Gosforth Summer Relays, 3rd August 2025
8 teams represented an excellent turnout from Claremont for this relay race around the Great Park, 4 of each sex. This included 2 Claremont debutants in Mark Flynn and Cagla Erdas, but as a new course was being used this year, we couldn’t give them much advice!
Arriving with dark clouds overhead and rain in the air, we took the decision to put up the club tent as it was likely we would need the shelter to keep us and our stuff dry. However, by the time the race started, the weather couldn’t have been more different … now we were lamenting the lack of sun cream!
The new route meant that this was no longer the North East’s shortest relay, but was now one of the longest – I think 2nd only to our own Weetslade Relay. It now took us to the ends of the Great Park, nearly to Kingston Park and out to the new by-pass, and included sections of trail to add a bit of variety. The friendly vibe was still the same, with the men’s and women’s teams starting together and the cake stall at the end.
Our ‘A’ teams of Harry Mawdsley, Roberto Marzo and Alex Taylor put in an admirable performance to finish in an excellent 7th place – indeed, they had finished before Anna Round and myself had even started our leg, and we were far from the last to set off! Harry posted the 6th fastest individual time, and I made the leaderboard as 3rd fastest old man.
All in all, a most enjoyable morning’s racing.
| Position | Runners | Time |
| 7 | Harry Mawdsley Roberto Marzo Alex Taylor Team Time | 12:25 14:18 14:53 41:36 |
| 30 | Laurie Johnson Mark Flynn Dave Roberts Team Time | 15:01 19:08 15:23 49:32 |
| 31 | Peter Noble Eddie Smith David Lydall Team Time | 14:21 18:47 17:23 50:31 |
| 42 | Nicki O’Brien Tara Hipwood Julie Cross Team Time | 16:30 18:20 17:38 52:28 |
| 53 | Cate Walker Jenny Roberts Lucy Keating Team Time | 18:17 18:42 19:05 56:04 |
| 56 | Lena Lou Cagla Erdas Lucy Ward Team Time | 19:35 18:37 18:37 56:49 |
| 61 | Chris Jones Ken McCormick Tom Tinsley Team Time | 17:02 25:51 16:01 58:54 |
| 64 | Ailsa Ralph Gill Milne Anna Round Team Time | 20:15 22:14 18:27 60:56 |
