Northern 5k Championships 2024, Sunderland – Report

Sunderland 5k
held at the Silksworth Sports Complex Sunderland
Thursday 11^th July 2024

Report by Ken Smith

The 2024 Northern Athletics 5k Championship was hosted by Sunderland A.C. at the Silksworth sports complex on Thursday 11th July.

Cold but dry conditions faced the massive entry of nearly 500 athletes, in sharp contrast to the deluge of 12 month ago.

The course is all within the park and on tarmac paths, with a steep hill to contend with on each of the 2 laps course. A fast down hill start quickly splits the field up, but due to the limited width of the paths Referee Archie Jenkins had already sorted the starters out by finishing times, which successfully avoided any falls at the start. Both the senior races were started by Sunderland’s President Kevin Carr.

N.A. Women’s 5k -194 entries.

Pre-race favourite was North Shields Poly athlete Stacey Smith, and she quickly showed why, as she led the field from start to finish. She was the only athlete to clock a sub 17 The team places looked like a foregone conclusion for North Shields Poly, but they had to wait for their 3rd team member Katie Elliot in 13th place to confirm that winning team podium position. minute time for the certified 5k course, with 4 other women going sub 18 minutes and a further 3 sub 19 minutes. Second behind Stacey was the Gateshead Harrier Shona Haston, with a 2nd North Shields Poly athlete Jacqueline Penn in 3rd place.

The team places looked like a foregone conclusion for North Shields Poly, but they had to wait for their 3rd team member Katie Elliot in 13th place to confirm that winning team podium position. Host club Sunderland packed a little better, with their team finishing 8th, 9th, and 12th to take Silver with Wallsend taking the Bronze team with positions 5th, 11th, and 20th.

N.A. Men’s 5K – 250 entries.

Another quality field had assembled at the start and although Morpeth Harrier, Finn Brodie was well supported, there was no clear favourite in this race. The fast down hill start had Finn in the lead early on, but he was being shadowed ominously by Houghton Harrier Chris Coulson. They had a lead of 10 metres as they went past the finish for the first time, with the blue Morpeth vests plentiful in the chasing pack. Next time the lead bikes were seen it was the Houghton Harrier at the front with 3 Morpeth vests behind him. The first 3 athletes all were sub 15 minutes, with Chris Coulson winning by 9 seconds from Finn Brodie, Peter Smallcombe was third, and another Morpeth Athlete George Lowry 4th just 5 seconds behind. The next 16 athletes all finished in a sub 16 minutes time.

The winning team was never in question with Morpeth Harriers 2nd, 3rd, & 4th. Again it was host club Sunderland winning Silver, 9th, 12th and 27th. Third place was a close call between North Shields Poly and Tyne Bridge, with the Poly just claiming the bronze by 1 point.

Medals were presented by ex Northern Athletics president and current NECAA president, Bill McGuirk.

Results.

Women

1st Stacey Smith North Shields Poly 16.29

2nd Shona Haston Gateshead Harriers 17.29

3rd Jacqueline Penn North Shields Poly 17.36

Teams

1st North Shields Poly 1,3,13, 17 points

2nd Sunderland Harriers 8,9,12 29 points

3rd Wallsend Harriers 5,11, 20 36 points

4th South Shields Harriers 10,17, 19 46 points

Men