Quayside 5K, 9th August 2023

Lynne Cornell and Holly Porter bumped into each other at the Quayside 5K, and agreed to send something for the website. They both had runs that they can be really pleased with – especially Holly who started the year with our Couch to 5K group, ran her first ever race last month and now has a sub-25 5K to her name.

Holly: “It was lovely running along the quayside past the beautiful bridges. I was hoping for a time of 27 minutes but was very happy to cross the finish line just under 25 minutes. The atmosphere was lovely and it was great to catch up with other members after the race.”

Lynne: “I’ve never done the Quayside 5k before and couldn’t resist when the email came round offering a place. It was a great evening for it-not sunny and no breeze.

I arrived at Baltic to collect my number, ensured the timing chip was secure on my shoe correctly (plus laces double knotted after Sunday’s experience at the York 10K!) then stood and watched in awe as the A Race (sub 20) runners finished – amazing.

Soon it was our turn, and after a walk across the Millenium bridge we assembled on the quayside. It seemed very crowded, and I did wonder how they were going to sort runners into a start line to reflect their anticipated finish times, but it soon became clear as they started shouting out times and pacers held up their times. People shuffled around, so at 7:30 when the race started we were roughly in the right order.

Like the Bridges of the Tyne race, very crowded for the first 1k and lots of ‘furniture’ to avoid. But it soon settled, and we passed under all the glorious bridges along the riverside to the turning point near Monarch Road, then back the same way and across the Millenium bridge to the finish on the Gateshead side of the river.

Thank you to Howard for his shout outs on the course. Great to see Holly at the end as she was collecting her post race goodies!”

Excellent times were also recorded by two of our second claim members – Jack Shawcross won the “B” race in 17:32, and Anton Mirafsari finished 10th in 19:10.

Meanwhile Sonam Wangdi had run with the super fast athletes in the “A” race – the field was so strong that it had even attracted a couple of runners from Kenya. Just how fast they all were can be seen from his position of 188th (winning time was an incredible 13:45).

Well done to all!