Signals Relays NECAA Road Relay Champs:- In a very competitive race, Birtley Senior Men's team (which didn't have many seniors in it!) came an impressive 11th place out of over 30 teams, with Adrian Bailes running 3rd fastest leg overall in a time of 10:55 - congrats to all who ran - Adrian Bailes, Darren Purvis, Zak Scott, Kel Scott, Karl Oakes and Brian Bailes.

Meanwhile, in Manchester, there were golds a plenty for both the Birtley athletes and the Durham teams they were competing for as part of the DABGC T&F Champs - full results will follow in due course. 

Two Team Birtley athletes were entered to compete this weekend in the above English Championships.
Chris Perkins is racing over 1500m (heats Saturday with Final Sunday)
Molly Elliott’s Pole Vault was on Sunday, but unfortunately she has had to pull out due to injury - we wish her a speedy recovery.
The event is streamed live here.
Good luck to Chris, we know you will represent Birtley well!

Returning to its home at the Race Course sports fields, Green Lane, Durham. Postcode DH1 3JU on Wednesday 21st August (race times below) . 
​
​Running two laps of a 1500 metre course predominantly flat with a cheeky little bank which adds to the views over the river as you descend. 
Please use on street parking around the city as none is available at the racecourse itself, there is plenty of parking within ten minutes walk of the course. Changing facilities will be available.

We have two vet men*, two vet women, one senior men* and one senior ladies team. 
*One of the vet men's teams may have to run as a senior team, depending on who is available on the day - this has been agreed with the organiser who is keeping a number spare for us "just in case!"

Race times
Race 1 6.30 PM Senior Men and Women
Race 2 7.05 PM Vet Men (35+) & Vet Women (35+)

IMPORTANT - Please complete the form at the bottom of this post, even if you do not wish to attend.

The Birtley athletes names above have been selected  as part of the team to represent the Durham Association of Boys & Girls Clubs at the National Athletics Championships which are being held at Manchester Indoor Regional Arena, Gate 13, Etihad Campus, Rowsley Street, Manchester, M11 3FF (adjacent to Manchester City Football Club) on Saturday 31st August 2019.
 
Travel Pick Up Points:  Saturday 31st August 2019: The Bus Company is Compass Royston please be prompt as we need to be in Manchester to report by 10.30am.
 
6.00am – Compass Royston depot Stockton (pick up Simon Healey Group Leader)
6.45am - Birtley Leisure Centre, Durham Road, DH3 2TB   (Birtley A.C)  
7.00am - Chester-le-Street Market Place, lay-by next to Tesco (Chester-le-Street A.C. and Derwentside A.C. and Blackhill Bounders)
7.15am - Rainton Meadows Arena, Mercantile Road, Houghton le Spring (Houghton Harriers)
7.30am - Bus lay-by – diagonally opposite Board Inn on A690 /A19 side Sunderland heading out towards A19 (Sunderland Harriers)
 
Competition starts at 11.30am and is due to be completed by 3.30pm. We should therefore be back up in the North –East between 6.30-7.30pm.
 
Travel Cost:  £5.00 for Competitors and £10 for Parents. Please note they only have one coach and a capacity of 60 so preference will be given to any parent of any U11 and U13 competitor first and limited to one parent per child in this age group in the first instance before then offering the remaining seats on a first come first served basis. All payments should be made on the day on the coach by either cash or cheque and cheques must have the full name of the association and be made payable to the Durham Association of Boys and Girls Clubs. Please provide names of athletes and any accompanying parents below.  Parental Consent Forms will be sent within the next week for each of the competitors - please ensure that they are duly completed and handed to Simon Healey on the coach together with payment.
 
Kit: County Vests will be provided but you must supply and take with you the rest of your kit and have suitable footwear for Indoor competition.

If you are not available, please indicate this using the form below so that someone else can be given the opportunity of competing in this national event.   

Congratulations to Katie Francis - first U15 girl and an amazing third place overall, with a time of 10:47. Her brother Thomas also competed in the 3k (full results here), whilst dad David represented the older generation of the family by competing in the 5k A race (full results here).

Meanwhile, Tracy Millmore flew the flag for Birtley  with a first place Masters category win in a time of 17:58, while Adrian Bailes finished in a very respectable 9th place overall in a time of 15:34. Greg Poulton, Kel Scott and Keith Robertshaw completed the Birtley line-up in the A race, with Ian Goulding and Paul Agnew giving some fine performances in the B race (looks like Ian should be lining up for the A race next year!).

In another successful weekend for Birtley, Tracy Millmore was once again first lady in a 10k race, this time crossing the line in the Darlington 10k with a time of 36:40, whilst Greg Poulton (also amid a heavy week of marathon training) managed a fantastic 62 second PB to finish in 34:38. Karen Bentley finished in 45:09 as second F50 and a with a season best time, whilst Karen Carr gained a fantastic 47 second PB, proving that she is gaining in speed and confidence over the season. Full results here.
The younger Birtley members also performed well at Darlington, with Noah Williamson finishing 2nd in his age group in the Junior 3k Race. Congratulations to all who ran.

Also at the weekend, the last Senior League match saw the South Shields/Birtley AC team finishing a magnificent 2nd place, with third overall in the final league standings. Huge thanks to Eve Southern, Rebecca Pottinger, Lyndsey Perkins, Shannel Curtis and the sole male representative for Birtley, Graeme Swaddle. 

One last thing to mention - there are several relay races coming up with imminent closing dates - please visit the noticeboard and get yourself signed up if you haven't already done so!

Tracy Millmore was first lady in the Ray Harrison 10k, with a time of 37.20 - her marathon training is obviously working wonders! 

In other news, Chris Perkins made the Athletics Weekly magazine with a photo of his winning performance of 2:01.31 in the 800m at Monkton on the 24th July.

Message from Tommy Millmore:-
​RYDAL HALL LAKE DISTRICT TRAINING WEEKEND 16th to 18th AUGUST 
There’s still 6 places left if anyone would like to come along for a very good value weekend at the Lakes. Total cost £35 including food.
The fine weather is booked and the training facilities are second to none.
There’s also free full use of 2 outdoor swimming areas, one is named Rydal Water and is just over 1km long and 17m at the deep end, the other is approx. 20m long and 2m deep and has a beautiful water fall feature at one end, but please note neither of these pools are heated.
For those who don’t participate in the training there’s plenty of walking (the pub is only a short walk) and, if you’re really bored, why not test your cooking skills on everyone else?
I’ll be posting the shopping list in a week.
Please note, if you’re going and already have your name down, the full payment to the Centre, is due this week, so I’d appreciate it if you could pay in full as soon as possible.
See me at the Club for any further information or message me.

Finally, there are several events coming up in the next few weeks - the last senior T&F league match, the Durham Summer Relays, the Signal Relays and the Farringdon Relays. There are lists to put your name down for all of these events on the online noticeboard.

Please could you pass this message on to your club members? We are looking for volunteers to come and get involved at the inaugural Try on the Tyne on the Newcastle Gateshead Quayside on Saturday 10th August.  With sprint and standard distance Duathlons, 5K and 10K races along with junior events, we have lots going on so need your help to fill a number of roles including:
 
Radio Course Marshals
Course Marshals 
Finish Crew
Transition Crew 
Water Station Crew
 
All volunteers will be given an Events of the North jacket (to keep) and a packed lunch. Approximate timings are 07:30-14:30
 
To find out more or sign up please email volunteers@eventsofthenorth.com