It has been another busy week for Aycliffe Running Club with members competing across the region and beyond.
The week started off with the South Shields monthly mile with three members taking part. Angela Sutheran was first back for the club improving her previous best time to 6:49. Carley Cooper (7:45) and Em Flynn (9:19) both completed in the event for the first time.
On Sunday 8 October, six members took part in the Richmond Castle 10k with the course being described as brutal with some steep climbs for the first two mile before another climb coming back to the Castle. Dave Blewitt (50:19), Trish Kay who finished first in the female over 60 category (56:57), David Stothard (57:24), Carley Cooper (1:02:40), Eve Doe (1:06:55) and Sandrine Hewitt (1:07:23) all represented the club.
On the same day, one member took part in the Royal Parks half marathon in London with Steve Williams completing the event in a time of 2:13:07. This was Steve’s seventh long competitive run of the year which has seen him raise a huge £1,200 for the Rob Burrow MND Hospital Charity across those seven races, an amazing achievement not only with the running but also with the fundraising.
At the same time Rob Young took part in the Locomotion 10 mile charity run, finishing seventh in a time of 1:18:35.
On Saturday, 38 members started their weekend with a parkrun, taking in the Sedgefield, Darlington South Park, Hackworth, Hartlepool, Fountains Abbey, Keswick, Tooting Common, The Pastures, Herrington Country, North Yorkshire Water Park, and Wynyard Woodland events.
At Darlington South Park, Jimmy Agnew (22:33) managed to trim another 5 seconds off his previous personal best which was set last week. At Hackworth, Bernadette Cooper finished as second lady in a time of 23:55. Jayne Rudd (31:13) completed the event at Fountains Abbey for the first time.
At Keswick, John Surtees finished first in a time of 17:09. At Herrington Country Park Heather Bainbridge and Mark Bainbridge completed the course for the first time, finishing the course together in a time of 31:17 along with Kirsty Cameron (34:03). Four members headed to North Yorkshire Water Park for the first time with Keith Hatton (26:30), Carley Cooper (28:40), Sandrine Hewitt (30:01) and Em Flynn (36:55) all completing the course. This was also Em’s 200th ever parkrun, a fantastic achievement. At Wynyard Woodland, Richard Tonge set a new personal nest for the course of (30:51).
If you are feeling inspired and are interested in joining the club or want to take your running to the next level, you can turn up for one of our sessions. Our sessions cater for people of all abilities and we would be delighted if you wanted to join us to mark that next chapter in your life with running.
You can find out more by visiting or website or our Facebook page. If you would like to chat with someone, then you can email ayclifferunningclub@gmail.com. Make this the time you get into running and join us to keep it going for many years to come.