Blyth Sands, 1st December 2024

The Blyth Sands is a race that has been on my radar for a while, but I had always managed to find an excuse to miss it … the morning after a Christmas Party, too busy, too lazy, too scared! Having run out of excuses, and being prompted early on by a post on Spond, I finally took the plunge and entered.

On the morning, we got to Blyth in good time to collect my number and meet the other Claremont Road Runners who were already there. There were 8 of us in total, and we shared our stories of the race, as we huddled at the entrance to the Dave Stephens Centre to shelter from the rain. Two of us, Nicki O’Brien and myself were running this for the first time, while Kenny McCormick was unsure if this was his 26th or 27th outing!

Luckily the rain stopped and we made our way down onto the beach for the start. It is a staggered start, with runners setting off at one minute intervals by age and sex. First off was the only lady over 75, then over 70s women, over 65 women with over 80s men etc. Kenny was first off for Claremont, followed by Julie Cross and then myself, the over 65 men starting with the over 50 ladies.

One of the women was fast out of the blocks, so I pushed on to run with her towards the first obstacle – a large pipe taking who knows what out to sea. We could all duck under the pipe and now it was a case of finding the best line to the turning point, marked by a Blyth Running Club flag near the harbour wall. We were already catching up some of the earlier starters, but as we returned to the pipe, I was concerned to see that Julie had stopped and was leaning on the pipe. She said she was OK and to carry on, so I did, knowing that she didn’t have far to go back to the start and help if she needed.

I had taken a line near the sea in order to go under the pipe at its highest point, but got too close as a wave came in over my shoes. Ah well, now that my feet were soaked, I didn’t have to worry about avoiding the water for the rest of the run. We then ran back past the start line, where the senior men were only just getting going and I wondered how long it would be until they caught me!

I was now aware that I was ahead of the rest of my start group and that there couldn’t have been many in front, but we were approaching the next set of obstacles – 3 groynes. The height of the groynes is a big variable from year to year in this race, depending upon the tide, how much sand has accumulated on either side and so on. Last year, one had been so high that the organisers had provided a ladder! We were lucky this year. The first two could be navigated by squeezing through a hole in the structure and the third was only about waist high.

On the other side of the groynes, the beach became more difficult. I expected to have to run through puddles and the odd stream of water, but not the totally uneven nature of much of the “hard” sand. I run quite a lot on Whitley Bay beach these days, but that is always fairly flat and even – Blyth South beach is not! Avoiding the soft, sloping sand meant negotiating a cratered landscape where you constantly had to be looking for your next safe footfall. We were also now running into the wind, and I couldn’t wait to reach Seaton Sluice and turn around! As we approached the turn, I was now being overtaken for the first time as younger runners caught me.

Somewhere near the turn, the eventual winner, Jimmy Anderson from North Shields Poly, went whizzing by. I followed him for a while as he stayed higher up the beach on slightly softer, sloping sand. I wondered if this was the best strategy as everybody else appeared to be taking the lower line that I had run on my way out, so I descended to join them – a mistake! It now seemed even more potholed than before, some of the flatter stretches already getting covered by the incoming tide. I should have guessed that Jimmy would know what he was doing!

The groynes re-negotiated, it was a short stretch to the finish line. Here I was overtaken again, my customary lack of a sprint finish meaning that I couldn’t respond to the fast-finishing Houghton Harrier. Little did I realise at the time, but he was just prising first place in the age category from my grasp. Never mind!

It is definitely a race like no other, 5 miles entirely on the beach with a few obstacles to overcome along the way, post-run sustenanc, and a unique atmosphere fostered by the friendly folk of Blyth Running Club – all for the princely sum of £7. What is not to like – I am sure that I will be back.

The results are not available yet – I will update this when they are.

Being first Claremonter home, I could relax and welcome the others. I was pleased to see Julie had recovered to finish the race and everyone else seemed to enjoy the day. Special shout out to Izzy Neatrour who was the only one daft brave enough to take a post-run dip in the sea! While waiting for the presentations, there was tea, coffee, sherry, mince pies and shortbread biscuits served in the centre – perfect for the race debrief.

Position	Runner	Race Time	Actual Time
11	Tom Tinsley	30:29	39:29
37	Isabel Neatrour	34:51	40:51
44	David Lydall	35:30	42:30
66	Chris Jones	37:46	40:46
78	Julie Cross	38:53	49:53
81	Nicki O’Brien	39:09	46:09
102	Liz Denyer	41:40	49:40
131	Rose Hawkswood	48:00	54:00
152	Kenny McCormick	53:27	64:27

Thanks to Gill for the excellent photos, and our friend Verity for the video.