Sunderland 10k & Half-marathon, 11th May 2025
A couple of our runners report in from a well-attended ‘Sunderland City Runs’ this Sunday:
Lynne Cornell: “I love this run and was glad to be back after missing it last year, due to being away on a walking holiday. The weather forecast promised a warm one and it certainly was.
Susan and I arrived very, very early due to the warnings of metros being off, bus services disruptions likely and the promise of road closures. I’ve never had such a quick drive through to Sunderland! It certainly gave us plenty of time to soak up the atmosphere in the event village, plus see the start and finish of The Big 3k – a great event for children.
Whilst waiting, we bumped into Lena and discussion was had about the heat. I opted to carry a small bottle of water with me throughout the race.
Eventually it was time for us to line up – thankfully markers along the side of the starting pen indicated estimated finishing times, so people could line up in roughly the right order. Then the lady mayoress started the race and we were off.
The first couple of km wind round streets south of the River Wear before we headed across the Wearmouth Bridge. Lots of supporters on the bridge. What a lovely surprise to hear my name and then realised it was Laurie. After crossing the bridge, the route turns right and down the hill along the riverside path – my thoughts at this point were what goes down must go up at some stage!!! The riverside route is lovely and there was a very welcome water stop, which I took advantage of despite having my own supply.
Then past the Sunderland Marina and onto the coast- the path along the seafront is lovely. Then through the tunnel into Roker Park which is where the uphill came in! A beautiful route through the park with a bit of shade in parts then out onto Roker Terrace with terrific views down to the coast and the next water stop. The route then turns inland along Harbour View towards the city centre. 2 lovely surprises along this stretch – Laurie shouting and an unscheduled water stop due to the heat. Massive THANK YOU to the organisers for this. Along this stretch there is a bit of a detour downhill (then back up!) which I think is there to make up the distance.
Finally the Wearmouth Bridge was in sight again and once across that a sharp right and the finish line on St Mary’s Way. The crowds were amazing. It was a relief to sit on the kerbside and then see Cate, Steph and Lena cross the line. Much discussion about the heat and glad we hadn’t opted to do the half. I didn’t see either Catherine or Heather who were way ahead of me. Another very welcome drink of water and a nice goodie bag. A good day out.
Cate Walker: “It was a beautiful morning along the North East coast on the day of the Sunderland City Runs, the sunshine bringing the familiar mix of joy and trepidation for most runners (well, for me, anyway). The course for each distance starts and ends near to the Wearmouth Bridge, although some weaving around in the 10k course means you don’t cross it until almost 3km in, and Half runners had to wait until over the halfway point.
There were 6 Claremont women running the 10k, and Mungai Wairia taking on the half (managing to achieve two Sundays of consecutive category 1st positions in the process). Before we started the run, Heather and Catherine showed me part of the route in our warm up from Roker, including an unexpected turn around Sunderland Uni campus on the last, otherwise straight, strait (!). This meant I managed to make up some time on this mini-downhill when it came.
At the race start itself, I lost Heather and Catherine but found Steph (Lena and Lynne were in the crowd somewhere, too, I only saw them much later). Steph and I ended up way back in the pen and ended up spending the first couple of km weaving around to get to where we wanted to be. Oops! Incidentally, the race results were among the most comprehensive with the stats that I have seen, so I could see I was 1,626th to cross the start line, and 590th to cross the finish!
With the first ‘weaving around’ kms out of the way, we set off over the bridge, where it was lovely to see Laurie (as unofficial Claremont photographer) braving the winds of the Wear, the bridge being the only chilly spot on the course! We then headed down to the Marina, which was one of the nicest parts of the course, and ended up at Roker beach, where many of us will be next Sunday at the end of the Pier to Pier! There was really good crowd support all along this stretch, with many people out enjoying the glorious sunshine.
After just over a km of seafront running, we headed up the most significant incline on the course to Roker Park, which, once I’d recovered from the climb, I could see also looked stunning in the morning sun. It was also nice and shady, but not long before we were once again blinking in the morning sun as we sped along Harbour View, heading back to the Wearmouth Bridge.
For me, oddly, this was the bit that actually did feel like speeding along, despite the incline, sun and it being the last part of the race. The crowd had thinned by this point, I was feeling fairly strong, and I was replenished by water from the halfway point. So, even if my photo just over the finish line makes me look traumatised by the experience (!), I actually really enjoyed the end of this race (and all of it, really).
It was great to catch Lynne, Lena and Steph at the finish line, all of whom had run really strong races (along with Heather and Catherine, some 8-10 mins ahead). A generous goody bag was the icing on the cake for this lovely event, one I’ll definitely be signing up for again next year. I’ll try to start a bit further forward next time!”
Modest as ever, Lynne neglected to mention her own category-podium placing of 2nd, something that’s becoming a regular occurrence. Kudos also to Mungai, whose back-to-back 1st‘s were achieved despite a fall and minor injury at mile 12 of this race!
| Half-marathon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 291 | Mungai Wairia (1st V70) | 1:40:49 |
| 10k | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 137 | Catherine Young | 42:34 |
| 156 | Heather Steel | 43:16 |
| 491 | Lynne Cornell (2nd V60) | 49:53 |
| 539 | Cate Walker | 50:46 |
| 576 | Steph Towers | 51:27 |
| 718 | Lena Lou | 53:43 |
