Newburn River Run race report
Last year I hardly entered any races so to make up for it this year I semi randomly clicked on most of the race entry sites and entered as many races as possible, the result being I have a pretty busy race schedule from mid June onwards. The first of those races was the Newburn River Run. Before the race I read back through previous results convinced it was only a couple of years since I had last ran it but I had to go back to 2007 to discover I had completed it in a reasonably sounding 43:53.
The weather gods were kind to us on the night of the run, a balmy summers evening greeting 350 runners from around the region which included some very high quality club runners. Most of the Claremont contingent gathered on the grass outside the sports centre contemplating the wisdom of exercising on such a warm night. The race started just after 7:30, unusually I had positioned myself close to the front so there wasn’t the usual dodging and weaving. I never approach these things with anything like a plan or even any idea how I am going to do so I just got on with it, keeping half an eye on a couple of runners I recognised to be a little quicker than me and attempted to keep them in sight.
The first half of the race is about 3 miles along a flattish path to where we cross the river at Wylam and then make our way back to Newburn. I made a concerted effort not to look at my Garmin but the those 3 miles seemed to take forever and by the time we crossed Wylam bridge I was starting to feel the effects of a relatively brisk pace. My ‘targets’ were still in sight though so that spurred my on to maintain my effort. The second half of the route is a touch more undulating with some sharp twists and turns to negotiate though it didn’t really have a noticeable impact. The last couple of miles were particularly painful and although I caught one of the runners I knew I couldn’t quite find enough to reach the second.
And although I was pipped on the line I was still pleased to finish in 28th place in a time of 40:17 and according to my Garmin I also managed my fastest ever 5k and 10k . So all in all a pleasing nights work and very well done to all the Claremont participants.
Full results can be found here
