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 22nd, 2011
For the third weekend in a row it was on the road again for the Club’s young endurance and middle distance athletes. Five Birtley athletes, Adrian Bailes, Sophie Forster, Lydia Turner, Anna Fawcett and Sophie Burnett, travelled to Sheffield for the first of the winter open indoor meetings along with two other athletes from the Monday night training group, Tom Goulding and Sophie Montgomery.
From the seven, only two had raced indoors before, so it was a new experience for most of them.
The chosen events were the rare race distances of 1000m and 600m, all but Sophie M going for the 1000m.
Travelling down it was fog and poor visibility all the way, until we got near Sheffield and the sky was clear, but it could have been raining or even snowing for all we knew, due to being inside the fantastic sporting facility at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield.
All the athletes enjoyed the experience with one or two now being more aware that, indoors, the race tactics can be very different to racing on a 400m outdoor track. This will surely be shown in the times of the next races indoors when we travel to the next available meeting in the new year.
Well done to everyone, back to good old cross country during the next few weeks, and once again thanks to parents for their support and transport.
1000m
2 Anna Fawcett U15 F Birtley AC 03:10.31
5 Sophie Burnett U15 F Birtley AC 03:22.84
5 Lydia Turner U15 F Birtley AC 03:12.65
2 Adrian Bailes U17 M Birtley AC 02:42.04
4 Sophie Forster U17 F Birtley AC 03:08.66
To see the races on youtube click here
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Tags: Indoors, U15
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
Posted in races
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
August 28th, 2011
Things keep getting better for Lydia Turner who is becoming a dominant figure athletics.
Northern Athletics 2011 Track & Field Championship Cudworth
Competing in her second year as a U15 Lydia has recently taken another step in her young but budding athletics carer taking on the countries best athletes.
Not one to shrug off the chance of a competitive race she travelled to Cudworth near Barnsley for the 2011 Northern Junior Championships.
Running the 3 and ¾ lap race Lydia paced herself round, running a tactical race before unleashing her speed over the last 170 metres finishing over two seconds ahead of her next rival. This added another Gold to her growing collection of championship medals.
U15G 1500m FINAL
FINAL
1 Lydia Turner Birtley AC 4:46.45
2 Amy Hinchly Vale Royal 4:48.81
3 Sophie Tarver Wirral AC 4:51.49
Off the track
Lydia takes her athletics as serious off the track as when she’s racing. Between races her sessions vary from hills on a club nights to speed work on a Monday’s and a long run on Sundays.
A week over the summer holidays Lydia was given the privilege of attending a training group chosen from top performers of the London Mini Marathon. Training for four days at Twickenham she gained experience and advice from top coaches.
England Athletics 2011 Championships Bedford
Two weeks after her success of the Northerns, Lydia set her sights on a National Championships travelling to Bedford for the England Athletics Under 17 and Under 15 Championships. A great opportunity for the next generation of athletes to perform at the highest of standard.
Again running the 1500m Lydia went into the race ranked 13th in the country but only one of those managed to finish ahead of her – Coventry Godiva’s English Schools’ champion Sian Rainsley.
The Midlands athlete crossed the line in 4:43.81, with Lydia battling all the way to record. 4 minutes 44.38 seconds.
This is Lydia’s second national medal her first being a team medal from the 2011 National Cross Country.
To watch her race go to the below link and in the middle pane scroll to U15 G 1500m
http://www.englandathletics.org/page.asp?section=1176§ionTitle=England+Athletics+TV
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Tags: England Athletics, Northern Athletics, track & field, U15
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May 22nd, 2011
Four of Birtley middle distance athletes continue showing their early season form all achieving PB’s in the 800m.
Through the track year the BMC organise seeded distance races from 800m to 10k. The races are excellent opportunities for a high standard of competition resulting in PB’s.
Paige Gilhespy, Adrian Bailes, Sophie Forster and Lydia Turner took the journey westwards to Hexham track which was the venue for the first BMC race in our area on Saturday 21 May.
Despite high winds the quartet broke their best times over the two lap race, showing promise at such an early date into the 2011 season.
The next BMC is 1500 metres at Jarrow on Monday 6 June.
800m
2.08.55 Adrian Bailes U17 Birtley
2.17.66 Lydia Turner U15 Birtley
2.17.74 Sophie Foster U17 Birtley
2.33.48 Paige Gilhespy U17 Birtley
For full results
http://www.britishmilersclub.com/results/results.aspx?meetingid=50787
For more British Milers Club news
http://www.britishmilersclub.com/
Read more… »
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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
February 8th, 2011
A cold rain and saturated ground failed to dampen the spirits of Birtley AC athletes and supporters who turned out for the third Harrier League of the 2010/11 season.
