Jarrow and Hebburn AC are delighted to announce that memberships for 2020-21 are now open.
Current members will be sent an email on 1 August 2020 with a link to pay their membership fees online.
New members need to complete a membership formreturn it by email to Secretary@jhac.org.uk and pay fees by bank transfer.
Returning members who have been away from the Club for over a year need to follow the same process as new members.
More information, including forms and fees, can be found on our membership page here.
Please note that the track at Monkton Stadium remains closed,. The Club is busy planning the safe resumption of athletics sessions at the Stadium and is in dialogue with South Tyneside Council, but this may be several weeks away. Training sessions are currently being delivered by Club coaches under Covid-safe conditions in local parks and public spaces. If you are a current member, please contact your coach for information on these. If you are a new member, or are interested in joining, please email Secretary@jhac.org.uk for information on coaching groups.
England Athletics have updated their guidance documents to reflect the new Government rules allowing groups of up to six people from different households to meet outside. This means that groups of up to six athletes can meet for training runs and that coaching can take place in-person with one coach and up to five athletes. Social distancing rules still apply, so people need to maintain a distance of at least 2 metres from others at all times before, during and after the activity.
Monkton Stadium and other South Tyneside leisure facilities remain closed to the public, with no date set for reopening, so no track or field training is currently taking place. Information will be shared with members and on the Club website as soon as we receive an update from South Tyneside Council.
No formal Club sessions will take place until further notice, but individual coaches may be able to set session plans for their group or coach small groups with fewer than five athletes at a time. This is entirely at their own discretion and members should not put pressure on coaches to do this. The Club Committee plan to meet early next week to discuss next steps, but in the meantime, we ask all our members to train safe and in accordance with the new rules.
Club memberships are normally due for renewal from 1 April each year. Due to the ongoing situation with the Coronavirus pandemic and the suspension of all training, activities and competition until the end of April at the earliest, these arrangements are likely to change.
England Athletics are reviewing their position on the payment schedule and pricing structure and will communicate their decision with clubs next week (Week beginning 30 March). Until we know what their position is, we will not be able to confirm what our membership arrangements and prices will be for 2020-21. The Club Committee recognises that with competition and training sessions suspended, and the closure of Monkton Stadium, that members will not receive the full benefits of their memberships this year, so a reduction in price is one option being considered. It’s important to note however that our costs remain the same, so we have to balance the needs of members and the Club. Our priority will be to protect members who are struggling financially in the current circumstances and we will try to be as fair and flexible as possible. Jarrow and Hebburn AC have also been in contact with England Athletics to share our concerns about the impact of Coronavirus on our Club and to suggest ways that EA might be able to support us. Their latest FAQ here provides more detail.
Jarrow and Hebburn AC will therefore await EA’s update and will contact all our members to set out the new membership arrangements and pricing. Please do not make any payments or send membership enquiries to the Club until we have been in touch. This communication may not come until after 1 April, but please do not worry, no one will miss out. Details will also be posted on the website and Facebook.
One thing that all renewing members can do in the meantime is to log into their My Athletics Portal and make sure that all their details are correct and up to date, including emergency contacts and correct email address. If your email address is incorrect in this portal, you will not receive emails from the Club, including any relating to memberships.
Please note that this advice is now out of date – Please refer to the most recent post above for the current information
The UK Government has advised that everyone in the UK should now avoid all ‘non-essential’ contact, which includes going to sporting events and social venues. England Athletics have updated their guidance to clubs and recommend that all face-to-face activity, including training sessions, be suspended until at least the end of April. Please read the statement in full here.
The Committee of Jarrow and Hebburn AC have therefore taken the difficult decision to cancel all Club training sessions, meetings and face-to-face activity until further notice. This decision has not been taken lightly and is being done in the interests of our members and the wider public.
Please note that the EA statement says: ‘Where possible, athletes and runners at all levels are encouraged to maintain their own personal fitness and keep active during this time, while following government guidelines about safe distance and safe exercise environments.’ The Club therefore recommends that individual members continue to exercise and maintain their fitness levels whilst training sessions are suspended. I’m sure coaches will be able to advise on training plans during this time, particularly for athletes who are training towards a future race or competition.
