IT was a Good Friday for Tynedale Harriers as their relay team finished sixth out of 58.

The four-man team of Adam Pratt, Andy Green, Jamie Adams and Max Pearson impressed as a cumulative time of 12:45.29 saw them finish high up in the senior men’s rankings at Elswick Harriers’ Good Friday Relays.

In a competitive field, Pratt got the ball rolling with a leg of 12:10.53, with Green taking over with 12:11.48. Adams (12:11.33) was next up with teenager Pearson (12:11.15) rounding off a good day for Tynedale.

Ponteland Runners were well represented at the Relays, and their men’s team were 24th (12:49.58) with thanks to strong legs from Martin Hallasy (12:11.39), Mathew Bell (12:12.31), Paul O’Neil (12:12.45) and James Leiper (12:13.03).

They finished just one place behind Blaydon Harriers (12:49.58) which consisted three Prudhoe teenagers of Jack Boaden (12:11.32), Matthew Cant (12:13.29) and Luke Shears (12:12.45). George Rudman (12:12.01) made up the rest of the team.

Wylam resident Lee Bennett (12:12.25) was part of the Elswick team which finished 41st.

Lee’s teenage daughter Robyn, a pupil at Prudhoe High School, helped her Elswick teammates to seventh in the senior women’s race, her first leg of 12:12.40 putting the team in a good position.

The team’s time of 12:40.15 was less than five minutes slower than champions Morpeth Harriers which featured Olympian Laura Weightman (12:10.52).

Similarly to the men, Ponteland had two senior teams with Abbie Darani (12:14.26), Laura Choake (12:15.33) and Fiona Nicholson (12:15.21) seeing the first team to 22nd spot.

Both Ponteland’s men’s and women’s veteran teams finished in 26th,

John McGargill (12:13.23), Tony Vick (12:17.32), Paul Holborow (12:15.50) and David Levison (12:13.40) representing the men, and Heidi Finlay (12:15.38), Helen O’Neil (12:17.20) and Heather Jenkins (12:16.57).

There were individual races for juniors on the day, with Tynedale’s Charlie Daley just missing out on a top three place with fourth in the U13 boys’ race. Teammate, and fellow pupil at Hexham’s St Joseph’s Middle School, Archie Marston finished in 10th.

Prudhoe High School’s Rowan Bennett and Ponteland’s Jamie Styles, both members of Elswick Harriers, finished one after another in the U15 boys’ race, Rowan just pipping Jamie into seventh spot.

There were many local runners out over the Easter weekend, with a healthy crowd at Sunday’s North Tyneside 10K.

Former GB multi-eventer Kelly Rodmell, originally of Wylam, just missed out on a podium place with fourth in the women’s race as the Birtley runner completed the course in a time of 41:42.

John McGargill (41:41) was third Vet55 runner in another great day out for Ponteland Runners. The club had 12 runners on show with Tim Allsop (38:02), who was fourth V45, and Chris Kenyon (41:28) leading them home.

After McGargill, Daniel Barry (42:33), Mick Meaney (45:38), Matty Jones (45:52), Nicola Matthews (51:46), Tina Kelly (1:00.48), Fiona McGargill (1:02.29), Susanne Nicholson (1:04.07), Lesley Bennett (1:04.24) and Carolin Bavin (1:08.57) followed.

Jason Forster (40:12) was first Allen Valley Strider home, with Derek Todhunter (48:32), Craig Thomson (49:54), Gayle Forster (54:25) and Rose Todhunter (58:17) also out-and-about.

Angela Marshall (54:01), Julian Bates (1:01.48) and Rachael Turnbull (1:02.58) represented Stocksfield Striders, with Tynedale Harriers represented by Jaycee Shotton (39:16), Jules Pearson (51:56) and John Davidson (54:18).