Again some excellent team and individual results with the U15 girls holding onto the top spot in the teams. Senior Men moved into second place with the prospect of promotion.
Lydia Turner won her race from the fast pack, backed up by the ever improving Paige Gilhesby in 4th and Rachel Ward in 7th completing the team.
Karl Oakes had a brilliant run in the Senior Men finishing 16th from the slow pack which will move him into the medium for Wrekenton on the 26/02/11
Under 13 Girls 2nd Team
3rd 0:16:12 Olivia BATEMAN
14th 0:19:45 Danielle GRAHAM
17th 0:21:10 Erin WEST
Under 15 Girls 1st Team
1st 0:15:04 TURNER, Lydia
4th 0:16:04 Paige GILHESBY
7th 0:19:20 Rachel WARD
Under 13 Boys 2nd Team
5th 0:15:49 Lewis MORGAN
12th 0:16:32 Jack FOLEY
13th 0:16:40 Luke KELLY
Under 15 Boys
27th 0:18:37 Matthew NORTON
Senior Men
16th 0:43:44 Karl OAKES
35th 0:44:40 Peter FARNIE
43rd 0:45:00 Lee MILLMORE
46th 0:45:08 David KELLY
135th 0:48:40 Michael KEENAN
162nd 0:50:20 David COULSON
200th 0:52:51 Daniel FLETCHER
240th 0:57:52 Tom MILLMORE
267th 1:13:37 Gerard MURRAY
For full results see http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2011/index.php
And look out for Birtley runners http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjqLQmrlA0Y
As always listen for club announcements and watch the notice board for news and events.
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Tags: cross country, harrier league, NEHL, Senior, U15, Winner, Winners, XC
Posted in races
January 15th, 2011
Temple park at South Shields again the venue the North Eastern Cross country championships.
Originally scheduled for December 11th, the event was postponed due to the adverse weather that brought most of the country to a stand still. With a welcome rise in temperature and a thaw of the snow the regional champs was accommodated at the expense of a Harrier League fixture that was due to be ran on the same day.
The club which was founded in 1987 has used this race as the club cross country championships since it was formed. The first Birtley runner in each age category will be awarded with the club championship trophies at the presentation night in May.
Birtley athletics club had members in most of the age groups with our U15 girls finishing 1st 4th and 11th picking up a team and individual gold.
For full results please see http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2011/index.php
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Tags: cross country, England Athletics, U15, Winners
Posted in races
October 23rd, 2010
The opening race of the 2010/11 Harrier Leagues was today ran at Cramlington Nature Reserve and hosted by Blyth running club.
A night of showers had left the ground saturated ready for hundreds of runners to churn it up into mud.
New for 2010/11 was the under 11’s running in a combined straight race for girls and boys. Kicking off at 12.15 they ran one small lap of approximatly 1.1k running around the perimeter of “the bowl”. Birtley fielded 3 runners Amelia Bateman, Kieran Taylor and Michael McNally who all had brilliant runs, eager for next weeks second harrier league at Farringdon.
In the Under 13 boys we had new comers Jack Foley and Lewis Morgan with experienced racer Adam Ridley running one large lap of 3.2k course. Adam finished 11th outside the top 10 so we will watch the official results to see if he has moved into the fast pack.
Three of Under 13 girls completed the same testing course with Olivia Bateman finishing 2nd from the slow pack. She was followed by Danielle Graham and Danielle Coulson both having gutsy runs.
By the U15 boys the course was nice and muddy but this did not put off Sean Ridley flying the flag as the only Birtley runner.
Four runners turned out for the U15 girls Sarah Murray, Sophie Forster, Lydia Turner and Paige Gilhespy. Lydia won the race from the slow pack.
Just 3 years ago in the same race the Senior Men Birtley only managed to field 5 runners. Today 11 Birtley Vests crossed the finishing line, running 3 large laps. Well done to Dan Fletcher having his first Harrier League race as a Senior. Tony Forster for having his first race for the club.
Birtley still need to get toes on the line in the Under 17 Men and Women and Junior/Senior Men and Women. Come on, join your club mates and race.
At the time of writing official results had not been published so keep and eye on race results for positions and times. Also watch out for photos of todays race being added to the “Photos” section of the website.
Well done to everyone who turned out and thank you to all the Birtley supports for cheering. Thank you to Blyth running club and officials for orgainsing an enjoyable afternoon of cross country.
Looking forward the Farringdon next week 30/11/2010
Results now published
http://www.race-results.co.uk/results/2010/index.php
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Tags: cross country, harrier league, NEHL, Senior, U13, U15, Winner, XC
Posted in races
