DK Mile, 2nd May 2025
The DK Mile is a series of 6, mile-long time trials, held on the first Friday of the month between April and September. It was started by Blyth Running Club in 2020, and subsequently renamed after the original course-measurer Dave Kitching after he passed away later that year.
Starting slightly further up from the start of the Blyth parkrun, runners set off in 4 waves (plus a 5th wave of juniors), a minute apart, handicapped based on speed, and essentially run half of the parkrun course in reverse.
As anyone who’s run by Blyth Beach will know (and it sometimes feels as if half the races in the North East are situated around this car park!) the conditions can vary wildly, depending on how windy it is. The session, while a time trial, is designed to as near as possible replicate ‘race conditions’ to allow runners to test their speed over a mile.
Mark Anderson had been the sole attendee at the first mile in April, where he ran a fantastic 5:12, to shave a few seconds off his PB from last year. For tonight’s edition, he was joined by one of our star juniors, 11 year old Charlotte Kerr (with mum Sarah along for support) and myself.
The conditions were classic Blyth Beach: a nice calm run down towards the bandstand in the pleasantly warm sunlight, with a fierce headwind to contend with as we turned south onto the promenade.
Due to a misunderstanding over the start time, Charlotte slightly missed her wave, but rallied amazingly, persisting and completing the course in the company of the tail bike. Although this meant she didn’t get an accurate official time, her determined and speedy run in circumstances that might have seen many give up, means she likely would’ve comfortably run underneath 7 minutes, no mean feat!
Still coming back from long-term injury woes, I was some way off last year’s performances, but was more than happy to be in well under 6 minutes at 5:45, and to have found it much less challenging than expected.
Mark continues to astound with his seemingly boundless improvement, smashing another 7 seconds off last month’s PB with an eye-watering 5:05, the 4th fastest time on the night. Could he yet dip under that 5 minute mark…?
It’s this kind of performance, along with a host of other factors, that led to us giving Mark this year’s Team Captain’s Award. Mark had to miss Monday’s handicap and social due to work commitments, so we surprised him with a belated trophy presentation by the sea.
Thanks to Tom and Gill for their usual heroic cheerleading, and photos.
