Skip to main content

Here come the Phoenix Flyers.......



The North East Relay Championships has always been an event close to my heart as I love watching relay races and the kids (& I) have enjoyed competing in them.


Relays are a fine art and the NE Champs always generates a fine atmosphere with a big crowd, lots of clubs competing and most of the races under the floodlights to add to the tension.


This year was different though and for a very special reason, the first time that the Phoenix Flyers (our fledgling new club), joined the fray.





We had three teams competing in the U11 boys, U13 girls & U13 boys races. The build up was tense on the night with a bit of rearranging needed to the teams (thanks to Blyth for the loanee for the U13 boys race) & once the teamsheets were in, it was time to enjoy the action.


The U11 boys were first to go, with Huw, Will, Dylan & Dominic creating a little bit of history by being the first Phoenix Flyers relay team to appear on a results sheet. The boys ran well, finishing in a time of 1.07.64


The U13 teams got two races each, with the first race for the girls being a bit untidy but the team of Ava, Niamh, Chloe & Alana got the baton around safely. Their second race was a huge improvement, with the girls changing the order and all four ran extremely well with much better changeovers. It was a very tight finish, with the girls taking 4th place in a time of 1.03.79, some 2 seconds faster than their first race.


The U13 boys had two great races too, especially as most of them prefer middle distance running. Luke lead the team off and had two very strong races with good changeovers to Dan in the first race & Marcus in the 2nd. Marcus & Dan ran strongly too, with Dan taking part in his first ever competition & Marcus still recovering from surgery earlier in the year. Chad, our loanee from Blyth put in a good 3rd leg in both races, leaving it to Marcus & Dan to finish the races off. The boys finished 6th in each race with 1.07.24 being their fastest time.


In recent years, the relays have been joined by the NE Throws Festival & Amy McLellan was representing the Phoenix Flyers in the U15G Shot Putt. Amy's throwing has improved a lot this season, as has her confidence in competition. Amy made her own piece of history in the competition, becoming the first Phoenix Flyers medal winner, gaining the bronze medal with a new pb throw of 5.87m.




All in all, a great night of action for our new club and thanks to Louise & Steve for their team management and to our athletes and parents for competing and creating a great atmosphere for the kids.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chester-le-Street Athletics Club - a Parents View

After my experience yesterday with one of the coaches at Chester-le-Street Athletics Club, I thought I'd blog about my experiences as a parent, sort of athlete and recently qualified coaching assistant. We've had an involvement with the club for a number of years as Dominic has trained there since he packed in football just over 4 years ago.  When he first joined he was getting info on competitions and competing, but he wasn't great and soon the mentions of competitions stopped.  However, it didn't put him off and he kept going, with a number of different coaches, some of whom didn't turn up regularly and he seemed to be passed from pillar to post until he settled in Brian's group. Once she reached the right age, Philippa also joined and she did really well in her first few events at Quadkids at Gateshead.  She really enjoyed it and progressed even further in the second year at Quadkids, where she came 2nd.  Unfortunately though, she seemed to be overlooked ...
2 comments
Read more

Grade 1 Sheffield

The second weekend in January has turned into a cracker for Philippa for the second year running.  This time last year saw her hit a Grade 1 time in the U15G 60m Hurdles at the Scottish National Open in Glasgow, something that we hadn't quite expected on the day.  This year was pretty similar, but this time she was competing at the Northern Indoor Championships at the EIS in Sheffield. The day started with the 60m Hurdles and the target was to make the final.  With three heats leading to a final, Philippa knew she had to be in the first two in her heat to guarantee a place in the final. She was drawn in Heat 2 with Nicole Lannie in the same heat - she's raced against Nicole since they were Under 13's and both were calm and chatty as they took to the start line.  Both girls ran well, with Philippa taking the win and Nicole 2nd (with her easing up towards the finish line.  That was the final sorted for both girls and the times came out quickly, with ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Conversations on the Bus.........

Firstly, I do know that snooping in on other people's conversations is pretty rude, but some people (like me) are just too loud and you can't help but listen in - especially when they're on the bus.  One day this week was a particular cracker as I had a canny bit of time out on the buses and heard allsorts - it was truly fantastic.  I do follow a twitter account @busoverheards which has some funny anecdotes on it and whoever does it, is very funny and some of them are spot on and make me chuckle. So there I am, sat on the bus and waiting to leave a well know North East bus station that has a pub nearby. There's a man and a woman sat a couple of rows in front of me and the guy notices his Dad stood outside said pub and then points him out to the young lady and then goes onto explain who all the other people are stood in the group.  One of the group (and I can't remember her name, thankfully) was pointed out as the Dad's ex-partner, but he doesn't have much ...
Post a Comment
Read more