily the ground wasn’t too saturated, and it wasn’t bad at all. The senior women’s race is always last, so I had a good long time to stand around and get even more nervous than I already had been, but finally the marshalls shouted and it was time to line up!
It’s hard to describe the feeling I had at the start of the race – a mixture of awe as the hundred or so women all began running at the same time, and out and out terror that I would make a total fool of myself by running out of steam before the first field had even been rounded, or even worse that I’d be sick in front of everyone (a distinct possibility given how nervous I was feeling!).
The course began with a nice flat circuit of a field, followed by a short but steep ascent and descent of a hill near the start (and finish), then the rest of the course was fairly level, with a few nice muddy sections to navigate. After what seemed like an age, the hill at the start of the course came into sight but this time we had to run up and down it three times ! Now, from the sidelines this hill looks like a slight incline, but I can assure you that it felt like Mount Everest by the time I was running up it (and I use the term loosely) for the third time. Now came what was for me the hardest part of the course…getting back to the beginning of the course and realising that I had to do the same distance ALL OVER AGAIN!
With heaving lungs and tired legs, the second circuit of the course began and I tried to concentrate on just keeping running – I wasn’t bothered about my time, or who was passing me, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and tried to avoid the deepest mud. About a third of the way around the course, I found someone’s shoe stuck in the mud, and for some strange reason stopped to pick it up – I then found myself running with the added handicap of a muddy shoe clutched in one hand! I managed to offload it to Pedro as I neared the finish line – I have no idea what he thought as I thrust a muddy shoe into his hand and gasped that it wasn’t mine as I ran off!
I should mention at this point that during my runs around Birtley, I had never managed to do more than 2 miles continuously without having to slow down to a walk for a short while to catch my breath. At 6k, or roughly 3.6 miles, the course was almost twice as far as I’d ever run in one go, but I was determined (and the various club members scattered around the course shouting encouragement helped a lot) to run the whole thing if I could. To be honest, I was also worried that if I started walking I’d never manage to start running again!
Finally, the horrendous hill near the end came into sight again – gulp! I tried my best to run up it (three times!), though it might be best to describe my efforts as a fast walk, and then I just had to muster up the energy to pick up my legs and make it to the finish line. I can’t describe the feeling of relief as I finally made it past the line, and managed to resist the temptation to collapse in a heap on the ground! I staggered to the tent and changed my muddy shoes for slightly cleaner and drier trainers, and was kindly congratulated by the Birtley members who still remained at the course. I forgot to mention that I was running for high stakes – Ed had bet me a 10p mixup that I wouldn’t come last in the race, and indeed I wasn’t (though 109th out of 114 is fairly close to last!).
I even managed to find the energy to have a cool down run with the lovely Nathalie who had also run her first crosscountry (the only other Birtley lady in my race, who finished a lot higher up than me!) and was surprised to find that I had enough breath left to hold a conversation as we ran!
So, the million dollar question:- Would I do it again? Well, Prudhoe was a fortnight later and I gave it some thought…then thought again and realised that it was a bit out of my league! Maybe next year? ;0)
Read more… »
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Tags: cross country, NEHL, Senior Lady
Posted in races
April 3rd, 2011
Birtley AC has a long history with the Clubs for Young People (CYP) supporting the organisation’s athletic side for many years.
We have had athletes running in the county championships and then going onto run for Durham in National events on both track and cross-country.
Normal selection for the CYP Durham cross-country team would be in October/November and ran over a course at Aykley Heads in Durham. Unfortunately due to the weather conditions the 10/11 Durham Championships didn’t go ahead and now with the closer of Aykley Heads sport centre they have also lost their venue for future races.
Although it was after National race it was felt that it would be still worth while having a regional race due to the only reason of it cancelation being the weather. It was here that we (Birtley) stepped into the breach offering to organise and run the Durham Champs from our base at Lord Lawson School.
Held on a Tuesday night the twisting and turning course was a challenging one using both the upper and lower fields at Lord Lawson. We covered four age groups U11, U13, U15 and U17.
Birtley dominated in both male and female team and individual events raking in an impressive haul of medals.
The night was deemed a great success and the CYP have informed us that they would love to hold future CYP Durham championships at Lord Lawson School hosted by Birtley.
Like all of Birtley success’s in would not be possible without the enthusiasms and willingness of its members to volunteer. Well done to all those who helped out and look forward to the 11/12 championships.
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Tags: cross country, CYP, Durham, Race, U15, Volunteer, Winner, Winners
Posted in events, races
March 1st, 2011
The fourth of six Harrier Leagues was a local one with a trip up the road from Birtley to Wrekenton.
This is a true cross country course with a mix of ups and downs with varying/challenging conditions under foot
U13 Girls
3rd BATEMAN, Olivia, Birtley AC from the fast pack. Second fastest on the day.
U15 Girls First team Birtley AC
1st TURNER, Lydia Birtley AC F
2nd FAWCETT, Anna Birtley AC F
5th FORSTER, Sophie Birtley AC F
6th GILHESPY, Paige Birtley AC F
14th MURRAY, Sarah Birtley AC S
U13 Boys 6th Team
15th MORGAN, Lewis Birtley AC F
28th KELLY, Luke Birtley AC F
29th RIDLEY, Adam Birtley AC F
Senior Men Second Team D2
8th ALLAN, Neil Birtley AC M. Moves up to fast pack.
26th FARNIE, Peter Birtley AC S. Moves up to medium pack
36th MILLMORE, Lee, Birtley AC M.
67th KELLY, David, Birltey AC. M
75th SCOTT, Richard, Birtley AC. M
97th OAKES, Karl, Birtley AC, M
102nd LAWS, Shawn, Birtley AC, M
127th KEENAN, Michael, Birtley AC. S
172nd COULSON, David, Birtley AC. S
209th FORSTER, Tony, Birtley AC, S
250th MILLMORE, Tom, Birtley AC, Sl
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Tags: cross country, harrier league
Posted in races
