I’m not sure getting a coach at 7:30am is everyone’s favourite start to a Sunday but the Tyne Bridge Harrier Juniors didn’t seem to be phased and were quite bright eyed and bushy tailed as we set off to, probably, the most prestigious road running event in the Northern region, the Northern Athletics Road Relays at Sport City, Manchester. Some of the parents looked less ready to face the day!
After the aeroplane style safety announcement, minus the life jacket, the coach driver got us underway and before we knew it we were on the outskirts of Leeds with time to stop at some posh services i.e. they didn’t have a Greggs!
We arrived at the venue with slightly less time than we’d anticipated so had a dash to collect our numbers. I think this was the moment that many of the juniors appreciated the scale of the event as the Etihad Stadium rose in front of them. Fortunately we weren’t running in front of 40,000 spectators and were using the running facilities next door!
The U13 boys were the first to run with Henry Pickett on the 1st leg. Henry had a good run finishing in 14:33 for the 2.2 mile course and handed over to Charlie Kilgour who finished his race in 15:58.
Next up was Anna Carr, who covered the same course as the boys in a time of 16:35, she was followed by Poppy Colver in 16:21 and, completing the girls team was Eliza Palmer in a time of 17:28. The team were 29th in the whole of the Northern Region and the 3rd from the North East.
The U15 boys raced next with Freddie Palmer with the honours of the first leg. He had an excellent run, covering the same course as the U13s, and finishing in a time of 11:55. Lucas Powell ran next, despite waking with an uncomfortable crick in his next he was determined to represent the team and did a sterling job to run 16:08. Liam Whitelaw had the anchor leg and finished in 13:52 to secure a 38th place finish.
The U15 girls were represented by Ruby Colver who also battled through some discomfort to finish her leg in 16:12.
The U17 men started sharply with Zak Kettle coming home in an excellent 7th place with a time of 12:06, covering a longer course than the younger age groups. He passed the baton to David Carr who completed the course in 13:01 and Jake Moir crossed the line in 13:45 to secure the highest ranked TBH team of the day in 15th place.
The kids then enjoyed the spectacle of the older generations trudge, plod and generally survive their runs as they took part in the men’s 6 stage and women’s 4 stage relays.
We arrived home weary from a long day but the kids should be very pleased with their efforts.
Ian
(PS I haven’t seen any other photos so feel free to send them my way if you do).
One response
Great. I love “trudge, plod and generally survive”
Thanks for looking out for / tolerating Anna and David.