Newburn River Run, 19th June 2024

Tales from the riverside, by Cate Walker:

“This relatively little-known run has a lot going for it: very flat, a newly paved (I am reliably informed) opening and closing section, shade for most of the course, pretty trees and surrounding countryside to distract from the mild discomfort of pushing oneself and… free ice cream! The announcement of the latter generated such a stir amongst the runners assembled at the starting line that we missed most of the remaining announcements.

Having said that, there probably wasn’t much that needed to be heard. You couldn’t really go wrong on this out and back course, which after the short stint near to the river, turns onto the Wylam Wagonway for around 2 miles before doubling back.

It was my first time doing it, and I enjoyed the 5 mile distance, more challenging of course than a 5k, but still possible to push oneself without the usual kilometre 7/8 dip that I get on a 10k. On top of everything else it had going for it, the sun was out but not in full force and the almost midsummer evening was bright and felt full of promise.

The three of us Claremonters started out fairly close together but Laurie and Howard were off like shots well before I got into my groove. I had decided beforehand to not push myself too much, having done so on the Bamburgh Castle 10k just three days before. I was hopeful I could just slot in under 40 minutes though, and that proved to be the case, with my final time around 39 mins 30.

Laurie had finished some time before and was a welcome encourager at the end, whilst Howard was just in my view for most of the race and finished not too far ahead but definitely with no chance of any overtaking from me.

Eating ice cream overlooking the river in the sun at the end was about as idyllic as it gets for post-race recovery! An understated gem of a race and great experience, highly recommended.”

Position	Runner	Time
58	Laurie Johnson	33:22
120	Howard Maclennan	38:34
139	Cate Walker	39:33