In light of the announcement from EA, the Club expects all remaining races in March and April to be cancelled, including the Good Friday Relays, North Tyneside 10k and all track and field meetings, but we will keep our members posted.
Thanks to everyone for your patience and cooperation at this testing time. Please stay safe.
Jarrow and Hebburn AC invites our members and guests to the annual Club Presentation Evening, which takes place on Saturday 9 November 2019 at Hedworth Hall in South Shields.
The evening is to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our athletes, and show appreciation to our dedicated coaches and volunteers. It is also a rare opportunity for club members of all ages and from all training groups to meet, catch up and socialise, including many of our new members who have joined this year.
Tickets are priced £9 per person for full members and £5.50 for mini athletics, and can be bought in person at the clubhouse on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. Members can also pay by bank transfer and can either arrange to collect their prepaid tickets from the clubhouse, or on the evening. Buffet dinner will be provided. Places are limited and will be issued on a first come, first served basis, so please don’t leave it until the last minute to get yours.
Award nominations are now open online and will close on Sunday 3 November. Please follow this link to the nomination form and read the instructions at the top of the nominations page.
Please can all winners from last year’s awards kindly return trophies to the club as soon as possible to allow us to get them engraved.
It promises to be a fantastic evening and we look forward to seeing you all there!
Well done to all 171 young athletes who braved the wet and windy conditions on Sunday 20 October to participate in the Minors Cross Country at Bedewell Park, hosted by Jarrow and Hebburn AC.
The Club wishes to thank our volunteers and marshals, many of whom were on site from early morning setting up the course, to our race officials, first aiders, to South Tyneside Council for their support and advice, to the parents and carers, and to all the children who took part.
The North Eastern Counties Athletic Association Cross Country Championships will take place on Saturday 14 December 2019 at Alnwick. The 2019 Championship commemorates 25 years since the first European Championships were held in Alnwick.
The junior races start at 11am with the under 13 boys championship (3 km). Unlike the Harrier League, the men’s race is before the women’s. The Senior Men’s Championship starts at 1.15pm and is 12 km (7.5 miles) in distance, whilst the Senior Women’s Championship starts at 2.10pm and is 8 km (5 miles) long. The first six finishers count as team scorers for the men, and the first four finishers for the women.
Entries must be submitted online by clubs by Friday 22 November 2019. There will be no late entries. Please can everyone who’d like to run inform captain Claire Simpson by Monday 18 November.
Entry fees: Under 13, 15, 17, 20 of both genders £5. Senior Men/ Women £6. No team fees. Fees must be paid to the Club in advance of registration, either by cash to club coaches, captains or committee members, or by bank transfer.
Cross country fixtures for the 2019-20 season have now been released. Harrier League entries are paid for by the Club, as long as members compete in at least one fixture during the season. You get one number that you have to look after and wear at all six Harrier League fixtures, plus the Sherman Cup. Registrations for the North Eastern, Northern and National Cross Country Championships are separate, individual races and you get a separate number for each. The Club does not pay the fees for these. Details on how to register and pay will be shared with Club members once entries open.
Start Fitness North East Harrier League
Saturday 28 September 2019 – Wrekenton
Sunday 6 October 2019 – Druridge Bay (Cancelled)
Saturday 26 October 2019 – Lambton Estate (New course)
Saturday 23 November 2019 – Aykley Heads
Saturday 4 January 2020 – Sherman Cup, Temple Park
Sunday 9 February 2020 – Thornley Hall Farm, Peterlee
Saturday 29 February 2020 – Alnwick Castle
For more information on race times, venues, packs and results, please visit the Harrier League website.
Minors Cross Country
Sunday 20 October – Campbell Park / Bedeswell Park, Jarrow
For more information visit the Minors Cross Country page on the Jarrow and Hebburn AC website.
