Clive Cookson 10k, 21st May 2025
Cookson perennial Howard Maclennan provides his and others thoughts from the latest edition of this race:
“Where do I begin! Surprising I first met Lynne Cornell and discovered this is her favourite race. Or perhaps one of many favourite races that Lynne loves, a common topic that came up a lot through conversations with other Claremonters. We all had a good laugh before and after the race about this, but it was good to take your mind off the race before it started. In Lynne’s own words:
“This is definitely one of my favourite races. It is the first 10k race I ever did and I love it, even the climb up Rake Lane. The reward is the lovely downhill stretch along the tracks back to the start for a 2nd loop. Fantastic organisation and marshals plus a great t-shirt that fits and tea and cake. What’s not to love? Many thanks to North Shields Poly for a great evening.”
The race started just after 7:15; the conditions were nicely warm, sun shining, with a pleasant soft breeze to cool you down. It’s a race of two laps, starting just outside Monkseaton High School and ending inside the school grounds. The first mile is a very low incline on Rake Lane; then a gradual 2-mile decline through country road lanes, a country path lane, before running through a housing estate, then back to the school gates. Your first lap completed.
Some love this and some not. I think this is because the course does achieve personal best; the first-time runner perhaps thinks it will be flat fast racecourse, not realising you must undertake the incline twice. However, if you have experience of the course; you do have about 4 miles of a slight decline, and perhaps tactics plays a great part here. This course still holds my personal best at 10k and for many others.
The race always has a theme for the tee-shirts. This year, a Stone Roses styled tee-shirt, very cool, and a brief reminder of their music style at the water station.
A shout out to the following runners: Luke O’Neill for getting a personal best and getting under 40 minutes. It was quite substantially under 40 minutes, not a few seconds. Aaron Mansell running through pain, before he undertakes a marathon this coming weekend. Nina Jensen cruising along in the race before going on holiday. Holly Porter after completing the Pier to Pier, zooming past me early on. A very determined sprint finish by Rebecca Webster, and in their own words: “Really enjoyed the run. Went out for enjoyment and came back with a 5k PB and a second fastest 10k (got a nasty muscle cramp in my side at 6k but managed to get my pace back up).”
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 49 | Luke O’Neill | 38:38 |
| 181 | Holly Porter | 46:56 |
| 201 | Nina Jensen | 47:47 |
| 239 | Lynne Cornell (2nd V60) | 49:47 |
| 263 | Aaron Mansell | 50:59 |
| 270 | Howard Maclennan | 51:44 |
| 405 | Becky Webster | 65:07 |
