On Sunday 11/05/14 2 members of Aycliffe Running Club competed in the Pier to Pier race, approximately 7 miles starting on the beach at South Shields and finishing on the beach at Roker. John Young completed the race in 55:23 and Judith Porter 61:53. On the same day Graeme Miles went further afield to compete in the Leeds Half marathon and, although the first half of the route was quite hilly, he finished the race in 1:42:13.
Aycliffe Running Club are continuing to support park runs and on Saturday 17/05/14 Michelle Dixon and Susan Clark both achieved PB’s at Sedgefield Hardwick Park. Michelle completed the course in 26:08 and Susan 30:12.
Ally Chesney from Aycliffe Running Club competed in the Chester half marathon on 18/05/14 to raise funds for Guide Dogs UK, a charity who not only train guide dogs and support retired ones, they also campaign for better eye health care, talking busses/tubes and help train and support guide runners. Ally had aimed to get round the course in sub 2:30, however, she was delighted to cross the finish line in 2:04:03.
Ripon 10 mile race on 18/05/14 started and finished on Hell Wath playing field, a hilly but picturesque course that takes runners through the Studley Royal Estate with beautiful views of Ripon and the surrounding countryside. First to finish for Aycliffe was Graeme Miles in 1:23:02, followed by John Young 1:28:10 and Judith Porter 1:38:38 2nd F60.
It was a very warm day on Sunday 18/05/14 for the Raby Castle 10K. The race which is situated in scenic parkland within the grounds of Raby Castle is an undulating 2 lap route, mainly on tarmac with a section of woodland trail. First to finish for Aycliffe and in 4th postion overall was Dez Fielden in 36:18 followed by Mark Wade 40:22, John Burnside 45:43, Wendy Bake 49:20, Rob Nicholson 49:25, Sandra Collins 50:11, Mick Brunskill 52:01, Paul Stretton 52:25, Trish Kay 52:43, Clare Rose 55:08, Chris Dixon 56:57 and Susan Clark 63:41. Unfortunately, Dave Mackenzie had a fall in the woods section but still managed to finish the race in 63:33.
Entries are now being taken for Aycliffe 10K and Fun Run on 15/06/14. For details see http://www.ayclifferunningclub.org.uk