As is now customary, the first Saturday of the month saw our monthly tourism trip. This time we stayed fairly local, travelling just a few miles up the Tyne Valley to Prudhoe Riverside. It was a 14 strong contingent, plus a couple of friends, on the start line – just over 10% of the total field. Mark Anderson led from the start, pulling ever further ahead to win by over 80 seconds, with Tara Hipwood making it a Claremont double as first female. There was success also for birthday boy Luke O’Neill, also grabbing a podium spot in 3rd place. Course PBs for Mark, Dave Roberts, Lucy Ward and Ann Smith meant that the huge post-run cakes and scones were well-earned! All in all, a good morning out on a very pleasant course.
There was more tourism too. Claire Taylor became the latest, and 21st, Claremont Road Runner to trot around the racecourse at York; Brian Hegarty was in Liverpool at a course very familiar to me – Princes Park. On top of his 3rd place finish, Alex Taylor wins tourist of the week, at Peacehaven on the south coast – though there is a case for our 2nd claim runner, Jack Shawcross. Jack took in Hasenheide parkrun while in Germany for the Berlin Half Marathon on the Sunday.
There were also good turnouts and PBs at the local big two – Town Moor and Leazes. Aoife Campbell, Yana Bevan and Ailsa Ralph made it 3 out of 8 PBs on the Moor, while David Kendrick also chipped in with a PB at Leazes. Heather Steel made it an 8-PB week, running a course best at Riverside.
