Newcastle 10k, 20th January 2024
Today saw the inaugural ‘Newcastle 10k’, as hosted by RunThrough, on a breezy and overcast morning down by the Quayside. Considerately, the icy conditions of the past week had thawed for us, meaning pretty favourable conditions for a course touted as ‘fast, flat, with PB potential’.
Heading out along the same route as the revamped Blaydon Race course (though starting slightly further back), the turning point thankfully comes at the bottom of the first hill, sending runners back to the Tyne Bridge, before looping round for a second lap.
Mark Anderson was first up as our sole representative in the ‘A’ race, and not only smashed his PB by 55 seconds, but took 1st place in his age category!
The rest of us lined up in the ‘B’ race. The suggested cut-off for nominating yourself for the ‘A’ race was 40 minutes, and while I hoped to beat that, I wasn’t quite confident enough to stick my neck out, having only run under that marker once before.
Setting off on the whistle, the usual early congestion took a while to thin out. There were plenty of people ahead of me, but concentrating on running my own race, I found myself gradually moving past more and more in the first 3km or so.
It was chilly, though the wind only really proved a factor on the few hundred metres up to the turning point, just past the vigorous steel drum band, feeling especially savage on the second lap. The out and back nature of the route allowed Claremonters to exchange encouragement as we passed one another.
Swapping places a couple of times with another runner in the second half, I couldn’t quite catch him before the line, and was slightly shocked to hear someone tell him he was 3rd, having had no idea I was quite that far up the field. I have decided to claim a ‘virtual’ podium place, owing to my chip time being 2 seconds faster than his! Lovely to receive a congratulatory hug from Lynne Cornell on goody handing-out duty in the finish area.
All our runners put in performances to be proud of. Special mention to new member Sophie Richardson, enthusiastically turning out for her first race in a Claremont vest with membership subs freshly in the bank. Hopefully the first of many!
| ‘A’ Race | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Chip Time |
| 80 | Mark Anderson (1st V50) | 37:30 |
| ‘B’ Race | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Chip Time |
| 3 | Laurie Johnson (2nd V35) | 38:41 |
| 199 | Holly Porter | 45:31 |
| 471 | Clare McKitterick | 50:56 |
| 568 | Tara Hipwood | 52:45 |
| 603 | Luke Woodend | 53:18 |
| 756 | Sophie Richardson | 55:19 |
| 1317 | Rose Hawkswood | 66:59 |
