Marathon effort by North Mini marvels
NORTH East athletes put on a capital show at the Mini London Marathon which doubled up as the British Athletics Three-Mile Championships, writes BILL McGUIRK.
Despite a tiring coach journey to their base at Egham, Surrey, the six squads under the guidance of Ed Lown and his team performed against all the odds to trawl in numerous awards.
It was Birtley’s Chris Perkins who set the standard for the region as he rounded Buckingham Palace into the Mall in pole position in the under-13 boys’ contest.
The English National Cross-Country bronze medalist defied the earlymorning heat to come home eight seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
With Josh Blevins eighth, Tom Slane 27th and Zak Old 30th, the North East had to be content with third place in the team race behind the winners South East.
The region looked like celebrating another individual victory when Morpeth’s Rory Leonard entered the Mall in first plac.
However, the Inter-Counties cross-country champion was reeled in close to the finish by track specialist Luke Duffy who three days before the race warmed up with an 800 metres outing, clocking an impressive 1min 54.54secs.
At the line the East Midlands representative had the verdict by just two seconds, Leonard lifting the silver medal.
The North East was pushed into second place by the South East who totalled 64 points against the North East’s 65.
Backing up Leonard were Middlesbrough duo Josh Cowperthwaite and Patrick Haycock in eighth and 14th place respectively and Wallsend’s Sam Charlton in 41st.
There was another podium finish for the region when Houghton’s Henry Johnson held on for the bronze medal in a big sprint finish.
Again it was a team medal for the region, this time another set of silver medals with Will Bellamy, who was 14th, Archie Lowe (21st) and Ethan McGlen (32nd) backing up Johnson as victory went to the combined Yorkshire and Humberside quartet.
There were no medal winners among the girls’ teams - but there were notable performances.
In the under-15s’ contest it was Gateshead’s Ines Curran who was best, finishing in 18th position. Birtley’s Katie Francis was the pick of the under-13 girls in 30th spot.
Lown was full of praise not just for the the medalists but for everyone who made the trip.
He said: “The athletes were a credit to their families, their clubs and the region.
“The experience gained by all of the athletes who travelled will put them in a good place and many of them enjoyed the trip so much they are eager to make it again next year.
“I have to thank everyone who had an input in making it such a successful mini-marathon - especially Tom Millmore, Adrian Bailes and Chloe Price who all helped enormously with the workload on a tiring but enjoyable trip.’’