Prolific distance runner David Kirkland was quickly into his stride at the start of 2010 by jetting off to Spain for a half- marathon.
The Alnwick Harrier, who ran at least seven half-marathons and six marathons as well as numerous other endurance events in 2009, is building up his mileage as he eyes up even longer races later in the year.
The Spanish outing, where he finished in 11th position and knocked 26 seconds off his previous best for the distance, came the day after he celebrated his 38th birthday.
In Division One of the Sportsworld North Northumberland League, Rothbury came out on top against Alnwick Town Reserves to keep up the pressure at the top.
A John Angus goal and a long-range effort from Alan Brown gave them the victory, and a Martin Tait strike was Alnwick's only reply.
Berwick United Reserves gained their first win of the season as efforts from Jonathan Waugh, Terry James and Michael Lee proved too much for local rivals Berwick Town, whose reply came from Rudy McLeod.
Shilbottle angler Brian Douglas celebrated the opening day of the salmon fishing season on the River Coquet by landing the first fresh salmon of the season - for the seventh time.
Fishing a black and white Devon - affectionately called the "Toon Army" - Brian landed a cock fish at 8.30am on Monday to lift the Coquet Trophy and three years' free permits.
Traditionally the fish would have been presented to the Duke of Northumberland but the Northumbrian Anglers' Federation now operates a catch and release policy until June 16.
Shilbottle Colliery Welfare and Alnwick Town Reserves were in action in the Northumberland FA Minor Cup at the weekend.
Shilbottle's tie with Northern Alliance opponents Percy Main was switched to Main's home ground Purvis Park, where Shilbottle went down 3-0.
Player-manager Jason Ritchie got the Main off the mark with a 31st-minute penalty and doubled the lead just before the break. Midway through the second half, Shadforth was on target after Callum Colbeck's drive was parried.
In the same competition, Berwick United beat Alnwick Town Reserves (pictured- photo by Steve Miller) 3-0 with strikes from Leigh Walker (2) and Mike Robinson.
Alnmouth United (pictured in the stripes- photo by Steve Miller) lost out to Lynemouth Institute in the last eight of the Bilclough Cup at the weekend. Efforts from Darren Burn and Colin McLelland took Lynemouth into the semi final.
The match was one of the only games played in the weather-hit North East minor league programme this weekend.
In their mid-table meeting with visitors Blyth Town in the Northern Alliance Premier Division, Alnwick Town emerged 3-1 victors.
Robbie Dobson gave Blyth the lead on the stroke of half-time, but Alnwick ran the show after the break. Chris Moffitt struck to restore parity and his Alnwick colleague Ben Keenan bagged a quick-fire brace.
Meanwhile in the North Northumberland League, the top two teams in Division One went head-to-head and had to settle for a point apiece after a hard-fought encounter.
In their Kicks Leisure Challenge Cup first-round tie Carlisle City beat Alnwick Town 2-1 despite surrendering home advantage and travelling to St James' Park (picture by Steve Miller).
Each side had a player sent off early in the game and Stephen Rutter gave Alnwick their opener midway through the first half. Their lead survived until City's Stuart Hill equalised in the 79th minute to take the tie into extra time.
Steve Bell grabbed Carlisle's vital winner towards the end of the first extra period.
Lowick United took over at the head of Division One of the Sportsworld North Northumberland League.
Colin Young (2), Anthony Murray, Andy Burgon and Craig Henderson were all on target in the win at Acklington Athletic.
Alnwick Town Reserves were four up after 35 minutes at Bedlington, thanks to Michael Saunders, Chris Kidd and Jake Lowes.
In the Northern Alliance Premier Division Heddon entertained an Alnwick Town side which had just lost three league games on the trot. Alnwick won 2-1 as Heddon's misery continued.
Late in the first half, two goals by Kevin Elliott and Tony Brown set Alnwick up for the kill - and they held on for the points after Daniel Robinson got their hosts off the mark.
There is still no respite for Heddon, who are still seeking their first home win of the campaign and remain isolated at the bottom, equal on points with Newcastle University who have played six games less than the Bullocksteads outfit.
Pictured: Alnwick's Kevin Elliott on the ball- photo by Steve Miller
Northumberland Sport's Sport Unlimited programme proved a Heap of fun for starlet Marc Friar.
The 10-year-old from Alnwick's Lindisfarne Middle School was one of the dozens of youngsters involved in the summer-long initiative.
Friar's chosen sport was golf and he participated in a 10-week programme at Alnwick Golf Club, being subsequently entered into a county-wide prize draw for attending 100% of the sessions.
We want to publish your blog on one of our community websites. Find out more.
Keep up to date subscribe to our RSS feed
Living or working in Alnwick? We'd like to hear from you. Send your stories, pics and videos
Journal Extra, Northumberland's free weekly, is inside copies of The Journal across the county every Thursday, and can also be picked up from these locations around Alnwick »
"mayor of Alnwick Coun Eileen Blakey said "the appeal's failure was wonderful." So it's nice to see ..."
"hello my name is chris maynard and i am researching my family history , my great grandfather was n..."
"What a lovely photo!! I am just a bit biased, as I grew up at Low Newton, spent many happy hours run..."
" Hi, What a lovely story of Toby Jug and his adventures,sad as the ending is, at least Toby ha..."
"Sorry to hear about that Barbara and thanks for your kind words. We were looking forward to your p..."
"Hi, Is there any way i can contact Denis O'Connor directly to thank him for such a delightful read i..."
"A town full of empty shops like Alnwick really needs another 27,000 square feet of retail space...."
"The supplies business is a good one to be in because people will always need pens and pencils and th..."
"Try this site www.nomobilesignal.co.uk...."
"Great, apart from the fact that any number of Northumberland agencies could have been used to develo..."