It has been another busy week for Aycliffe Running Club, with some excellent performances.
On Sunday 27th October, three members travelled to Jedburgh in Scotland to take part in the Jedburgh half marathon. This was run on rural single carriageways and open, and termed as being flat, closed roads around Jedburgh. It turned out not to be so flat and was a tough undulating course. Representing the club were John Surtees (1:23:45), Richard Campbell (1:34:12) and Tracey Surtees (1:40:44).
On the same day, three members took part in the Darlington Trail Halloween 5k Fun Run. This was open to all ages and abilities with Halloween fancy dress optional with medals and treats for everyone taking part. There were also special prizes for the best dressed. Tamara Kirk and her son Harry, Cloe Livermore and Laura Hudson all took part with most runners donning fancy dress for the race.
At the same time, one member made the trip to Valencia in Spain to take part in the Medio Maratón Valencia Trinidad Alfonso Zurich 2024, or Valencia Half Marathon as it is commonly known. This was a special race which saw a new half marathon world record being set, unfortunately not by one of our members. Judith Porter took part in the race, finishing in a time of 2.28.37 finishing 10th in her age category. Conditions were testing for the race with Judith having to walk 4 miles in the rain just to get to the start, but despite this still commented on how lovely a city it was.
On Saturday 19th October, 43 members started their weekend with a parkrun. At Windy Nook, Steve Williams (27:35) completed the course for the first time whilst Jayne Rudd (31:54) completed the event at Riverside for the first time. A special mention for Cath McDonnell (28:51) who ran at Hackworth and completed her 300th ever parkrun, an amazing achievement. At Penrith, Jean-Pierre Hupin (28:46) completed the event for the first time. At Oakwell Hall, Lou Mann (40:30) completed the course for the first time. Richard Holland (21:37) made the trip to Germany and completed the Hasenheide parkrun for the first time. At Jubilee, Andrew Tweddle (25:28) completed the event for the first time. At Hamsterley, Jimmy Agnew (22:32) and Trevor Agnew (25:16) both completed the course for the first time with Kelly Dickinson (32:26) also taking part.
On Saturday 26th October, 42 members started their weekend with a parkrun. A special mention for Thomas Heywood (22:22) who set a new parkrun PB, taking over 30 seconds off his previous best, showing the amazing progress he has made since joining the club. At Town Moor, Jayne Rudd (31:02) completed the course for the first time. The plan for a few members was to take part in the run at Fulwell Quarry as part of the club’s parkrun tourism. However, this was cancelled, with members having to quickly re-route to South Shields. Taking part were Jimmy Agnew (23:56), Trevor Agnew (25:55), Steve Williams (28:20), David Stothard (30:20), Viv Williams (33:39) and Ian Stothard (54:50). Some just missed the start and unfortunately others were not able to make the run in time and settled for a run along the promenade.
At Hackworth, Bernadette Cooper (24:00) finished as first female with Heather Bainbridge (28:42) and Deborah Kell (29:45) completing the course for the first time. At Pont y Bala, located in Wales, Linda McNamee (53:13) completed the course for the first time. At the fantastic location of Trentham Gardens, Keith Hatton (27:39) completed the course for the first time.
If you are feeling inspired and are interested in joining the club, you can turn up for one of our sessions. More information is available on our website www.ayclifferunningclub.org.uk or our Facebook page. If you would like to chat with someone, then you can email ayclifferunningclub@gmail.com – If interested in the Junior Section you can email arc.juniorsection@gmail.com – Make this year the year you or your children get into running and join us to keep it going for many years to come.