I’ve reported on the progress of Sedgefield para cyclist Ben Hetherington before, and he continues to make good progress in the sport. After a poor performance in the British Para Track Championships in February, it was a time for Ben to refocus and get back to some hard training, ready for the road season.

So far, this has paid off, as he won the season’s first para road race in Nottingham at the end of April, followed up by a win at the time trial. This set him up for a trip to the World Cup races in Ostend, Belgium and Maniago, Italy, in May. The races were highly competitive, with riders and countries trying to stake their claim for Paralympic selection. Ben did well, finishing in the middle of the pack in both road races and in the top 20 in both time trials.

While on the continent, he also took part in a para race in De Panne, Belgium, which he won. More recently, Ben won a bronze medal in both a road race and time trial.

The rest of the British Para Series will be held around England, including at Middlesbrough Sports Village on Saturday 20 July. The event will be part of a day of paracycling, organised by British Cycling in conjunction with Limitless. Starting at 12 noon and aimed at people with disabilities, there will be 90 minutes of free opportunities to try out trikes, tandems, handcycles and pedal carts.

Then, from 2pm, there will be para cycle racing in a variety of categories, and Ben will be in action as he continues to try and improve his times and bike handling skills, in order to ensure a place in the development team for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The event on 20 July will also raise money for the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), which Ben and his family have been supporting since his accident in 2019. GNAAS came to Ben’s aid then and at Middlesbrough Sports Village, there will be fundraising to help the service run its two helicopters, The Guardian of the North II and the Pride of Cumbria II. The event will be a great chance for anyone to learn more about para cycling and see some great racing.

To find out more about it, contact Gary Hetherington on 07484 673796 or 01740 621214.

After almost two months of either rained off matches or playing in multiple clothing layers, the improved late June weather finally made it actually feel like the cricket season was upon us.

Sedgefield CC 1st XI will travel to Marton on Friday 5 July to play Whitby in the final of the Brunton Cup, after winning three rounds, including an impressive 37 run semifinal victory against league leaders Billingham. A good travelling support is expected for what is the team’s defence of the cup which they won in 2023.

Despite sitting mid-table in their league, the 2nd XI are less than a win’s worth of points from being in a promotion spot, so are looking to keep up a solid set of performances as the season reaches its midway stage.

Junior fixtures continue apace, although weather related postponements mean that the eight junior sides are still playing catch up and keeping both the ground staff and fixture secretary on their toes!

On the social side, the club is again proving to be a popular choice to watch the Euros, with four large TVs and competitively priced drinks to massage the debate over what should be England’s formation (assuming that the national team is still in the tournament by the time you read this). More to report next month…

During the spring, there have been some impressive performances by Sedgefield Harriers at the classic marathon distance. Mark Raine and Lisa Darby both had the privilege of representing the club at the iconic Boston Marathon, where Mark finished in a rapid three hours and four minutes and Lisa finished in 3:28. Back in the UK, Sedgefield runners have been in action at marathons in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Gateshead.

At London, Jane Spink set a new club record of 3:09, Roger Whitehill set a new personal best of 3:36, and Enya Killen completed her debut at the distance in 5:57. Talking of debuts, Declan Munnelly made his in Manchester, with a very impressive time of 3:13. Along with Declan, there were a lot of other Sedgefield runners in action. Justin Cox and Gary Thwaites both dipped under three hours with times of 2:56 and 2:58 respectively, while Fay Uphill reduced her PB by 24 minutes with a time of 3:56. Also running were new club members Aidan Maloney (3:30) and Sarah Maloney (4:12), and Gary Forster (a big PB of 3:30) and Dave Porter (3:56). Dave Porter also ran the new Gateshead Marathon in an impressive time of 3:39. Meanwhile, north of the border in Edinburgh, Colin Gandy continued his amazing progress by setting a new PB of 2:58.

Plenty of other Sedgefield Harriers have been busy on the road and trail over the last few months, at a wide variety of distances, and the action will continue throughout the summer. The club will also host the next of its own events soon, with the Summer Handicap on Wednesday 31 July, over a mixed terrain two-lap course of around 10K, that starts and finishes at Bishop Middleham Village Hall. The event is free to enter and suitable for runners of all abilities.

Find the full details on the Facebook page Sedgefield Harriers.

Sedgefield District Rugby Union Football Club brought the season to a close in early April with a high scoring affair at home to Gateshead, with the visitors snatching victory with the final play of the game. Despite this final day defeat, Sedgefield have successfully managed to preserve their league status in Durham and Northumberland Division 2 for another season.

The match was followed by an end of season celebration and awards presentation at Sedgefield Cricket Club. This season’s award winners were:
Most Improved Player Ben Bradley
Young Player of the Year Freddie McCormack
Coaches’ Player Mitch Corney
Ted Wood Award Andy Fife
Committee Player of the Year Daniel Lawson
Players’ Player of the Year Daniel Lawson

Look out for social media announcements of events over the close season, including information about touch rugby sessions.