Edwards delighted to lead Harriers to league victory
Sunderland Harrier Michael Edwards is one of those steady runners clubs rely on to put in a top performance when it matters most – and that is exactly what happened he led his club to victory in the North Eastern Harrier League.
He surprised many by winning the handicap sixmile cross country race in a field of near 600 in his finest performance thus far.
The 39-year-old said: “I’m not the most naturally talented of runners as I joined the sport quite late, but I have had some relative successes.
“It was at the 2015 Harrier League at Tanfield that I finished first and we went on to win the league that year, which I was delighted to be part of.
“In the same year I ran the Great North Run in 78.33 and finished in the top 100.
"I managed to improve my personal best the following year but after that suffered from shin splints, which put me out of action for around 18 months.
“In my twenties I did a couple of Great North Runs and 10ks for charities but never trained properly and after doing the events I didn’t run again until the next one.”
He certainly didn’t consider himself a runner at that point, he reflects.
He then did the Sunderland Marathon in 2012 with a group of people from the gym he used to go to and after that he decided to carry on and joined Sunderland Strollers in 2013.
It wasn’t until he was 31 that Edwards began to do any consistent running.
“I then joined Sunderland Harriers along with a few of the other lads from the Strollers simply because we wanted to join a club who could compete in some of the bigger regional and national events,” he told us.
“The Strollers were a very supportive club and do a lot to promote participation, but racing and competing wasn’t really a focus.
“The Harriers are better set up as an athletics club and the coaching and support you get from people at the club is first class.
“I’ve run distances from one mile to marathon and even a 50-mile ultra, but at the minute I’m focusing on 5k and 10ks.
“I would, however, like to have another go at a marathon.
“I’ve done five so far and ran a personal best in Edinburgh in 2014.
“I did London in 2015 and had been training really well in the build-up and was hoping for around 2.50 but got injured about seven weeks before the race.
“I did manage to run round in about three hours, but I had been hoping for better.
“I’d like to return to that distance in the future.’’
“At the minute, I’m only doing around 40 miles a week, but now it looks like events are starting up again, I would like to increase that to around 55 to 60 a week.
“Some people can handle much greater mileage, but I know that if I do any more than that I run the risk of injury.
“I run most days but take a day off when I feel I need to.
"I like to run in the morning as I think it sets you up
for the day and I can guarantee I get it done before anything gets in the way
“I really enjoy the track sessions on a Tuesday night led by Richie Tough.
“There’s a good group every week and a good atmosphere, and running in a group brings out the best in my training.
“I turn 40 next March so I’m hoping to compete and do well in the veteran events and also continue to be part of a successful Sunderland Harriers squad and then after that have another go at a marathon while I still feel able to better past performances.”
As things stand for now, though, his personal bests
are 16 minutes and 57 seconds at five kilometres, 28 minutes 19 seconds over five miles, 78 minutes 18 seconds for half-marathons of just over 13 miles and two hours 56 minutes at full marathon distance of over 26 miles (achieved at Edinburgh back in 2014).
HOUGHTON’S EVA NOTCHES UP GRADE-THREE STANDARD WIN
National cross-country champion Calum Johnson recorded the fastest time in a series of four graded 3,000m races at the second North East Grand Prix of the season at Jarrow’s Monkton Stadium.
The Gateshead Harrier,
running his first track race since 2012, recorded 8.16.91.
Sunderland Harrier over-40 Mark Anderson recorded 9.24.80.
Houghton Harrier Eva Hardie achieved a gradethree standard with her winning run of 10.03.47.
In the 800m graded races, Birtley’s Chris Perkins won the Jimmy Hedley trophy with a run of 1.54.88 to move to number three in the under-17 UK rankings.
Sunderland Harriers had a number of youngsters competing in the 800m graded races and there wins for under-17 Brandon Revell with 2.34.6 and under-13 Ben Anderson was second with 2.35.02.
Under-15 Joe Wills was second in his race in 2.29.12 and under-17 Jac Jarvis was third with 2.15.29, with Thomas Pigford, of Houghton, clocking 2.15.62.
In the first masters fixture of the season, Sunderland Harrier over-35 Stephen Jackson won the 3,000m (9.08.4). Clubmate over-40 Michael Barker recorded 9.39.4.
For further details of Sunderland Harriers’ activities, go to sunderlandharriers.org. uk
To find out more about Sunderland Strollers, go to sunderlandstrollers.co.uk