Hartlepool Burn Road Harriers busy competing in road, fell and trail races

The Norman Woodcock 5 Mile Race is held annually in Newcastle.

The course is flat and fast, apart from one section of incline in each of the three laps and some very strong wind on the day to slow people down.

Hartlepool Burn Road Harrier Bryan Astill had a fantastic run in the bad conditions, crossing the finish line in 30:20 and claiming the male first Vet50 prize.

Richard Hambly was the next Harrier to finish in a time of 32:47, knowling over two minutes off his previous best over five miles.

Simon Lawlor has had a great season and adds another personal best run to his long list.

His best time over five miles was 39:08 run in 2014 at the Marina 5 Mile Road Race in Hartlepool.

At Newcastle he ran 35:40, three and a half minutes faster.

Jo Beddow and Carl Marchant supported one another around the course, digging in to cross the finish line together, Jo secured a personal best of 37:06 PB and a prize for third Vet 40.

The best times kept coming, with Claire Earle completing the Burn Road team with a 40:54 run, almost three minutes faster than her previous best.

The same day, Saturday, November 5, saw the Kilburn Kanter Fell Race take place.

Andrew Minister was the lone Harrier racing on this occasion in a race hosted by the North Yorkshire Long Distance Walkers Association.

Andrew is no stranger to this race and took his place on the start line with 141 other fell runners.

He safely negotiated his way around the course and the seven mandatory checkpoints to win the race in 4 hours and 1 minute.

An exceptional performance from Andrew who is very much at home racing on the fells.

The Stockton Trail Race Winter Series Billingham Beck Country Park 5k Race was also staged the following day.

This is a new fixture in the race series and the course was slightly short, but very muddy and enjoyable trail running.

Hartlepool Burn Road Harrier Graham Jones led the town’s contingency around the course, finishing an impressive 15th of 182 runners in a time of 19:31.

Bill Hornby was the second Harrier to power round the course, crossing the line 30th in 21:07.

Simon Lawlor was racing on tired legs from the previous day’s run at Newcastle, but held on to cross the line in an impressive time of 21:25. Phillip Thompson had a solid run in 22:01.

Nigel Shaw always performs consistently well, enjoying the Billingham Beck run he strode to the end in 22;52, followed by Alan Bell in 22:53.

The first female Harrier to cross the line was Laura Jones in 23:15.

Scott Llewellyn was racing for the first time as a Hartlepool Burn Road Harrier and did the club proud with his gritty performance, finishing in 25:10.

Jan Naisbitt just missed out on the female Vet50 prize by five seconds, racing to the end in 25:32, with Claire Earle racing on fatigued legs running home next in 26:44.

Claire Gascoigne was another running for the first time in her HBRH vest, again performing exceptionally well to finish in 28:16 and gaining race experience for her next run with the Harriers. Angela Lawlor continues her return to full fitness and had a good run to cross the line in 28:43, followed by Julie McGrath in 30:28.

Lauren Earle has recently joined the club after starting in the Beginners Group on a Wednesday night.

The Beginners Group is there to support anybody new to running and is delivered by HBRH UKA qualified coaches from Newburn Bridge car park every Wednesday at 7pm.

There is no pressure to race or join in other training sessions, but some runners decide to do so and Lauren has also begun running with the HBRH coached group sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as participating in parkruns on a Saturday morning.

All of this hard work paid off and Lauren had a great run to finish in 30:42 to the applause of her team mates.

Pauline Ranson is a very experienced runner and a life member of Burn Road Harriers.

She crossed the line in 31:22, followed by Christopher McGrath in 35:17.

Anyone wanting more information about running with the harriers can access this online at www.hartlepoolburnroad.co.uk