Ten runners from Teesdale Athletics Club travelled up to Newcastle to run the iconic Blaydon Race on Sunday the 9th June 2019. This year the race started in Collingwood Street and runners from clubs across the region and further afield ran 5.4 miles through the city streets at 7.15pm while traffic ground to a halt and roads were closed. Spirits were high and there was singing and merriment – “Fog on the Tyne” and of course “The Blaydon Races“ featured heavily and the sun shone on the 4700 registered runners. The race first took place on June 2nd 1962 but started to be organised by Blaydon Harriers & Athletics Club in 1981 and has been held annually ever since on the 9th June. There were loads of supporters along the route and a great atmosphere and all the finishers in Blaydon were presented with a bottle of specially brewery beer and a cheese buttie!

First back for the club was Nigel Mawer in 35:56, followed by Katie Mottershead in 44:26, Andrew Crawley 45:55, Barbara Crawley 46:49, Josh Crawley 48:05, Judy Yeowart 56:14, Steven Mounter 58:26, Fiona Turnbull 58:38, Trudy Layton 59:24 and birthday girl, Jane Mardon 77:17.

Teesdale Athletics Club’s Steve Moss travelled to the South West for the Cornish Classic Ultra trail run. The race follows the South West Coastal Path for almost 45 miles from Lizard Point round to Lands End. The rugged high cliffs interspersed with beautiful sandy bays made for some tough climbs with many steps and over 7,500ft of ascent. With changeable weather involving heavy rain and strong winds the preceding day, clothing choices for the race were difficult – should it be sun screen and T-shirt or multiple warm layers? In the end there was a bit of everything and, although there was quite a strong head wind, there was only a little rain and much of the day was sunny but not too hot. Consequently the scenery could be enjoyed with even a flat road section being brightened by the jumping kite surfers of Penzance Bay.

The fastest runner completed the 44.9 miles in 6 hours and 28 minutes which is an incredible time considering the predominately tough terrain. The last person to finish was on the route for almost 14 hours and 16 runners did not manage to make the check points within the permitted cut off times. Steve took 11 hours 45 minutes, which was about his expected time, but he was surprised to be the 1st placed M60 and 158th amongst the 204 finishers. Former Teesdale AC member Andrew Moss ran most of the race with his father then picked up on the last two miles to take a few extra places, finishing 152nd in 11 hours and 42 minutes.