In a successful eight days for Durham City Harriers, both, juniors and seniors were able to excel on multiple fronts.
 
Firstly, Senior League results from the Jarrow meeting on 6th May were released, with some very good times and positions. The Men’s 100 metre races saw Gabriel Tallara finish 2nd and 6th in their respective heats, with a time of 11.9. In the 200 metres, Nick Ingram and Conrad Kennedy came 3rd and 5th, with times 23.6 and 26.5. There was great success in the 800 metre races as Ben Horsefield and Jason Catterall won their heats. finishing their races in times of 2:07 and 2:15.9. Jonny Wilkinson and Ryan Watson both ran successfully in the 1500 metre races, finishing in 2nd and 1st, respectively, with times of 4:24.1 and 4:27.3. There were two fourth place finishes for Durham males in the 5000 metre heats, with times of 17:06.0 and 18:58.7 for Rob Everton and Jonny Wilkinson. Oliver Taylor and Gabriel Tallara were both successful in their 400 metre hurdle races, winning with times of 66.1 and 68.8. Paul Donaghy and Jason Catterall finished 4th and 5th in their respective Hammer throw heats, with top distances of 17.42 and 10.26. Men’s Discus saw Paul Donaghy, also finish 4th, with a best distance of 21.11 and Nick Ingram finished 5th in his Javelin heat, with a distance of 20.70. 
Conrad Kennedy and Paul Donaghy finished 4th and 3rd in their respective heats for the shot putt, with distances of 9.0 and 7.2. Whilst, Gabriel Tallara and Matthew Douthwaite finished 5th and 3rd in their respective long jump heats, with distances of 5.17 and 4.91. Gabriel Tallara finished 3rd in his triple jump heat, with a distance of 10.62, whilst, Oliver Taylor and Nick Ingram, respectively had top jumps of 1.70 and 1.50 in their heats for the high jump. Finally, there were varying degrees of success for the relay teams, as the 4x100 metre relay ended in a 5th place finish, but their was victory in the 4x400 metre relay for the Durham team.
As for the senior women, there was more successful Durham competitors, as Jennifer Taylor and Jacqui Hodgson both finished 2nd in their respective 200 metre heats, with times of 28.1 and 28.8. Hodgson again, as well as Rebecca Mott, excellently, won their 400 metre heats with times of 61.2 and 64.8. Then, Emma Toogood lived up to her name, with a 2nd place finish, in the 800 metre, with a time of 2:30.4. In the Women’s Discus, Jennifer Taylor and Emma Toogood came 4th and 5th in their heats, with distances of 15.74 and 9.53 in their heats. Toogood would then, compete in the Shot Putt and register a distance of 6.05 and finish 5th in her heat and then go on to finish joint 5th in the high jump, with a time of 1.15. Finally, in the women’s relays it was again glory in the 4x400 metre relay and a 4th place finish in 4x100 metre relay. After one match day, Durham sit bottom of the table, with several matches to play. 
 
The next big event came on the 12th and 13th, as the North Eastern Championships saw excellent Durham results all around. Whilst only one Senior man competed, Michael Grimes was highly successful in both the 1500 and 5000 metre races. Finishing 4th and 1st respectively. Excellent times were recorded in both, with 4:10:89 in the 1500 metres and 15:15:24 in the 5000 metres, winning the race by two seconds on his closest competitor. There were no senior Durham female runners competing.
There were no Under 13 Boys competing but there was success in the Under 13 Girls age category. Starting with Jessica Peart in the girls 200 metre final race, with a time of 30.30, finishing in 2nd place. The 1500 metre, also saw some excellent times, as Freya Gibson finished the race in 3rd place, with a time of 5:07.53, as well as Jessica Peart, again, who finished 6th in a time of 5:14.72. It was the same two girls again in the final event Durham competed in, the 800 metre, as Freya Gibson finished in 2nd place, with a time of 2:27.94 and Jessica Peart finished in 6th place, with a time of 2:39.95. 
In the Under 15s category, there were again, more strong performances. The Under 15 Girls saw Amy Colling finish 5th in her heat for the 100 metre with a time of 13.79. As well as this, Caitlin Carr came 6th in the long jump with a top distance of 4.11. The third Under 15 Girl, Lauren Etchells won her heat and came 2nd in the final with a time of 43.53, narrowly losing out in the final, despite a top performance. The only Under 15 boy competing, Travis Anderson, performed respectably, in the 300 metre race, finishing 5th in 42.72. 
The Under 17s saw some very successful performances over the course of the competition. In the 100 metre male heats, Tyler Thomas finished 3rd in his heat, to qualify for the final, where he came 5th, in a time of 12.09. He, also, competed in the 200 metre heats, where he finished 5th in a time of 24.56. Other notable male competitors from Durham included James Thornton who finished 5th (36.16) and Adam Ord, who finished 3rd in the 400 metre race, with a time of 54.08. In terms of the girls, Tia Anderson won her 300 metre race in a time of 40.93, a fantastic time and less than a second from the championship record. 
Finally, there were no Under 20 women competing at Middlesbrough, but there were good results for the three male athletes. As Ben Horsefield, excellently, finished 2nd in the 800 metre race, in a time of 1:55.36, Ryan Watson finished 7th in the 1500 metre race, in a very respectable time of 4:26.47. As well, Matthew Douthwaite, finished 6th and 5th in the 100 metre and 200 metre races, with times of 12.28 and 24.25.
Athletics Report