Good Friday Relays, 3rd April 2026

Another Good Friday down at Newburn, where 9 teams from Claremont Road Runners gathered at this popular event under overcast skies. Although the rain more or less held off until we were done, the tent was set up on the grass verge, lest any of our essential home-made, post-race treats get spoiled!

Before the relays, there was the small matter of the junior races, mixed events taking place across three age categories over a 1.6 mile course. The ever-improving Charlotte Kerr had a good run, finishing well in a field of girls and boys.

The relays then began in earnest, with the usual high attendance, 111 complete teams finishing the women’s race, with 98 in the men’s. Each runner completing an out-and-back course of around two miles (somehow about 100 metres shorter than last year, despite no obvious alteration to the route), our first two ladies teams did especially well, finishing in 16^th and 22^nd respectively. A frequent guest-runner with the club, Silvia Velastegui-Cortez finally joined us as a member last summer, and was making her competitive debut in Claremont colours today. She said she thoroughly enjoyed the experience!

As ever, the competition in the men’s race was fierce, with our first team managing a credible 30^th place. Our other debutant was Harry Tracey, who gave a similarly positive appraisal of the run, through breathless smiles. Everyone managed to complete the out-and-back section through the woods without stoppages, despite a pre-race briefing that a klaxon would bring the race to a halt if motorbikes were to appear on the track!

Another fun feature this year: a van just beyond the finish lane contained digital screens, displaying runner’s times in more-or-less real time, and provided free souvenir print-outs of the team’s performance. A QR code also allowed access to a fun, colourful digital certificate.

Well done to all runners, a great turn-out as usual, and the various cakes and cookies were of the highest standard, as expected!

Under 14’s
Position	Runner	Time
18	Charlotte Kerr	9:21

Women
Position	Runners	Time
16	Sarah Kerr Aoífe Monaghan Catherine Young Team Time:	12:38 13:16 12:28 38:23
22	Lena Lou Heather Steel Nicki O’Brien Team Time:	13:24 12:44 13:29 39:38
56	Nina Jensen Anna Round Cate Walker Team Time:	14:51 14:59 15:09 44:59
62	Lynne Cornell Lucy Ward Yana Bevan Team Time:	14:56 15:01 16:19 46:17
70	Tara Hipwood Gill Milne Steph Towers Team Time:	14:29 18:17 15:01 47:49
97	Lucy Keating Silvia Velastegui-Cortez Ailsa Ralph Team Time:	15:50 22:46 16:01 54:38

Men
Position	Runners	Time
30	Harry Mawdsley Peter Noble Alex Taylor Mark Anderson Team Time:	10:12 12:18 11:47 11:16 45:35
83	Laurie Johnson Harry Tracey David Devennie David Lydall Team Time:	12:35 13:18 16:15 14:35 56:44
87	Paul Robinson Mark Flynn Luke Woodend Eddie Smith Team Time:	12:56 13:34 15:29 15:37 57:38

_{Thanks to Tom for the lion’s share of the photos.}