Photo: Quakers at the Pine Forest 5k (photo courtesy of Simon R)
The second half of July has seen Quakers taking part in road, trail and fell across all the distances from 1 mile to 105 miles!
18th July: Muddy Roads – Pine Forest 5k
This was the 4th of the 6 Muddy Road series of races, taking place over at Flatts Lane.
Rob Dent was first Quaker home in 9th place overall in 22:13 and 2nd in age category, followed by Martyn Farnsworth (23:24), Lou Trainor (25:27 and 1st in age category), Dave Murphy (25:53), Rob Gillham (26:33), Sue Sparrow (29:55 and 3rd in age category), Simon Rek (30:19), Gill Colling (32:15 and 2nd in age category) and John Yeomans (34:52).
18th – 20th July: Durham City Run Festival – 10k (Championship Race) and 5k
There was a new start location this year, from the Radisson Blu hotel with entrants starting with an ascent up South Street before weaving over the River Wear and across the finish line at Palace Green, outside Durham Cathedral.
In the 5k event, Diane Vaughan finished in 24:25 and 2nd in age category and Dave Keenan in 39:37.
In the 10k event, Dawn Richardson finished in 41:43 and 1st in age category, followed by Rachel Grayson (58:14), Anthony Corbett (59:02), Melissa Hird (1:01), Jo Meynell (1:02), Rebecca Howard (1:05) and Lisa Quinney (1:10 & PB).
20th July: parkrun – Darlington South Park
At Darlington South Park, Marc Ellis finished in 3rd place overall (and 3rd male) in 18:16 whilst Dawn Richardson was 1st female finisher in 20:13
20th July: Swinner Swagger
This route is the second half of the DR30 route with a 10 mile loop ascending Swinner Gill in all its glory. Entrants run a loop through Hartlakes to Keld, over Swinner Gill with a great long descent towards Gunnerside and following the river Swale back to the finish line. The route consists of grassy paths, shooters track and a couple of short road sections.
Diane Lockhart and John Harrison completed the event in 2:14. Diane was 3rd in age category (top 3 finishers excluded) and John was 1st in age category.
20th July: Bishop Wilton Beast (9 miles)
This race starts and finishes in the Bishop Wilton Show showground in the Yorkshire Wolds with stunning views over the Vale of York and beyond. The course contains steep climbs, lovely descents and the “Beast!” a short, but steep hill which runners go down it before they have to go back up it! This is a good challenge for the experienced runner, but also a great introduction to running off road too. It is fully marshalled and sign posted; no navigation skills are required and there is no cut off time, you can take all day if you like!
Lou Trainor was the only Quaker taking part, finishing in 1:03 and 1st in age category.
21st July: Northumberland Coastal Run
Organised by Alnwick Harriers, this 14 mile run heads through an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty along the Northumberland coastal path from Beadnell Harbour to Alnmouth Estuary, keeping as close to the coast as possible. The route starts on sand, then onto road, sand, trail, road and finishes on sand at Alnmouth.
Deborah Berry completed the race in 2:04 and Andrew Walker in 3:07.
24th July: Darlington Trail 5k Series Run 6 – Baydale Beck 5K
This was the 6th of the series and described as ‘trail, open to any level of ability from a club runner to a recreation runner. This route offers a mix of terrain from tarmac to woodland, mainly flat and fast but with a few cheeky inclines’.
Ian Burgess finished the race in 24:59, followed by Jeff Marriott (32:34) and Berni Gibson (36:29).
24th July: Willow Miner Trail Race (Championship Race)
This is a beautiful summer evening trail race in Durham across woodland, meadow and riverbank, passing the local landmarks of the Willow Miner and Willow Lady, of approximately 5.4 miles (8.7km) with 500 feet (150m) of ascent.
The course covers 5.4 miles of beautiful trail through woodland and nature reserve, those returning to the race can witness how the woodland trust has grown and matured since the inception of the event. After a winding start through Houghall woods, the course drops into the undulating section of the Durham Woodland Trust, climbing up to views over the River Wear and Croxdale Woods before descending to wildflower meadows and around to the Willow Lady. A single-track section along the bank of the River Wear leads to a climb up towards the Willow Miner, before traversing back to Houghall Woods and the finish. The route will be fully marked and marshalled so no navigational experience is required.
Rob Dent was first Quaker to finish the race in 42:21, followed by Martyn Farnsworth (42:25), Rob Gillham (44:05) and Lou Trainor (44:54 and 2nd in age category).
25th July: Monthly mile – event 4 (South Park)
Organised by Darlington Harriers, this event is part of a series of 6 that take place in South Park.
Dave Jones completed the mile in 5:54 (club record), followed by Ian Burgess (6:29 and 1st in age category) and Carys Samuel (6:40, 3rd in age category and club record).
The next monthly mile event is on 22nd August.
