Jesmond Joggers Team

The Jesmond Joggers continue to battle on in the North East Harrier League after managing to record top 20 finishes for both men and women in their most recent race.

The cross country race, which took place on Saturday 26th November in Blaydon, saw the Jesmond Joggers achieve a record turnout. 12 male runners and four female runners had to brave tough winds on the day and manoeuvre around a tricky course with lots of twists and turns.

The men finished 23rd out of 29 teams, with the day being capped off by a shining debut performance from Michael Hedley, which led to him placing 15th in the race and Jesmond Joggers recording their first ever top 20 finish. This leaves the men’s team sitting one point above the relegation zone of league two after achieving promotion last season.

Club chairman Scott Armstrong told JesmondLocal: “The guys got promoted in March and are in a bigger division, so there is a lot tougher opposition, but we’re keeping afloat.”

The women’s team finished an impressive sixth out of 11 teams at Blaydon. Out of 160 participants, the women managed to all finish in the top 70 and Stella Roushias put in a superb performance also on her debut to end in 12th place. This leaves the team sitting in second place in division two, only behind Gateshead who are one of the best running groups in the North East.

“The ladies are doing really well,” said Armstrong. “Gateshead are one of the best teams in the division so being second is a great achievement and to get all our runners in the top 70 of the last race was brilliant.”

After last week’s race, the Harrier League will be having a short winter break, with the next event not until February. But with only three races left in the season, Armstrong hopes both male and female Jesmond Joggers will be celebrating come March.

“Everything is going really well. The season finishes at the end of March and by that point we hope to be celebrating both a promotion and staying-up.”

The Jesmond Joggers train every Monday and Wednesday at 7pm. For more information go to their website.