Jon Taylor crushes rivals at Saltwell Park race
Dec 20 2010 By Les Venmore, The Journal
MORPETH Harrier Jon Taylor was untroubled in winning Saturday’s Ronnie Walker 10km Road Race at Saltwell Park.
Host club Saltwell Harriers, in association with Gateshead Council, had managed to clear the course of all the remaining snow and ice and, in the bright sunshine, 160 competitors braved the sub-zero temperatures, in this annual Pre-Christmas event which covered 3.5 laps of the Park boundaries.
Taylor soon headed the field opening up a 23-second lead over the field after one lap. The gap had increased to 48 seconds after lap two, with Shettleston’s Daniel Bradford and Northumberland-based Bingley Harrier Matt Whitfield battling for second place, just ahead of Morpeth’s Ross Floyd.
Taylor crossed the finish line adjacent to the Park lake, 85 seconds ahead of Bradford, with Whitfield another 21 seconds adrift in third place.
The winner was some way short of his best time of 29mins 37secs set when finishing third in the recent Abbey Dash race but, unlike the Leeds event, this course is particularly tough.
Gateshead Harriers retained the team title, led by teenager Lawrence McCourt in sixth place.
Chester-le-Street’s Claire Simpson finished strongly to outsprint North Eastern Counties’ champion Hester Dix, of Blaydon, to win the women’s race, the pair finishing in 17th and 18th positions respectively.
Dix had led her rival by 30 seconds after two laps, but the nature of the course took its toll, with Simpson closing fast in the latter stages. Angela Hunter, of Chester-le-Street finished third, ahead of the leading veteran Alison Dargie, of Elswick.
Distance specialist Claire Jackson, of Allen Valley, finished fifth, while sixth-placed Laura Jardine led Heaton to the team title.
In the youngsters’ races, two course records were set. Birtley’s Lydia Turner clipped three seconds off the old figures in the Under-15 girls’ event, while the in-form Chloe Price, of Durham, was a massive 78 seconds quicker than the previous best in the Under-17 women’s event. Barry Maskell equalled the record in the Under-17 men’s race.
Other wins came from Sunderland’s Michael Wilson (Under-15 Boys), Ewan Cassidy, of Elswick (Under-13 Boys) and Ellie Mahon, of Gateshead (Under-13 Girls).
There was a pleasing increase in entries for both the Under-15 and Under-17 events.
