Gosforth Harriers and Athletic Club

The following advice has been issued by England Athletics:

"England Athletics advises that all face-to-face activity such as club training sessions, events, competitions, club committee and face-to-face meetings, athlete camps, running groups and social events should be suspended until at least the end of April"

As a result all Gosforth Harriers training sessions and club activites will be suspended with immediate effect until the end of April at the earliest.

We will continue to follow the advice of the government and will post updates as and when the situation changes.

From Monday 9th September Beginners group will meet at Gosforth Central park instead of the Gosforth park (race course) for autumn/winter. The park is fully lit. 

Well done to the following Gosforth Harriers who represented the club in this event and did us proud. Ben Moore who came 4th, Andrew Heppell who came 8th, Elaine McKechnie who was 1st FV40 and Fiona Waugh who was guide running. 

Thank you to everyone who helped to make this event such a success! A great day was had by all and it couldn't of happened without your support. Special thank you to Colin Christie for the fantastic photos. 

If you haven't already done so, please purchase a ticket for the sporting social event of the year, for the bargain price of £6. Kevin Spreadbury and Steve Boddy are your men if you want to purchase tickets. There will be a quiz and a raffle so please remember to bring a prize for the raffle as money made from this will go into club funds. 

Well done to the following Harriers who participated in this event - Silas Christie who came 3rd in the 5k event - Fantastic result Silas! Kieron Mutch came in at an amazing 2nd place - well done Kieron, amazing result. Great results for the green and whites!

Let Steve Bond know if you'd like to participate. There are relays for U11,U13, U15, U17 and seniors in the following distances - 4x100, 4x400, 4x200 and 4x800. Each club can only enter two teams for each event.

14th September - Farringdon XC races

28th September - Wrekenton Harrier League

6th October - Druridge Bay Harrier league

19th October - North XC Relays Sheffield

26th October - Harrier league - TBC

2nd November - National XC relays - TBC

23rd November - Aykley Heads Harrier league

14th December - NE XC Championships Alnwick

4th January - Sherman/Davison, South Shields

25th January - Northern XC championships, Blackburn

8th February - Thornley Harrier league

22nd February - National XC championships, Nottingham

29th February - Alnwick Harrier league

Rhian Purves has left for pastures new, to North Carolina to commence her Astrophysics degree and athletics training. We wish her all the very best and we know she will be a great success over there. Keep in touch Rhian! We will be keeping a close eye on all your achievements! (especially Colin! :) )

Well done to those who competed in the above event this season and did the club proud. The following athletes who deserve a pat on the back are; Andy Heppell, Neil Ramsay, Sasha Gartside, Steve Boddy, Fiona Waugh, Matt Gwilym, Al Johnson and Steve Bond.

A huge congtratulations to all our young athletes who participated in the above events this season. Watching our younger athletes grow in both confidence and performance is such a rewarding experience for the club and shows how with dedication, commitment and hard work you can reach for the stars. Thank you for making us proud! 

Lewis did the club proud in the above event coming 35th in his first ever 10k. Way to go Lewis, congratulations on a fantastic result.

Fantastic result for David, who was the first V.I. runner across the line at the Gates 10k on 7th July. Well done David.

Fantastic result for Silvie - 2nd V45 female in the Bridges of the Tyne race. This racing malarky is paying off with a princely sum of £40 prize money! Way to go Silvie - all the Zumba is paying off!!

Fantastic result for Anna Fletcher who came 3rd Lady in the Angel View Run - way to go Anna! Well done to everyone who took part in the event and did the club proud.

Elaine Mckechnie was the first lady over the line in the Penshaw Monument Trail Half Marathon. Fantastic result Elaine, well done! We are so proud of you.

Good turn out from the Green and Whites at the Weetslade Relays. Thank you for representing the club and doing us proud.Special mention to Zack Wylie who was the 3rd fastest male, with a time of 13.58. 

Another fantastic competition with real commitment, consistency and enthusiasm. 

Trophies go to:

1st Hannah Sykes

2nd Lilia

3rd - Anya

well done girls!!

Well done Gosforth Harriers - a brilliant turn out for this iconic race. The club is so proud of everyone who represented the club. 

Way to go Silas! Silas put in an impressive performance to come 6th out of 250 children in a time of 18 mins 33 seconds. All the hard work's paying off!

