Andrew Calcott Derwent Valley Relay, 16th July 2026

Hot on the heels of the Jesmond relay on Tuesday came the newest relay race to come to the North East, this time an event organised by Derwent Valley Running Club in memory of one of their members, Andrew Calcott. The Derwent Valley is a lovely setting to run in, and we were blessed with a balmy evening, perfect for running.

It was a much smaller event than Tuesday’s affair with just 39 teams representing 9 clubs, which, along with the friendly event team, gave it a very relaxed vibe, The teams gathered in a small field, just off the main path on the west side of the valley, which acted as the start and finish area. Every team had to be mixed, i.e. contain at least one man and one woman, so as there were six men to be distributed over the six Claremont teams, it was the six lads who lined up for the start. The route took us immediately out of the field and, after a couple of turns, we were on a section of gravel path that climbed gently uphill. A left turn took us onto the tarmac path to loop around the lake and head back down to pass the start field. The route was now an out-and-back one, slightly downhill on the out, so slightly uphill heading back.

Jack Shawcross led the Claremont charge and he handed over to Anna Round in an impressive 3rd place, but it would have been a big ask to expect Anna and Lena Lou to keep that up, and they eventually finished 10th. Nearly 3 minutes separated them from our “B” team, with the other four teams closely grouped further down the field. The award for best finish of the night must go to Gill Milne who came sprinting in to overtake a lass from Newburn and leave her in her wake, thus making it three sky blue teams in a row!

After the race, the runners were invited to walk the 800m or so back to Swalwell Juniors FC club house to claim their free pie! This was a great innovation as it meant that most of the field stayed to socialise, watch the presentation and take part in the charity raffle – though it is fair to say that we were all slightly disappointed that the pies were served cold.

Overall, this was an excellent first running of this relay, thanks to the welcome from the host club and, luckily, the weather. I hope this event can go from strength to strength in the years to come.

Individual times have not been provided, only the overall team results. If you want to know how individuals performed, Strava may be your best bet!

Position	Team	Team Time
10	Jack Shawcross Anna Round Lena Lou	40:25
16	Laurie Johnson Julie Cross Cate Walker	43:16
29	Paul Robinson Sarah Taylor Jenny Roberts	49:48
31	Til Weber Silvia Velastegui-Cortez Lucy Keating	50:17
32	Sonam Wangdi Becky Webster Maria Oranges	50:42
33	Tom Tinsley Katherine Bell Gill Milne	51:04