11th Tartan Games - Gateshead 28th August 2004

Richmond and Zetland Harriers are at the tail-end of another busy T&F season and two weeks ago, athletes were either up at Gateshead for the Tartan Games or down at Cudworth for the Northern Inter-Club Knockout Plate Final.

Gateshead Harriers hosted the 11th Tartan Games on Saturday 28th August and celebrated their Centenary. Gateshead were founded in 1904 as Gateshead St Mary's Church Running Club, originally for men only with ladies joining in 1951. The club moved to its present site, Gateshead International Stadium, in 1956. Saturday's cool and breezy conditions affected track performances but there were still a number of meeting records and equally pleasing performances from the handful of Harriers who competed.

Sophie Broadway Lane 8

On the track Sophie Broadway was in a determined mood: she warmed-up in the Under 15 Girl’s 100m, running 13.6 and finishing 3rd in her heat before trimming her time to 13.48 in the Final where she finished 4th; then she tackled the 200m, won her heat in 28.2 and took the gold medal in the Final with a 27.80 clocking. Sophie, with three more Open Meetings planned this season, has had 29 races, she has won 21, had one 2nd, three 3rds, four 4ths and one 5th place and her PB 26.7 from the YAL fixture at Sheffield is only a shade off the 26.5 U15G Club Record set by Denise Taylor in 1992.

Tom Osborn ran in a heat of the U13B 100m, finishing 7th in 16.2. Sean Osborn was 4th in his heat of the U17B 100m in 12.4, then ran the 800m finishing 10th in 2:40.64 and, for good measure, ran in the 200m, finishing 4th in his heat in 25.1 and repeating the time in the Final but in 5th place. In the field, evergreen Veteran thrower John Wild had two 4th place finishes in Senior Men’s competition, with 34m65 in the discus and 36m50 in the hammer. Lindsey Johnston is another talented athlete who has improved all season; she started her afternoon in the Under 15 Girl’s high jump, clearing 1m45 for 4th place, put the shot 8m33 for 3rd and then set a PB in the javelin with a throw of 29m80 - she is now just 48 cm away from the 12-year-old U15G Club Record set by Debra McIlroy.

Northern Inter-Club Knockout Palte - Cudworth 29th August 2004

The finale for the Seniors was their second consecutive appearance in the Final of the Northern Inter-Club Knockout Plate on Sunday 29th at the Dorothy Hyman Stadium, Cudworth, near Barnsley but it was “a bridge too far” as holidays, family and work commitments reduced the team to seven. With 18 individual events for the Men and 17 for the Women plus relays for both, Management decided it was an impossible task and left the magnificent seven to compete as they pleased. There were two outstanding performances: Richard Hunt ran in the opening track race, the combined Cup and Plate 10,000m, and finished 6th overall, 2nd in the Plate in a fine 33:42.35 and then Scott Wardman won the 800m untroubled in 1:58.64 - and would probably have won the Cup race and set a PB had he been in that race.

RZH results: Men - Mike Brooks 3,000m steeplechase 12:30.64; Richard Hunt 10,000m 33:42.35; Matt Prosser 400m hurdles 65.40; Edd Richards 1500m 4:26.28; Scott Wardman 800m 1:58.64: Women - Kelly Bartram shot 6m54 & javelin 15m53; Sarah Gregory 1550m 5:57.15 & 3,000m 12:37.12.