Top spot for Birtley "Boys" at Wrekenton

Saturday 28th September saw the first harrier league match of the season taking place at the familiar Wrekenton course. The day began with unpromising weather (depending on your point of view!) but the sun broke through mid morning, and the decent weather held all day, providing almost perfect running conditions, along with a few puddles - not much of the famed harrier mud though, but there are bound to be plenty of future opportunities!
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The under 11s were first off, with Noah Williamson securing a 9th place finish in his first harrier run for Birtley, along with Callum Chambers, Gabriel Curtis and Curtis Fallon, while Skye Pottinger was the sole representative for the Birtley girls in the under 11 race.
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Next up were the u17 men, with Robbie Mumford performing well as the only Birtley runner in the pack, whilst the u17 women managed to get a full team out, finishing in 6th place - well done to Amy Drummond, Chloe Fairclough and Eve Southern. 
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The u15 boys race saw Birtley stalwart Chris Perkins finish in 11th place from the fast pack, with the fastest time of the day, a full 30 seconds ahead of his nearest rival - great running from Chris. George Beevers and Rowan Mason also ran well, bringing the Birtley team home in 6th position.
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The u15 girls were unusually thin on the ground yesterday - however, two girls ran, with Olivia Callaghan performing well, and Katie Francis running from the fast pack to finish in 16th position with the 4th best time of the day.
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The u13 boys were well represented, with Thomas Francis, Ben Brownless and Matthew Drummond making up the team to finish in 8th place overall in a competitive field, with Lewis Watson running well to support his team mates.
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The u13 girls finished in a great 7th place out of 18 teams, with 10th place finisher Daisy Graham heading the team lineup, followed by newcomers Terri Bouma and Ami-Leigh Dodds - well done girls! The team points were supported by great runs from Maggie Graham and Letitia Fallon.

Following on were the senior ladies, who performed well in what may be a record field of 500 runners! On the "undulating" course (which means a big hill in the middle!), Chloe Price finished 14th overall running from the medium pack, along with Lisa Short and Lorna Graham, with Kay Drummond running well to complete the all important team, with support from Julie Beevers and new to the league Zoe King. They finished in 4th place overall in the 2nd division - well done ladies. 
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​Finally, the Birtley lads hit the ground running, with some incredible performances and an amazing turnout of 14 athletes (pic below). Notable performances include Lewis McConnell, running as an u20 to finish in 5th place in a time of 34:42, with Peter Farnie and Zak Scott also finishing in the top 15 out of a field of 666 athletes (not sure if that number means something or not!). Adrian Bailes produced another great run from the fast pack to finish in a time of 32:39, the 9th fastest time of the day, with Darren Purvis and Greg Poulton getting the 18th and 20th fastest times. Nigel Simpson finished in an amazing 30th place in his first harrier league run, and he was joined by fellow newcomers Graeme Towers, Graeme Swaddle and Fionn Oakes - well done, hope you all enjoyed the experience! The men's field was completed by regulars Phil Atkinson, Dave Francis, Paul Noble and Paul Agnew, and the fantastic depth of our team produced a 1st place finish for the men in the 2nd division, let's aim to keep that place at the top of the league with a view to promotion next season!