NEHL Alnwick, 1st March 2025

For the second season running, the wonderful settings of The Pastures at Alnwick will not bring the curtain down on the North Eastern Harrier League due to the re-scheduled meeting at Druridge Bay later in the month. Although thankful that a new date could be found, it is somehow disappointing not to finish at most runners’ favourite course (especially as I can’t make the re-arranged date!).

One thing was definitely different from last year – the weather. Thankfully, instead of ankle-deep mud, torrential rain, cold and hail, we were treated to a nice dry day, not too cold and, by North East standards, not much wind. The course was in great condition, with just a few, short patches of mud. Even the path through the woods was fairly hazard free, so some fast times could be expected.

First off, and the first of a trio of O’Briens, was Danielle in the under 11 girls’ race. Although obviously much shorter than the senior runs, the youngest are not spared the hill as the course is pretty much a straight up and down before using the same finishing straight as the other races. Dani is at the young end of the age group, but always puts in a determined run and is showing great promise for the future.

We had 12 runners in the next race – 11 ladies and Bill Milbourne competing in the over 65 men’s category. This season’s start times mean that the men can’t watch the end of the women’s race, which is a shame, but we could tell that there were good runs happening as they past us at the end of the first lap, led by Chloe Glover. Chloe went on to lead the team home, with an excellent top 50 finish. Sonja Fenske was the fastest on the day, coming through from the medium pack to be 2nd counter. Cate Walker was next, before our other two medium-packers, Julie Cross and Nicki O’Brien finished just seconds apart.

There was a bit of drama nearer the back of the field as the marshals mistook Bill for an elite athlete at the front of the men’s race and tried to send him around for an extra lap! Despite this little diversion, Bill still dipped under 50 minutes to be first in his age group (MV75).

Finally it was the turn of the men. Thanks to the third O’Brien, Dean, stepping in as a late substitute, we had a full complement of 6 to make up a team – as long as we all got around the 3 laps in one piece, something that was worrying me as this was by far the biggest test yet on my road to recovery from injury. Trying to be sensible, I started with David Lydall and Dean, hoping that they would keep me right. In fact, David and I were close together for the first two laps. I was ever so slightly ahead of David as we turned along the path at the bottom of the course, with views of the castle on our left. It was here that I thought “Right, no real pain so far, so let’s see if I can stay in front of Dave till the end!”. Nothing like a bit of friendly rivalry with a team mate for motivation! Though I was tiring on the 3rd lap, this did give me the determination and willpower to push on – thanks, Dave!

Mark Anderson, starting in the medium pack, managed to just edge out Alex Taylor to bring the team home. It was Alex’s first “proper” Harrier League outing, having made his cross-country debut in the Sherman Cup, and, to overtake him, Mark had improved his time by over 6 minutes from last year (I did say fast times were to be expected). There was then quite a big gap to Roberto Marzo and the rest of us!

As ever, the Claremont bakers had laid on a fantastic spread. Thanks to all, but a special mention to Ann Smith for the ginger cake, which I loved.

Although there is still one race to go, we Claremonters are traditionalists, so we still had our end of season celebratory meal that evening. This year we sampled the delights of the Dosa Kitchen in Jesmond – many thanks to Mark Anderson for organising it.

Under 11 Girls
Position	Runner	Time
54	Danielle O’Brien	5:43

Women
Position	Runner	Time
47	Chloe Glover	35:12
111	Sonja Fenske	36:52 (medium pack, actual time 34:32)
142	Cate Walker	37:53
146	Julie Cross	38:02 (medium pack, actual time 35:42)
154	Nicki O’Brien	38:09 (medium pack, actual time 35:49)
172	Yana Bevan	38:48
178	Nina Jensen	38:57
221	Hazel Juggins	41:17
247	Gill Milne	43:37
283	Cath Robson	48:30
287	Ann Smith	49:06

Over 65 Men
Position	Runner	Time
11	Bill Milbourne	49:59

Men
Position	Runner	Time
69	Mark Anderson	44:27 (medium pack, actual time 41:57)
76	Alex Taylor	44:43
233	Roberto Marzo	49:15
292	Tom Tinsley	52:22
301	David Lydall	52:50
346	Dean O’Brien	56:03