Newcastle-Gateshead 10K, Half & Marathon, 3rd May 2026
A very wet day for runners and volunteers alike as the recent good weather gave way to torrential rain. Although the runners had to run through/dodge the puddles (floods?), it seemed to inspire them, with Claremont PBs all round. Perhaps they just wanted to get home as quickly as possible!
It must have been bad enough for the runners, but spare a thought for the poor volunteers – and Claremont provided 4 very soggy ones! So very well done to Lucy Keating, Clare Jeffray, Anna Round and Bill Milbourne. Their support, and that of other Claremont Road Runners out to support, was well appreciated by the participants.
Harry Mawdsley recorded a massive PB in the marathon, knocking around 12 minutes off his previous best. In his words: “Nice to have some marathon redemption after last year’s fiasco. Far better than I’d hoped. Went out hard and wilted a bit towards the end but very happy! Quite wet. Not the easiest course. The hill up to the stadium can do one. I probably wont be back.”
There were PBs in the half-marathon for Ailsa Ralph, Eddie Smith, Harry Tracey, Til Weber and, of course, Lena Lou. Lena knocked 8 minutes off her 21K best, and a full 14 minutes off her previous best on this course – this one day after setting a 5K PB at parkrun. There is no stopping her at the moment – fantastic stuff.
Harry got his PB despite “awful start position and falling on my kaboos in the first 200m”, but the others had more positive things to say!
Eddie: “Wet but speedy. Two loops with a hill up at the end of each. Lots of encouragement from Claremonters!”
Ailsa: “Huge appreciation for the support from the lovely Claremonters on the course, thank you! Definitely gave me a boost during that tough second lap.”
There was no PB for Sarah Taylor in the 10K, but she was quicker than last year and enjoyed it nonetheless: “Really enjoyed the 10k despite the rain! Thank you for all the Claremont support on route.”
| Marathon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 7 | Harry Mawdsley | 2:43:49 |
| Half-Marathon | ||
|---|---|---|
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 63 | Til Weber | 1:30:52 |
| 174 | Harry Tracey | 1:41:04 |
| 240 | Lena Lou | 1:45:16 |
| 570 | Eddie Smith | 2:01:31 |
| 732 | Ailsa Ralph | 2:12:19 |
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 617 | Sarah Taylor | 1:11:41 |