North Eastern Cross Country Championships
Saturday 14 December – Alnwick
For more information download the North East XC Prospectus
Northern Cross Country Championships 2020
Saturday 25 January 2020 – Camp Hill Estate Bedale
For more information visit the Northern Athletics website.
English National Cross Country Championships 2020
Saturday 22 February 2020 – Wollaton Park, Nottingham.
More information will be available on the English Cross Country Association website soon.
It’s 1937, less than a year after the Jarrow March. A new sports club has just been formed as part of money brought to the town by Surrey industrialist and philanthropist Sir John Jarvis. The new stadium is named after him and he donates a silver trophy for the club’s inaugural meeting.
It’s 1987 in Jarrow and Hebburn. There is a stadium complex with an 8-lane synthetic track. Major meetings have seen sub-4 minute mile performances. The membership of the club has a world champion, Steve Cram, a history of international athletes, and numbers in the hundreds.
How did it happen? Tom Tweddell brings to life those people who created this success. It’s a fascinating tale of struggle, both in the club and the town, covering the period from 1937 to 1987.
‘A History of Jarrow and Hebburn Athletics Club’ by Tom Tweddell is now on sale from Monkton Stadium reception, priced £15.
Tom’s second book ‘The Other Jarrow Crusade’ has also just been published. It focuses on Sir John Jarvis, the Club’s founder and his role in Jarrow. A synopsis of each chapter can be found here: The Other Jarrow Crusade Chapters.
The Jarrow and Hebburn AC Cock Crow 5k Race and 2km Junior Fun Run took place on a balmy summer’s eve on Tuesday 23 July 2019. The temperature had peaked at around 28 degrees Celsius mid-afternoon, which was a challenge for volunteers setting up the course, but thankfully dropped to a more pleasant 22 degrees by race start time.
The first run of the evening was the 2km Junior Fun Run, open to those under the age of 15, which started at 6.50 pm. Seventeen juniors completed the run, with Owen Hedley and Darcy Tullis, both from Jarrow and Hebburn AC finishing first male and female respectively, and a trio of South Shields Harriers: Matthew Burton, Benjamin Weston and Hayden Steven in positions 2, 3 and 4. Results can be found here and run photos can be found here.
The Cock Crow senior 5km race kicked off at 7.15 pm, with a busy field of 140 runners. For the benefit of those who have not raced it before, the course has a very quick start, with a straight, flat 1,300 metre dash along the Bowes Railway Path, before taking a sharp right turn through a gate, which leads to the first hill. From the top of the hill you descend a sandy trail path back onto the Bowes Path, with expansive views of the surrounding countryside. This year, the fence leading back to the path had been knocked down, which meant runners could run straight through, rather than having to vault a stile. You then take a left across a small bridge, which leads to the new out-and-back section of the course, introduced in 2018 following the installation of kissing gates on the old route. The race then cuts through parkland, skirts a pond, recrosses the bridge and heads back along the Bowes Path to the finish.
Kurt Heron was first male home in a time of 16:20; a new record for the re-measured course, followed by Ross Floyd from Morpeth Harriers, who just pipped an impressive Jack Brown of Jarrow and Hebburn AC into second place. Sparrow Morley of Tyne Bridge Harriers was in fourth place, having ran at the Northumberland Coastal Run on the Sunday and the British Miler’s Club meeting at Chester-le-Street the evening before. Alex Sneddon of Jarrow and Hebburn AC was first lady; a stunning return to winning ways, only five months after giving birth to her first child. Jemma Amin of South Shields Harriers was second lady, with Hazelle Webster-Costella of Jarrow and Hebburn third.
For a race usually dominated by runners from Jarrow and Hebburn AC and South Shields, it was fantastic to see more representation from the wider North East running club community, with particularly noteworthy performances from Sunderland Strollers, who won the men’s team prize, Nina Cameron from Heaton Harriers as first lady in the 40-49 category and Graeme Dockwray from Low Fell RC as first male aged 50-59. Maurice Woodward from Jarrow and Hebburn AC topped off a fine season, with the prize for first male 60-69. In the ladies team competition, South Shields Harriers and Jarrow and Hebburn AC were level on aggregate points, but South Shields were winners by virtue of their third counter (Rachel Breheny) crossing the line first.
