Gateshead Sundowner 10k, 18th June 2025

Cate Walker pushes relentlessly on in her 10k odyssey:

“This race probably would have passed me by if I hadn’t been continuing on my quest to complete a 10k every month of the year. I’d chosen this one partly for the date – sufficiently long enough after the Swansea Half to have recovered, hopefully – and partly for location as, despite being a Gateshead resident for nearly 2 years now, there are lots of interesting and unexpected parks and waggonways I have yet to explore in the Borough. This race was great in that regard, because the route took in Derwenthaugh Country Park, and a waggonway.

It was a fairly straightforward two lap route, with the two laps each comprising about two thirds park, one third waggonway. Despite being described as a trail race, everything was on a path, and, long, gradual inclines aside, the only significant hill was the short stretch taking runners up to the waggonway to complete the lap. The weather was slightly muggy, but a good running temperature, and the waggonway had some lovely tree cover. There were also just enough twists and turns on the country park part to make it interesting, whilst meaning I appreciated the long stretch on the Waggonway to make up a bit of time.

Having done some pretty crowded races recently, I really appreciated how small this one was. Official results aren’t through at the time of writing, but I would estimate fewer than 100 doing the 10k (there was also a 5k option, the runners for which set off a few minutes ahead of us, and a kids race, which looked to be made up of mostly very keen and fast Gateshead Harriers and North Shields Poly juniors). The running pack spread out quite quickly, and it was lovely having the space to enjoy the surroundings without trying not to trip over someone else’s shoelaces.

I didn’t have too many expectations for myself on the run, but hoped I might beat my time of just under 55 mins on the last, and only, 10k trail race I’d done (at Gibside, in April). I also had the motivation of an hourly bus leaving 64 minutes after the race was scheduled to start, with the bus stop only 3 minutes run away from the finish line! This bus was the difference between getting home at 9pm or 10pm and that really kept me going as I ran, especially as the race started about 5 mins after the scheduled time!

Hoping to stay under 9 minute miles, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself running under 8:30 for quite a bit of the first lap, and under 8 mins for the waggonway stretch. On the second lap I pushed myself more, and managed to overtake a few runners, including a very slow burn overtake from a long distance back, in the last 400 metres. One the finish line, that runner and I congratulated one another and we both said how lovely the route was, before I sprinted off to get my bus, medal in one hand, water and cereal bar in another, and made it to the stop with 4 mins to spare! I was delighted to have finished in just under 52 minutes.

Post-script: When the results came out, I was delighted to find out that I came second in my age category, and was the eighth female finisher (of 43) overall.”