NS Poly Grand Prix, 1st October 2024

A wild, windy evening at Whitley Bay saw 24 Claremont Road Runners running along the coast in the second event of this season’s North Shields Poly Grand Prix (the first on the ‘regular’ course). As we gathered at the start , waiting for our handicap times to be called, there were two main topics of conversation – the weather and Dean O’Brien’s handicap!

We were very lucky with the weather last winter, but the North East coast gave us a reminder of what it can be like for this, our first autumnal race at the seaside, with a strong wind whipping off the North Sea. Poor Dave Roberts probably felt it more than most, having only just returned from his honeymoon in the Maldives! At least it wasn’t raining!

As for Dean’s handicap, it was certainly viewed as generous, and we all agreed that he had a good chance on this, his Grand Prix debut. Dean didn’t let us down, romping home almost 2 minutes clear of second place. He wasn’t the only sky blue to do well on the night, with Claremont Road Runners filling 5 of the top 15 places. I suspect that the handicapper will have his say next time out.

Dean’s victory helped his team, the True Blood Blues, to stand second overall after 2 events, with another Claremont team, Rock’s Stars, also handily placed in 7th. Last year’s winners, though with a much-changed line-up, the Full Claremonty are down in 20th. Only 2 of the 8 runners in our 4th team, The 3rd Wheelers, turned out on the night, so they are, unsurprisingly, languishing in 32nd place.

Seasoned campaigner Rose Hawkswood sits proudly top of the individual standings, with newcomers Eddie Smith and Zoe Jukes in 5th and 10th place respectively.

Position	Team *	Runner	Race Time	Actual Time
1	TBB	Dean O’Brien	39:31	27:01
8	TBB	Eddie Smith	43:21	29:51
13	T3W	Luke Woodend	43:57	29:47
14	TFC	Aoife Monaghan	44:01	24:51
15	TFC	Rose Hawkswood	44:04	30:34
32	RS	Mark Anderson	44:33	19:43
35	TBB	Niamh Garratt	44:40	31:10
37	TBB	Zoe Jukes	44:43	31:13
38	RS	Nina Jensen	44:44	25:34
58	RS	Holly Porter	45:03	24:53
104	TFC	Rachel Hurdman	45:26	29:16
116	TBB	Ann Smith	45:36	35:46
122	TBB	Jenny Roberts	45:40	28:10
125	T3W	Julie Cross	45:44	26:14
131	TFC	Nicki O’Brien	45:46	24:56
140	TFC	Alex Harding	45:58	27:28
141	TFC	Roberto Marzo	45:58	21:28
175	RS	Tara Hipwood	46:37	30:07
178	TBB	Janet Palmer	46:39	31:49
190	RS	Paul Robinson	47:00	22:30
193	TFC	Tom Tinsley	47:08	24:38
198	TFC	Alexia O’Rourke	47:14	37:04
199	RS	Dave Roberts	47:15	24:25
200	RS	Lena Lou	47:17	40:07