If anyone fancies a training session tomorrow morning instead of a Park Run I’ll be at Rainton Meadows 9:30. It’ll be a fartlek type session - Tommy Millmore

Birtley AC athlete Adrian Bailes showed his fine form with another fantastic first place at last weekend's Brass Monkey Half Marathon, finishing in an impressive 69:44. 
Team Birtley were also ably represented with a slew of sub 90 minute performances from:-
Martin Bell 81:45
Karl Oakes 82:13
Ruth Dadswell 88:22
Well done everyone!

Birtley hosted the Cathedral Relays on Sunday 13th January, and what a great day it was. The technically challenging course, with its short but steep hills, and lots of twists and turns to make the most of a limited space, proved very popular with the athletes. The warm (wind-free!) indoor sign up area in the Lord Lawson gym was greatly appreciated by the team managers, as were the refreshments on offer. 
Results (from a very nervous results team!) were produced on the day, and prizes were presented to the winning athletes and teams. The NEMAA team awards were also presented by Archie Jenkins, with the individual medals to be given out at the upcoming XC Champs next month at Wallsend.
Full results here.
If you enjoyed the event, want to comment on a photo or result, or have any other feedback, please feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this page

Birtley AC had some great performances at the recent Sherman Cup/Davison Shield XC - everyone ran well, but special mentions must go to:-

Maggie and Daisy Graham (3rd and 6th) in the girls u11 race.

George Beevers 12th in the u13 boys race.

Katie Francis won the u15 girls race, with Tess Graham, Abigail Thwaites, Scarlett Newby and Amy Drummond all finishing within the top 20 of the u15 girls race. The u15 girls also won gold in the u15 team competition.

Chris Perkins won the u15 boys race by a clear margin to complete the Birtley double.

Ollie Barrett and Lewis McConnell both finished in the top 10 of the u17 mens race.

Adrian Bailes finished 3rd in a strong mens field, whilst Ruth Dadswell made her comeback in a very creditable 23rd position in the womens race.

​Well done to all, results can be seen here.

Endurance based training sessions over Christmas and New Year.
Some of the venues are new, I’ll put further information and directions on this post, nearer the time.

• Sunday 23rd December - Beamish 9:30am
• Monday 24th December - Session, Watergate Forest Park, Lobley Hill, meet near the lake 9:30am
• Wednesday 26th December - Boxing Day Run, Beamish, Eden Place car park 10:30
• Saturday 29th December - Session, Herrington Park, Penshaw 9:30am
• Sunday 30th December - Run, Low Burnhall Wood, Durham 9:30am For those who fancy a steady pace Sunday morning run somewhere different.
  Meet at the car park for Low Burnhall Woodland Trust just outside Durham 9:30am.
  Never been there but there’s lots of grass paths and trails and I’m sure there’s a good chance of getting lost and therefore the run might be a little bit longer (although not too bad if you’re having fun?).
  Directions: Nevilles Cross south along A167 past next lights along dual carriageway to next roundabout (Cock of the North roundabout) turn left and the car park is sign posted to the right.
• Monday 31st December - Beach session, South Shields 9:30am
• Wednesday 2nd January - Session, Dalton Park 9:30am
• Thursday 3rd January - Run, Normal Lord Lawson training night

Please note that December 18th will be games night for all Junior athletes who wish to take part, this will also be the final session for the u11 age group before the Christmas/New Year break.
All other athletes should check with their coaches regarding any training on Thursday 20th.
The club will reopen on Thursday 3rd January. 

Coaches may decide to hold ad hoc training sessions over the holidays - these will be advertised on FB and on this website, so please keep checking back for details over the next couple of weeks. 


​We wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year - here's hoping 2019 will bring you all the success you deserve!

First race back for a while, and she goes and hits the headlines! Welcome back to racing Sophie Burnett!
A great set of results in the ladies race - Sophie and Tracy 1st and 2nd, and Chloe Fairclough 4th (1st u17) and a big PB. 
​3 senior men - Adrian, Kieran (PB) and Greg racing in a very competitive field.

UPDATE:- We raised the fantastic sum of £673.80 - many thanks to those who helped out on the day, the organiser Craig, and the Asda staff and customers who were so generous with their time and money. THANKYOU!!

Craig Fallon has kindly organised a bag pack at Washington Asda this Saturday (28th July) - we need volunteers from 9.30am until 3pm. The more people we can get helping out, the more money we can raise for the club, which really helps us to buy new equipment, fund buses for national events, support athletes who are competing internationally for the first time etc. Please come and help out even if it's only for an hour or two - this is YOUR club and we need your support! Remember to come dressed in Birtley gear (vest/t-shirt/hoodie) :)​

Start Fitness would like to offer our club members an exclusive online loyalty discount code that will allow a saving of 10% off their current selling price on all items from our online store. Our code is BirtleyACSF10 and can be used in the Discount Code box at the checkout.

Now that it's finally been made public, a big shout out for Lydia Turner who has been selected to represent Great Britain in the European Cross Country Championships on the 9th December at Tiburg, Netherlands.
This will be her 5th vest, the other 4 were as a junior and the last one being January 2015. What an emotional journey - a really proud day (Coach Tom Millmore)