8 runners from Tyne Bridge Harriers ventured to Thirsk today to take part in the re-scheduled Thirsk 10 hosted by Thirsk & Sowerby Harriers. Usually held in November, the 2010 race was postponed due to the severe winter weather conditions we experienced last year. Today’s re-scheduled event brought with it perfect running conditions and some excellent performances from the club.

Sean Kelly posts this article;

Thirsk 10

The Thirsk 10 Mile Road Race was eagerly anticipated by members of Tyne Bridge Harriers. We have all been encouraged by the superb training sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, supplemented by some very quick track sessions on Saturdays under the guidance of Dave Anderson. However, it’s fine to train hard and set impressive times in training but it’s another thing to deliver in the heat of competition…

Many of us have had little competition since we joined the newest and friendliest club in the North-East and we wondered how we would fare when subjected to the pressure, pain and exhaustion of a 10 mile road race.

There were eight members competing in the race. Our junior member (Leodhais) was looking after car and bus keys after his PB performance at the Newcastle Park Run on 26th March. His dad, Club Secretary, Kenny, was bursting with anticipation, eager to lay down a marker for 2011. As the race began, he went for it. He refused to play it safe as some others did and, after a mile, he was leading the rest of the Tyne Bridge Harriers.

David, Paul and Sean worked together up until the 5 mile marker. At this point, DD smoothly changed gear and drifted up through the field, eventually finishing in a time of 58m 08s. Paul and Sean were left to slog it out in the final mile with Sean managing to overturn a small lead Paul had built up between miles 5 and 7, finishing just ahead with a time of 58m 37s, with Paul slightly behind in 58m 48s. But Paul is starting to look like the strong performer that we all know about, and after setting his fastest 10 mile time in seven years we know there is certainly more to come.

But further ahead Kenny had set a magnificent personal best time of 57 minutes and 40 seconds. The two ‘Macs’ now have a new PB each to count in the inaugural Tyne Bridge Harriers ‘PB Cup’ competition.

Derek Reed ran very strongly to set an impressive time of 66 minutes 42 seconds. With more consistent training, Derek could soon be targeting a sub-60 minute time in the ten mile races. The iconic figure of Micky Baker was seen storming through the final mile, fresh from battling the Con-Dem government the previous day in London, he showed no signs of fatigue to set a time of 69 minutes and 12 seconds. A return to form from Micky after being plagued with niggles and colds for the past couple of months. With a lot of marathon training in his legs (and late night website tinkering), Rob Kirtley set a very encouraging time of 69 minutes and 22 seconds. We look forward to his forthcoming marathon escapades.

Special mention must go to the lone woman representing the club, Kerry Reed. She has sacrificed some training, helping our new club to develop and working with new members. Despite this, she managed to consolidate the fine performance that she had last November in Brampton, with a very creditable time of 75 minutes and 53 seconds. Well done Kerry!

There was a great mood in the minibus travelling home. If we had been eligible for a team prize, the men would have collected second in the senior men’s competition – not bad as three of the team are old men who will never see 40 again!

A great statement of intent from Tyne Bridge Harriers. The message is – We love competition and we want more! Bring it on!
SK

“I couldn’t have wished for a better race in which to make my debut as a Tyne Bridge Harrier. A great course, ideal running conditions, but more importantly, a tremendous effort by the whole club. And we finally, finally got to see Kenny Mac turn out a performance worthy of his huge talents”. DD

full results of the Thirsk 10 can be found at; ukresults.net