NS Poly Grand Prix, 29th September 2026

After the season-opening 10k at the beginning of the month, 4 weeks later we got down to proper grand prix business, with the standard 5.5km out-and-back route at Whitley Bay. It wasn’t quite ‘classic’ conditions, as despite a bit of a headwind on the way out, and mist drifting in off the sea, it was fairly mild, far removed from some of the driving, icy blasts we will likely face once we hit the turn of the year.

On this particular Tuesday evening, it was a decent turnout of 18 from the 3 team, 24-strong Claremont cadre. As ever, we can only guess at the magic formula used for calculating the handicaps, with the usual handful of people expressing disbelief at starting before/after certain other runners.

A new regime has begun this season, after the trusty team of Vaughan and Ivan stepped down in March, following a few years dedicatedly co-ordinating the event. Aside from a slightly longer wait than usual for the results, there was no noticeable change to the flow of proceedings on the night, hopefully the new volunteers giving up their time won’t feel overwhelmed by the challenge!

After a couple of injury-hit years, I worked out it was only my 3^rd time running the main course since March 2024, which seemed scarcely believable for what is my favourite event in the running calendar. It proved a successful outing, having strung some uninterrupted training together over the past few months, and I felt strong, not struggling to hang on in the second half of the race as is often the case.

Once I’d passed at least 4 of my fellow Claremonters by the halfway point, and several more shortly afterwards, I realised there couldn’t be many left as I dipped down to the final stretch along the promenade. Sure enough, I passed Tara, quickly followed by Zoë, and crossed the finish line in (I think) my 2^nd highest ever placing. Time-wise, still some way off my course best, but progress is progress! As is the Grand Prix way, I can expect a toughened handicap in response next month, that will see me finishing back down in the more familiar mid-100’s.

Harry Mawdsley was our fastest on the night (we could just copy and paste that part every month, really), and 5^th-fastest overall, from 219 finishers. Although it’s early days, none of our teams are making a convincing bid for glory, Rock’s Stars sitting about halfway down the table in 18^th, with The Full Claremonty and True Blood Blues further back in 30^th & 32^nd respectively.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from the grand prix over the years, it’s that a team is generally rewarded by consistency. Of the six runners missing tonight, three haven’t made an appearance at either of the first two fixtures. Who knows what some regularly higher turnouts may bring…? In any case, what matters is we have a season of races to look forward to (occasional chills aside!), with the odd carvery thrown in along the way, no doubt!

Position	Team*	Runner	Race Time	Chip Time
37	RS	Laurie Johnson	48:50	21:40
74	RS	Tara Hipwood	49:54	26:24
79	RS	Paul Robinson	50:01	23:31
80	TFC	Zoë Jukes	50:01	30:51
99	TFC	Nicki O’Brien	50:28	25:38
102	TBB	Julie Cross	50:30	26:00
118	TFC	Tom Tinsley	50:48	24:38
121	TBB	Harry Mawdsley	50:48	18:58
130	RS	Mark Anderson	50:58	21:28
132	TFC	Rose Hawkswood	51:00	27:50
150	TFC	Alex Oliver-Evans	51:18	28:47
155	TBB	Peter Noble	51:23	23:13
175	TBB	Cate Walker-Johnson	51:54	28:24
185	TBB	Niamh Garratt	52:05	32:15
196	TBB	Aaron Mansell	52:43	31:52
198	RS	Lena Lou	52:48	26:18
204	TBB	Janet Palmer	53:08	33:18
208	TFC	Anna Round	53:36	29:06

_{*TFC=The Full Claremonty, TBB=True Blood Blues, RS=Rock’s Stars}