Well done to Andrew Heppell, Al Johnson, Steve Boddy, Steve Bond and representing the ladies - Sasha Gartside. This event is open to anyone age 35yrs and over and the next fixture is the 3rd June 2019. Any takers?

Well done to Elaine McKechnie, Hayley Carr, Angela Richardson supported by Jenny Graham, Niamh Bell and Ella lea. Fantastic Running Ladies.

Well done to all the runners who set their alarm clock on an early, misty Good Friday morning to participate in the relays. It was a fantastic turn out by the club and everyone did us proud.

Congratulations to the U13 Girls 1st team (Faye Landless, Hannah Wightman and Alice Lewis) who won their race. Amazing running girls - we are very proud of you.

Fantastic achievement for Ethan Bond who was 5th in U13 Boys Relay. Well done Ethan, keep up the good work.

A big well done to the Senior Women's A team (Helen Warburton, Rhian Purves and Katie Mellor) who came in at second place, after giving Laura Weightman and her team mates a run for their money! Fantastic achievement.

From Monday 22nd April 2019, all juniors will be meet in Gosforth Park opposite the Border Minstrel pub.

On the 22nd we'll also meet at 10am as it's a Bank Holiday.

Thursday night training will also start from the same place - meeting at 6.45pm for a 6.50pm start.

This will continue throughout the summer.

The first NEYDL fixture of the season is on Sunday 28th April at Churchill Playing Fields in Whitley Bay. For more information click on the link below

We are hoping to host the annual Gosforth Summer Relays on Sunday 4th August.  As always we will need lots of help before the race and lots of volunteers on the day.  Please refuse all other offers and save the date. Please let committee@gosforth-harriers.org know if you can help.

Wallsend Gordon Smith Relays - Wednesday 8th May 2019

A great turn out by the green and whites for this event. Well done to Andrew Heppell, Ben Moore and Zack Wylie who came an impressive 5th out of 75 in the mens 3x2 mile relay. The ladies relay teams were equally out in force. Well done on an impressive performance by Sarah Seymour, Anna Fletcher and Elaine McKechnie who came 9th out of 70 teams. Fantastic performance from everyone who took part. 

Thanks to a kind donation from John Reed associates, the committee is able to offer some financial support to junior members who wish to compete and represent the club outside of the region.  We can contribute to travel and/or accommodation costs.  Please contact the committee if you wish to apply for support.

Read All About It!

Neil Ramsay has been writing a blog for the last couple of years about his races. It's always an interesting read and it's good to hear a different perspective on races you were involved in.

If you want to read Neil's blog it's here:

https://neilramsay.wordpress.com/

The girls are flying again...

Congratulations to Rhian Purves who beat a 5 year old road 5k club record as she cruised to victory at the Simply Health Great North 5k in 18:50- well done Rhian

More congratulations to Faye Landless who beat her own 100m record when she came in in 13.9s at Hexham.  Keep it up Faye

I have to announce the passing of a dear old friend and Gosforth Harrier, Bill Flannigan, who died on the 3rd of September 2018. Bill joined the club in 1958, holding the job of secretary and chairman, and also coach. Bill was always enthusiastic about his running. Through hard work, building up to training 3 times a day at his peak, he produced, by todays standards some very good times at various distances.

Bill gave a lot of his time to coaching, organising our club presentation nights, and the then very popular Gosforth Road Relays.

Even now 60yrs later and with a lifetime in screen printing, we still use items printed by him.

I believe that by Bill's doggedness in his training outlook, he helped me become a much better runner, and probably changed the mindset of anyone who trained with him, as to what hard training runs entailed.

Bill was a one off. RIP old friend.

Colin Haggie President of Gosforth Harriers.

The club would like to congratulate Faye Landless on her recent record breaking triumph over 200m.  Faye, who was already the holder of the club U13 girls 200m record, took a massive 0.3 s off her own pb to record a club record of 27.6 s.

Well done Faye!! this goes down in history.

Faye has also recently broken the club 100m and 150m records which had been held for 55 and 14 years, respectively.  Fantastic work.

For those who are aiming high, club records are listed on the club record page

There are new laws which come into effect on May 25th 2018 which require all members to give their consent for their personal data to be shared with England Athletics.