26th – 28th July: Montane Lakeland 100
This ‘Ultra Tour of the Lake District’ bills itself as the most spectacular long distance trail race to have ever taken place within the UK. The 100 (105) mile route takes in all the Lakeland fells and features around 6300m of ascent – beginning and ending at John Ruskin School in Coniston Competitors initially head south before completing a clockwise circuit taking in the Dunnerdale fells, Eskdale, Wasdale and Buttermere before arriving in Keswick. From here, runners proceed to Matterdale and continue over to Haweswater before returning via Kentmere, Ambleside and Elterwater to the finish at Coniston. The route avoids the popular tourist summits of the area, instead weaving runners through the Lake Districts stunning valleys, picturesque fells and places few runners have the chance to tread.
Emily Beaumont completed this very challenging event in 38:53. There were 82 competitors in this category, 46 finishers and 36 retiring along the way.
27th July: Montane Lakeland 50
Its sister race, the Lakeland 50, has 9728ft of climb and takes place over the same weekend, covering the second half of the full course. The route starts from the Northern end of Ullswater within the grand Dalemain Estate before following the Eastern shore line as far as Howtown. A quick climb and descent followed by a trek along the banks of Haweswater sees runners at Mardale Head. The route from here visits Long Sleddale, Kentmere, Ambleside, Langdale and Tilberthwaite before the final climb and descent to the finish at Coniston. There were 1263 finishers and 114 who retired.
David Thompson completed the event in 13:28, 1st in age category and knocking an hour of last year’s time!
27th July: parkruns: Darlington South Park, Chopwell Wood and Hamsterley Forest
At Darlington South Park, Stephen Smedley knocked another second off his PB from last week to finish in 38:08 – this is Stephen’s 7th PB this year, so far!
At Chopwell Wood, Diane Lockhart was 3rd female finisher in 26:38 and at Hamsterley Forest, David Aiken was 4th finisher overall in 22:52 and Rebecca Howard finished in 7th pace overall and 1st female in 23:51.
28th July: James Herriot 14k
This trail race takes place over moorland tracks and paths near Castle Bolton in Wensleydale by kind permission of Lord Bolton.
Rob Gillham was first Quaker home in 1:17, followed by Michael Thompson (1:21), Chris Evans (1:29), Helen Clark (1:40) and Julie Bell (1:52).
28th July: Darlington Trails 10k
Starting at Low Coniscliffe, this was a 2 lap course once entrants had ran over the bridge which goes over the A1.
Ian Burgess completed the route in 1:02.
28th July: More Than a Run Ormesby 10k
This 10k event takes place monthly on the 4th Sunday of the month in the grounds of Ormesby Hall. (No need to book – simply show up on the day) The run briefing is held at 8:55am in front of the mansion with the run starting at 9am. The route takes runners up through the farmland and woods, down the drive and through the Pennyman Woods. The terrain consists of tarmac and gravel driveways, field margins and woodland trails. This was the event’s 6th birthday!
Dave Murphy completed the route in 50:54 (2nd in age category) followed by April Corbett (55:00 and 1st in age category) and Anthony Corbett (58:51).
29th July: NEMAA (North East Masters Athletics Association)
Viv Hardwick was 1st in his age category in the 3000m with a time of 14.46.0, 2nd in age category for 100m with a time of 17.5 and 1st in age category for 400m with a time of 1:28.5
With meeting 6 to go, Viv is in 1st place in the Sprint League and Middle Distance League.
30th July: Cotherstone 10k (5k and children’s fun run also available)
This 2 lap race raised funds for Great North Air Ambulance Service and Pancreatic Cancer. Starting at Doe Park Caravan site and personally timed by runners.
Dawn Richardson was first lady finisher.
Special mentions:
Congratulations and well done to QRC members that have achieved ‘unofficial’ parkrun milestones over the last fortnight!
Quakers beginners’ group
Congratulations to Quakers Graduates who have completed 10 weeks of couch to 5k and ran at parkrun on 20th July.
Quakers takeover at parkrun
Thank you and well done to all involved with the volunteer takeover at Darlington South Park parkrun on 20th July. All the roles were filled, including pacers.
parkrun tourism
Well done to those who took part in the QRC tourism at Chopwell Wood parkrun on 27th July. The next one will be at North Yorkshire Water Park on 31st August. Information below:
Two laps of the watersports lake along a compacted level gravel track. Start and finish is close to the car park, first aid room, café and toilets. Toilets are located at North Yorkshire Water Park Café next to the main car park. There is a function room, changing rooms and showers. A shop also sells watersport equipment. Activities available onsite: Open water swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing, aquapark and wakeboarding are also available along with a campsite within the park.
Lakeland Runners
Well done to all QRC competitors whether they completed the full distance or not. It takes some courage to attempt this number of miles, especially when it is an ultra that is so difficult with a high percentage of runners not being able to finish or being timed out at checkpoints.
A shout out for the following members who gave it their all…
- Hayley Addison who completed just over 82 miles of the 105 mile event in 32:31, before retiring at Kentmere. There were 82 competitors in this category, 46 finishers and 36 retiring along the way.
- Billy Harris who completed 49 miles (according to the official website distances) retiring at Dockray in a time of 15:44:03. There were 38 runners in his category with 22 finishers and 16 retiring.
- Wendy Colling completed 26.3 miles in 9:50:59. There were 42 competitors in this category, 22 finishers and 20 retired.
You are all amazing and everyone at QRC is very proud of you all!