With more than 8,000 entries and massive fields, it was always going to be a big challenge for clubs to get among the medals in the English National Cross Country Championships at Nottingham on Saturday.
The North East saw only Middlesbrough winning team gold in the Under-15 Boys’ race, while Morpeth edged into second place in the senior men’s team event.
The only individual medal came the way of Middlesbrough’s Philippa Stone in the junior women’s (Under-20) race with third place.
Morpeth, who were targeting their third team win since winning at a snowswept Herrington Country Park in 2013 and at Donington Park last year, missed out on first place by just four points.
Kent club Tonbridge won the championship for the first time, despite having to wait until 145th place for their last team counter, denying Morpeth another success.
Morpeth’s hopes were damaged before the start when one of their leading runners, Nick Swinburn, dropped out on the eve of the race through illness.
They had Jonny Taylor in eighth, Carl Avery 18th, Peter Newton 25th, Adrian Whitwam 69th, Ian Harding 86th and Ross Floyd 87th.
Former Sunderland Harrier Jack Martin (Stockport), whose only other appearance in the National brought a 40th-place finish in 2012, improved to a superb seventh (43min 23sec) this time.