If you have not already done so, please click here https://www.gosforth-harriers.org/consent
and follow the on screen instructions. If you are completing the form on behalf of your child, it's their name that needs to be entered, not yours. We must have a form for every member.

If you have not given express consent to share your details before 25th May, we will have to delete your records and you can no longer be a member of the club or be registered with England Athletics- It's that serious!!

Faye Landlass has set a new U13 girls club record of 27.9s in the 200m at the NEYDL.  Well done Faye!

To check out all the club records go to the track and field or road records pages

From Monday 8th May for the FORESEEABLE FUTURE  IE DURING THE SUMMER, Monday night training for 'Colin's group' will begin and end at the Border Minstrel carpark, Gosforth Park.  Juniors should meet from 7:00 and be ready to run at 7:15.  Parents should be ready to pick juniors up at 8:00

The group of juniors is now very large and of quite mixed ability.  Training within Gosforth Park during the summer makes it much easier for the coaches to deliver the appropriate training sessions for everyone while keeping all youngsters safe.  We realise that it may be less convenient for some parents to get their children to Gosforth park but hope that you will support this move.

Note this includes juniors who normally go out on the roads with Colin, Steve Bond, Neil Ramsay, Kevin Spreadbury, Paul Waggott.  Beginner juniors who train on the field will continue to do so.

Newburn River Run 

The Elswick Harriers Newburn River Run takes place on Wednesday 12th June 2019. Postal entry and online entry closes 7th June at 6pm. This is an excellent race and very scenic. It would be nice to have a good turnout from the club.

More info and entry details here:

http://www.elswickharriers.org.uk/elswickharriers/?page_id=866

The club has a growing membership and is keen to increase the quota of qualified coaches and volunteers.

The club can offer financial support to any member to gain a formal coaching qualification as long as they will commit to using that qualification for the benefit of the club e.g. helping out with coaching on a flexible basis when needed.  UK athletics runs coaching courses locally at coaching assistant and higher levels.  Please contact Sasha or committee@gosforth-harriers.org for details.

This is an appeal to anybody who can help out with the coaching and supervision of the Monday night (6pm) beginners' and junior training group. We have an ever increasing number of new beginners and juniors, and currently do not have enough adults to service this need.

Steve Boddy, Irene Ewart, Kevin Spreadbury, Paul Waggot, Steve Bond and Co have done a brilliant job in co-ordinating the training, however, they need our support from parents or other members of the club.

We hope to set up a rota with 5 adults available each Monday night to assist the junior session. We need supervision for the juniors who train on the playing field at the clubhouse as well as for those that go out running on the roads. Parents of juniors are particularly encouraged to help out- you don't have to be a runner!. 

Please contact committee@gosforth-harriers.org or message via facebook.

Once we know roughly how many adults we have available, we can start to think about how to organise a rota that will work for everybody.

Kit man Kevin has a few limited edition T shirts left printed with Drew Graham's painting. The shirts are £12 and all profits are going to the rehabilitation fund for Drew who was badly injured in an accident last September.

The T shirt is available in junior and senior sizes- see Kevin to place your order.

Subs are due.  You can pay by bank transfer into the Gosforth Harriers TSB account

account number 10542768 and sort code77-20-33.

Please make sure it is clear who you are paying for in the reference.  If you wish to pay quarterly divide the total approximately by 4 and make a note in the reference (e.g. Brown Jnr £15 30 to pay- put as much info in the reference as you can fit. Other payments will be due Dec 1st , March 1st and June 1st.

Family                              £90 (2 )  + £25 for each additional person

Senior                              £60   

OAP/student/ associate   £50

Junior                               £45

Cheques and cash will also be accepted by Colin but online payment is preferred.

These tops are available for members to buy at a reduced price of £10 for Junior and £12 for Senior. See kit man Kevin Thomas for details.

In line with good practice and the requirements for accreditation under the Clubmark scheme, Gosforth Harriers has launched a new membership form.

We require all current members to complete a new membership form and to sign to indicate that they have read and accept the relevant codes of conduct. 

Please click here to download a copy of the new membership form and here to view the code of conduct for seniors, juniors and parents/carers.

Please hand your membership form to a member of the committee a.s.a.p

Remember to check this website for information about club events.

Members can join the Gosforth H & AC facebook group- just search for groups and send your request.