This year’s cross-country season was off to a great start yesterday at Wrekenton! Despite a rainy and windy start in the morning and as we arrived, partway through the ladies race the sun decided to come out and stayed out all the way through the men’s race too. With some Claremonters away on holiday, honeymoon …

A message from your team captains: It’s good to have so many runners being registered with the NE Harrier League for the new cross-country season. Cross-country races are a great opportunity to get involved with the club, to get out inthe great outdoors, and to test your fitness and hone your performance in some challengingconditions …

Though there was a bit of a chilly breeze, we couldn’t have asked for better weather to finish the North Eastern Harrier League season at Alnwick. Blue skies with just a few fluffy white clouds added to the perfect backdrop provided by Alnwick Castle at this most picturesque of cross-country venues. Most of the course …

Though part of the North Eastern Harrier League season, this is a stand-alone event with prizes being awarded to the club that achieves the best results over all the categories from juniors to veterans (Sherman Cup for the men, Davison Shield for the ladies). Unlike the Harrier League, there are separate categories in the main …

Although run by the North East Masters Athletic Association (NEMAA), this cross-country event is open to all veterans living or born in the North East, not just members of the NEMAA. I ran it for the first time two years, just before the pandemic shut everything down. I found it to be a really nice …

Laurie Johnson took this video of Gill giving an object lesson (assisted by Tom) in how to roll the club tent at the end of the day’s running. On seeing the video, Gill declared “Think that’s Girl Guides (me & Catherine Robson) 2 – The Army 1 on getting tent plus poles into the same …

The January cross-country relay now seems to be firmly established on this course at the Lord Lawson Academy, having moved from Durham a few years ago.  The school makes for an excellent venue and Birtley AC make the most of the school grounds to make a, winding course of 1500 metres around the grounds.  This …

Mud, glorious mud … Thornley Hall Farm has a reputation as a muddy course, and it certainly didn’t disappoint this year! The melting of the recent snow and ice, combined with overnight and morning rain meant the going could definitely be described as “soft”, if not “heavy”. First out in sky blue was Grace Scott …

The North East Counties cross-country championships took place in Sedgefield this year. Kris Axon sends us this excellent report: “Yesterday saw a slightly depleted Claremont squad run in the North Eastern XC championships at Sedgefield. Some would say the sensible ones were those who chose not to race in the wind and rain; but those …

It takes more than Storm Arwen to stop the Harrier League! Although numbers were down, probably due to travel difficulties, there were still plenty of hardy souls prepared to take on the wind, mud and snow at what is always a tough course at Aykley Heads in Durham. Although we didn’t have enough to make …