North Tyneside 10K – 8th April 2012

Thanks to Nina for submitting the following race report:

As I woke up on Easter Sunday to the rain lashing down I wondered what on earth I was doing foregoing my Easter eggs in bed to get up and drive to North Shields.   However when I got there the rain clouds had cleared and the leisure centre and car park was full of like minded runners all ready to run the 10k route from North Shields to St Mary’s lighthouse in Whitley Bay.

I spotted a few sky blue vests as I got ready to line up and Rachel and I found a spot near to the front of the pack as the Mayor gave us our starters orders.  Having never ran this race previously, I’d asked friends their advice about the course and everyone said the same………. Don’t head off too fast as you’ll need to save yourself for the hill near the abbey.

So off we went, many of the pack seeming to pick up quite a race although this was mainly due to the steep downhill towards the quay where we turned the corner to face a couple of runners heading the other way.  I bet they thought they would be having a peaceful Sunday run until 2000 runners went past! Along the quayside and onto the path that goes along the quay and we were at THE hill (or part one of it anyway).  A few of the runners slowed down or started to walk but I kept going and then stretched the legs on the downward bit before tackling the second climb.

Having reached the top we continued onwards along the fairly flat coastal promenade through Cullercoats and Whitley Bay where we could see the lighthouse that signaled the finish.

People lined the paths and clapped and cheered us on, the wind provided a gentle breeze to cool our brows as we continued past the 6 mile mark. I even had enough left in the legs to push for a sprint finish, passing a couple of club runners to get aPB!

Having looked through the results I see there were a few other PBs set too.   I hope everyone enjoyed the run as much as I did and I know I will be running that race again next year. Oh and yes I did eat my chocolate egg when I got home!