North Tyneside Trail 12K, 5th January 2025
The coast may have been spared the heavy snow that fell inland, but conditions were still difficult, and very unpleasant, for the 6 Claremont Road Runners who joined the field for the North Tyneside Trail 12K.
Lucy Keating was among them, and she sent this report:
“This was my sixth time running this race, and I had given it quite the hard sell to my clubmates last year. Thus, I felt somewhat apologetic as four of us (Jim, Tara, Julie Cross and I) huddled together at the beach start on a freezing morning in driving rain, questioning our clothing, and indeed, life choices. As we had all woken up to a blanket of snow, it was a relief (?) to discover that the race was going ahead, and the Metro running on time, as the Whitley Bay riviera microclimate had left only a light wintery dusting at the coast.
In a change from previous years, we ran the first two kilometres on the beach, rather than the prom. With the tide pretty high, this meant everyone benefited from a lovely ice cold foot bath early on, as well as a somewhat ungainly clamber/galumph up a wall off the beach towards St. Mary’s lighthouse.
The route then proceeds along coastal paths to Seaton Sluice, before descending into Holywell Dene, with steps, stiles and icy puddles adding further challenges. The route was as muddy as usual, but with ice added into the mix, I saw more than one unlucky runner go flying. Being a cautious type, I decided this was no time to search for my inner gazelle, so I instead adopted a technique of ‘debutante walking across a polished floor in heels and ball gown’ on the downhills, and a Liam Gallagher swagger on the uphills.
After you enter the Dene, you have the choice of ‘hill now’ or ‘hill later’. I always choose ‘hill now’, being keen on instant gratification, but I think my wiser clubmates made a better choice of ‘hill later’.
The final three kilometres along the waggonways is usually my favourite section, as you can make up some time on the flat. However, the icy mud really tested my traction and stamina, so I found myself getting bogged down in all senses. Jim and Julie had disappeared into the distance at the start, and then Tara elegantly sped ahead of me on this section, impressively managing a sprint finish after such a tough run. The race ends with a half lap of the running track, followed by drinks and cakes in the friendly clubhouse.
It’s quite an informal race, and I don’t think they record times, but for what it’s worth, I Gallaghered round in 1:09:00 and I can safely say that Jim, Julie and Tara were ahead of me! Sincere apologies if I have missed any other Claremonters. Thanks as always to North Shields Poly and their cheerful volunteers for another great event, and for making a sensible decision to enable people to defer entries till next year if they couldn’t get to the start.”
Gill MIlne and Lynne Cornell were the other two who battled the elements and stayed on their feet until the very end. There are no results or positions published for this run, but it was a feat just to get around. Well done, everyone!
