Jesmond Joggers 20th Anniversary Relays, 14th July 2026

The first of two brand new relay events in 48 hours, the cream of north-east running descended upon Jesmond Dene for a 20^th Anniversary celebration. After last week’s heatwave, it was a sunny, but relatively mild evening in Paddy Freeman’s park. Jesmond Joggers had pulled out all the stops, as pre-race we were serenaded by the Band of the Royal Regiment of the Fusiliers, who were no doubt glad of the lower temperature, decked out as they were in full regalia! As the players launched into a rendition of “I’m Still Standing”, I mused on how many of us still would be, come the end of a race tactfully described as ‘challenging’.

Less neutral terms had been used earlier in the day, as the group WhatsApp was buzzing with people pondering on the route, and just how intense the various climbs would be, especially as the notorious parkrun hill (20 metres of elevation stretched out over about 200 metres) was positioned as pretty much the finale of the 1.7 mile/2.6 km course. To be concise, the route was going to be a lot of downhill, followed by a lot of uphill.

Starting at the top of the southern Paddy Freeman field, we followed the path round the edge, reaching the playground and the first of several hairpin turns. We then bombed down the hill that usually signals you’re nearing the end of Jesmond Dene parkrun, though on this occasion it was a little more crowded, as a couple of minutes hadn’t been nearly enough to sufficiently thin out the field of eighty-plus runners. After this lengthy descent, we hit the bridge that crosses the Red Walk, with a shout from the marshal to go “single-file”, coloured cones placed either side further enforcing this.

Runners were starting to get stretched-out at this point, and on crossing the bridge, we hit another incredibly sharp turn into the first climb, which was a steep, if relatively short ascent, and having come after a mile of freewheeling, it didn’t feel too taxing.

We emerged onto Jesmond Dene Road, which provided a few hundred metres of respite, practically (if not actually) flat compared to what had come before. Powering on, it was nice to see Ann stationed by a side-road, cheering us along. As Jesmond Dene House loomed, it was another tight right down into the Dene, followed by another hairpin left at the top corner of the picnic field as we re-joined the parkrun route. Snaking down and across the low bridge, a short rise took us to the familiar steps, which are maybe as cruelly positioned as possible, seeing as you immediately have to pivot hard to the right and up the hill, having lost a lot of momentum.

Scaling the final hill, as tough as it was, it didn’t feel as awful as I was expecting, possibly because I’d expected to be dead on my feet by this point. On balance, I probably made the right call not bringing ropes and crampons. Another couple of tight turns at the top, and it was a short sprint up the path to the finish, with free biscuits doled out alongside cups of water.

The most fulsome praise must go to those who stepped in at short notice to save the teams, after we experienced a number of withdrawals in the build-up, so take a bow Eddie Smith (“looked jaunty at the beginning of my run, not so much at the end”), Cate Walker and Jamie Harding, the latter two only being confirmed as running a few hours before. Special mention to Jenny Roberts in the ‘taking one for the team’ awards, who received a bee sting to the side of the head during her run! Thanks to the first aid team for helpfully extracting the sting. Our first team finished a fantastic 12^th out of 87, with Harry 6^th fastest overall on the night.

There was bumper support from non-running Claremonters, cheering, taking photos, with Gill and Tom especially contributing plentiful and much appreciated cake. For some of us, we get to do it all again in 2 days, down in the Derwent Valley. Hopefully with slightly kinder hills… but Claremont will definitely be back for this one again next year!

Position	Runners	Time
12	Harry Mawdsley Lena Lou Sonam Wangdi Team Time:	08:47 11:36 10:50 31:13
19	Mark Anderson Sarah Kerr Till Weber Team Time:	10:09 11:28 10:34 32:11
48	David Nolan Cate Walker Ryan Thompson Team Time:	10:35 13:30 12:49 36:54
60	Laurie Johnson Jenny Roberts Lucy Ward Team Time:	10:41 13:56 13:44 38:21
76	Mark Flynn Lucy Keating Luke Woodend Team Time:	12:09 14:09 14:53 41:11
79	Jamie Harding Anna Round Eddie Smith Team Time:	14:31 13:47 14:10 42:28

_{Thanks to Tom & Hazel for loads of great photos}