Arguably the most important competition of the night took place to determine who would take home the Mark Wood Memorial Shield. The Shield was introduced in 2018 and is awarded to the first mixed team of two men and two women (Based on aggregate points) between the hosts Jarrow and Hebburn AC and South Shields Harriers. It is named after South Shields Harrier Mark Wood, who tragically passed away in 2017 and was a good friend to runners from both Clubs. The Shield was presented by Mark’s daughter Katie to the winning team of Jarrow and Hebburn AC, who retained it this year with a team of Jack Brown, Andrew Laidler, Alex Sneddon and Hazelle Webster-Costella.
The other prizes were kindly presented by Nick Morton, Director from our race sponsors MICC Ltd. a British company with a factory in Washington, who are the world’s leading manufacturer of mineral-insulated cables. MICC have supported our Club races for almost a decade and if it wasn’t for them, the Cock Crow race would not be possible. Thanks also to our other race sponsors, Gateshead Senators, a local American Football team who play and train at Monkton Stadium, who are always on the look out for new players, coaches and young people who may be interested in joining their academy. Further thanks to our race officials Alan Elders, Bill McGuirk and Les Venmore, our chip timing and results team of Paul Dixon and Vicki Thompson, the Cock Crow Inn for being helpful and accommodating hosts, to St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy for letting us use their car park, and to all our volunteers and marshals.
Cash proceeds from the evening will be donated to Maggie’s Centres in loving memory of Renee Robinson, sister of South Shields Harrier Lee Dickens. Please follow the JustGiving link here to read Lee’s story.
First Male Kurt Heron receiving his prize from Nick Morton from MICC Ltd.First Lady Alex Sneddon receiving her prize from Nick Morton from MICC Ltd.Mark Wood Shield presented by Katie Angela Wood to the winning team of Jarrow and Hebburn AC.First place men’s team for Sunderland Strollers.First placed female under 18 goes to Sophie Robson from Jarrow and Hebburn.
Prize winners in full:
Men
First place – Kurt Heron (Unattached)
Second place – Ross Floyd (Morpeth Harriers)
Third place – Jack Brown (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
First male under 18 – Max Tyrie (South Shields Harriers & AC)
First aged 35-39 – Mark Anderson (Sunderland Strollers)
First aged 40-49 – Gavin Mulvaney (South Shields Harriers & AC)
First aged 50-59 – Graeme Dockwray (Low Fell RC)
First aged 60-69 – Maurice Woodward (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
First aged 70+ – Alan Wilks (Aycliffe Running Club)
Team prize for first 3 men – Sunderland Strollers (Mark Anderson, Chris Dwyer, Andrew Forbes)
Women
First place – Alex Sneddon (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
Second place – Jemma Amin (South Shields Harriers & AC)
Third place – Hazelle Webster-Costella (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
First female under 18 – Sophie Robson (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
First aged 35-39 – Alexis Dodd (Unattached)
First aged 40-49 – Nina Cameron (Heaton Harriers & AC)
First aged 50-59 – Heather Robinson (Jarrow and Hebburn AC)
First aged 60-69 – Sheila Hudson (Sunderland Strollers)
First aged 70+ – No runners in this age category
Team prize for first 3 women – South Shields Harriers & AC (Jemma Amin, Fran Dembele, Rachel Breheny).
Results of the Mark Wood Shield inter-club competition awarded to the first mixed team of four (Two men, two women) between Jarrow and Hebburn AC and South Shields Harriers & AC, based on lowest aggregate points score:
Winners: Jarrow and Hebburn AC – 94 points
Jack Brown (3), Andrew Laidler (14), Alex Sneddon (33), Hazelle Webster-Costella (44)
Runners up: South Shields Harriers & AC
Mark Hodgson (9), Gavin Mulvaney (11), Jemma Amin (43), Fran Dembele (50)
