Great North Run weekend always sees a huge number of visitors to our local parkruns. There was a record turnout of 891 on the Town Moor; a record of 747 at Whitley Bay and “J” seekers swelled Jesmond Dene’s ranks to 524, their 2nd highest ever attendance.
Whilst not quite a record, the 328 runners and 39 volunteers at Leazes Park included a large Claremont contingent, who were there to pay tribute to our very own Terry Welsh, a regular volunteer at Leazes. It seemed very appropriate that it should fall on GNR weekend, as Terry was an ever-present GNR runner from its inception in 1981 up to and including 2023, and thirty two of us were joined by Terry’s brother, John, who donned a hi-viz jacket and marshalled by the lake. Following an emotional tribute read by Dave Nolan, listened to in very respectful silence by the visiting runners, there was a minute’s applause in Terry’s honour.
Even though a number of us were having a nice steady run to save the legs for the trip to South Shields the next day, there were PBs galore for the Claremont contingent – 6 in total. Also, we were thwarted from a clean sweep, with sky blues finishing 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th. I think Terry would have been proud, but would have suggested that we recruit the lad who came 2nd!
Elsewhere, there were PBs for Roberto Marzo at Prudhoe Riverside and Chris Jones at Blyth Links. As is customary, Catherine Young finished 1st female at Fulwell Quarry. Still down under following his heroics in the Sydney Marathon, Craig Swanson ran in Melbourne, while Brian Hegarty took in a parkrun while visiting Vienna.
