Kielder Marathon and Half, 8th October 2023
The organisers bill the Kielder Marathon as “the most beautiful marathon in Britain”, and it must be a contender. Beautiful it may be, tough it certainly is! Six Claremonters took on the challenge – Izzy Neatrour describes their day:
“On Sunday morning, soon after 7am, three Claremonters assembled at Central station to catch the coach to Kielder. We were nearly reduced to two, as a phone-less Kim had mistakenly gone to the city bus station and was unable to check her email or to contact anyone. After a frantic tour of the city’s bus stops, she eventually found her tribe of shorts and trainer clad humans. Runners were not the only people loitering around Central at this time – there was a vibrant mix of wide-eyed revellers, excited toon fans, and a sensibly dressed older crowd.
The first coach that pulled up whisked away this latter group on a delightful sounding day trip to Whitby. We resisted the temptation for a last minute change of plan, and waited for the delayed coaches to Kielder. We were advised to board the correct coach – the first was headed to the waterside for the full marathon, and the second to the dam for the half. This was further checked at the point of boarding, with our names carefully checked off an official printed list.. As we got close to the dam, there was an announcement to check that everyone was indeed doing the half distance. At this point the man sitting across the aisle from us piped up that he was meant to be going to Whitby! He accepted his new destination surprisingly well, and took recommendations for the pub, walks and a couple of runs to spectate..
The run boldly claims to be ‘Britain’s most beautiful’ so there was high expectation. While I reckon this could be challenged, the half was a pleasant off-road route with good paths, enough climbs to keep it interesting (without being too gruelling), and with plenty of water stations. I think the full distance would be very tough and big respect to those who ran the full perimeter of Kielder water! The heavy mist gave way to sunshine and there was at least one flat stretch where it was possible to enjoy the view. The finish was well organised, and the army had been enlisted to hand out T-shirts and decent loot bags.
It was an incredible day for the Claremont history books with Sarah Kerr bagging 1st Female in the half, with an obscenely fast time of 1h 28m. Kim also put in an insane effort coming 8th Female with a time of 1h38. This is more than three minutes off her PB, which was a road race back in March, demonstrating her unstoppable progress this year. I came in at 18th Female with a time of 1h46. No other club had three female finishers in the top 20. On the male front, Sonam also had a brilliant run, coming 28th male with a very fast time of 1h33. Eric completed the Claremont halfers with a finish time of 1h48. Clare McKitterick was the only Claremonter brave enough to take on the full distance and achieved a great time of 4h45.
The half distance achievements were marked modestly over a post-run coffee while we watched Sarah open her amazing pile of prizes – a framed picture, £100, shoes of her choice and a bobble hat. The day was nicely rounded off by bumping into our Whitby daytripper in the cafe and we all agreed it had been a good day out.”
| Marathon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 323 | Clare McKitterick | 4:45:44 |
| Half-Marathon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 14 (1st female) | Sarah Kerr | 1:28:38 |
| 29 | Sonam Wangdi | 1:33:03 |
| 53 | Kimberley Metson | 1:38:08 |
| 105 | Isabel Neatrour | 1:45:55 |
| 119 | Eric Adams | 1:48:03 |
