Bridges of the Tyne, 4th July 2023
A nice evening for a dash along the riverside, Lynne Cornell sends an evocative report:
“The Bridges of the Tyne 5 mile Road Race is organised by Tyne Bridge Harriers, this was the first time I have done it. It is a very popular race (not sure then why I’ve never done it before!) and is advertised as ‘a fast, mainly flat, out & back 5 mile course along the quayside, passing the iconic bridges of the Tyne.’
As I walked along the quayside in the afternoon in the pouring rain, I wondered just how wet we could get, but then thought at least it would be cooler. The race headquarters are at the Tyne Bar where you are given your t-shirt with your race number. Bright orange this year.
The rain started again around 6:30, but then the skies cleared and I had to dash back to the car for my sunglasses, as the sun was threatening to come out. We all duly lined up for the 7:15 start on the Quayside near the Pitcher and Piano bar – very crowded at the start.
Then we were off. The first mile was very crowded but it soon settled down. For me, the hardest part was avoiding the ‘furniture’ on the route such as the benches, the many bollards and the bitts, as I didn’t want to end up lying on the quayside or in the river!
It is a lovely route along the Hadrians Way cycle path, going under all those iconic bridges: Tyne, Swing, High Level, Metro, King Edward and Redheugh, then along to the Quayside Business Park where you run up a slight incline at the part of the path where it leaves the riverside. The route then turns back along a short section of William Armstrong Road before rejoining the Hadrians Way, back along the quayside under all the bridges, then past the Millenium Bridge to the finish at the mouth of the Ouseburn.
A bonus for me on the way back was seeing Maria outside the Copthorne Hotel. No water on the route (apart from the river!) so the can of water at the end was most welcome. A really good race and I’ll certainly do it again. Well done to all the Claremont Runners.”
Well done to Lynne especially, finishing third in her age category, and evergreen, quadricentennial parkrunner Mungai coming second in his. Congratulations also to our second-claimers, who predictably had very strong races: Jack Shawcross (17th), Jonathan Gilroy (32nd) & Anton Mirafsari (89th).
Special mention to Kimberley for her performance, practically held together with sellotape a mere 72 hours after the Chevy Chase.
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 78 | Laurie Johnson | 31:49 |
| 150 | Mungai Wairia (2nd V65+ Male) | 35:03 |
| 184 | Arthur Liu | 36:55 |
| 194 | Kimberley Metson | 37:15 |
| 228 | Lynne Cornell (3rd V55 Female) | 38:29 |
| 249 | Liz Denyer | 39:24 |
| 254 | Howard Maclennan | 39:45 |
| 256 | Clare McKitterick | 39:53 |
| 291 | Anneliza Andreadi | 41:54 |
Thanks to Maria for coming out to cheer us on, and taking some great race photos
