Well done to everyone who braved the elements on Saturday to compete at the Harrier League match at Aykley Heads - the rain never let up, and neither did their team spirit! 
In the u11s race, Noah Williamson didn't let the rain deter him (or fellow team mates Bradley Thwaites and Gabriel Curtis), ending up with a fantastic second place finish and a silver medal. The u11 girls race had two Birtley girls, Skye Pottinger and Poppy Graham - well done to them for surviving the mud!

The u13 boys team finished in 5th place, with strong performances by Thomas Francis, Matthew Drummond and Lewis Watson, whilst Maggie Graham showed her sister Daisy a (not-so) clean pair of heels in the u13 girls race.

In the u15 boys race, accompanied by team mate George Beevers, Chris Perkins put in a sterling performance to finish in 5th place running from the fast pack, with the fastest time of the race (almost 30 seconds clear of the next fastest runner!), whilst Katie Francis also ran extremely well, finishing in 3rd place overall from the fast pack as the only Birtley runner.

Robbie Mumford ignored the rain to put in a solo performance in the u17 men's race, whilst the u17 girls managed to get a full team out, with Tess Graham winning the race from the slow pack, along with team mates Amy Drummond and Chloe Fairclough who put in great performances too to bring the girls team home in first place - well done ladies!

The senior men had a great turnout, fielding two teams to finish in 3rd and 12th places in division 2 - well done to Darren, Lewis, Nigel, Kel (running his first XC for Birtley), Greg and Paul N in the A team, with Phil, David, Lee, Keith, Graeme and Andrew in the B team, not forgetting Paul Agnew who made it a baker's dozen on the day!

The Birtley ladies managed a strong half dozen, with team counters of Lorna Graham, Lisa Short, Kay Drummond and Shannel Curtis, plus Rebecca Pottinger and Julie Beevers completing the line up.

Both the men's team and the girl's u17s team are currently lying at the top of their league table, giving them a good chance of promotion next year - let's keep the pressure on the other teams by getting as many people out as possible in the last few fixtures!

Karl Oakes is the lucky recipient of the club entry for London Marathon 2020, following a draw which took place at our monthly meeting on Tuesday evening. The reserve position goes to Paul Agnew, whilst second reserve place goes to Lee Drummond. Congratulations Karl, we're sure you'll do the club proud on the day!

Over the tough multi terrain at Slaley Hall 10k
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Rebecca Pottinger
Karen Carr
Stephanie Young
Kay Drummond
Lee Drummond
Rebbecca’s comment “Tough run for us 5 at Slaley Hall 10k with plenty mud and puddles. Great performances all around on a great course.”
Well done everyone!!

Reports by Tom Millmore

Finally, Phil Atkinson ran a cold, wet and muddy 5k trail race at Wynyard this morning - well done to him, and anyone else who competed this weekend! 

Saturday saw upcoming youngster Chris Perkins and Katie Francis take on the Cross Challenge at Milton Keynes, an event in which only a select few from our club have competed over the last few years, including current members Lydia Turner, Adrian Bailes and Sophie Burnett. Katie ran very well in a strong field, finishing in 11th place, while Chris not only took on the challenge, but managed an outright win in the U15 race - congratulations to both athletes on some great runing!

Sunday was, of course, Remembrance Sunday, and following the traditional minute's silence at 11am, lots of Birtley athletes competed in the popular Heaton Memorial 10k. As well as lots of PBs for the individual athletes, the men's team came 2nd overall in what is a very competitive race - well done to all who ran.  Results will be linked on our results page as soon as they are available.

...but that didn't dampen the spirits of our young athletes, who threw themselves into the DABGC XC Champs with enthusiasm on a damp Sunday morning. The event was well attended by several local clubs including Low Fell and Houghton, and the wet and muddy course proved to be quite a challenge for many of the youngsters, some of whom were having their first taste of cross country (though hopefully not their last!). 
Well done to the Birtley u11 boys team who were victorious on the day (apologies if other Birtley teams also won, I wasn't there yesterday and there are no results posted yet - please let me know if I need to include more teams!)
Many thanks to the stalwart volunteers, without whom the event couldn't have happened - your help is greatly appreciated by the club and by those who participated.

Saturday also some some cross country action, this time the prestigious National XC Relay Champs, which took place at Mansfield. The following report is by Tommy Millmore:-
National Cross Country Relays, Mansfield, 2nd November 2019
Despite only 3 Team Birtley athletes travelling to Mansfield to race in an incomplete Senior Men’s team, there were still good performances and experience gained by mixing with the best in the country. The conditions were very wet and muddy, an added bonus to an already good course.
Tom Goulding went off 1st and after a solid leg came back in 48th then Greg Poulton was next showing continued progress with his racing returning in 55th position, Adrian Bailes took on the 3rd leg and moved through the field to 37th, and with 161 full teams finishing, surely with another 4th athlete the team would have been top 50 (not too bad for a small club on the National stage, although that’s all hindsight).
Well done you three, and I’m sure you’ve gained from the experience.
Oh and 1st incomplete team, as Adrian says “we’ll take that”!!

...just in case you were wondering! A little bit of rain isn't going to stop us, so we hope to see you all there this morning :)