by Stuart Weir
Michelle Ayhe, winning 150 meters, photo by North News
Orlando Ortega wins 110m hurdles in 13.44, photo by North News
Stuart Weir is covering the Great City Games in Newcastle/Gateshead for us. This is his second column of the day, and it was a long day. 7 am to 7 pm, is a very long day, and Stuart Weir has the Great North run on Sunday, 9 September.
Great North CityGames round-up
The Great North City Games, is based on a 150m track on the south bank of the riverTyne, with the pole vault and long-jump taking place one on each side of the river. Following the elite mile races and a 5k race at Stockton, 40 minutes south of Newcastle, a full programme of children’s races from 8.40am to 5.00pm followed by an adult 5K makes for a full day of running on what many people see as simply the appetiser for the main event on Sunday, the Great North Run. 13 events are jammed into a 2 ½ hour program of CityGames, which included the Great School Sprint and two English schools championship races, which allowed elite kids to run on the main track in front of a good crowd.
Some of the highlights of the Great North CityGames were as follows:
Reece Prescod won the 150m in 14.87 from Harry Aikines-Aryeetey (15.13)
Orlandon Ortega (Spain) won the 110h running 13.44 from Shane Braithwaite (Barbados)who finished in in 13.62
Nadine Hildebrand (Germany) won the 100h in 13.10
Michelle-Lee Ahye (Trinidad and Tobago) took the 150m in 16.49 with the British pair of Daryll Neita and Jodie Williams second and third.
In a mixed long jump competition, Jazmin Sawyers was the leading lady with 6.45 while Jack Roach won the men’s in 7.41.
Holly Bradshaw won the pole vault with 4.55
In the only para-athletics event, European Champion, Felix Streng, won the 100m in 10.85 from Jonnie Peacock (11.08)
