Sunderland 5k – 11th July 2024
by Amanda Taylor
This Northern Athletics 5k Championship race welcomed a squad of 11 Crook runners – 10 lads and me – to join almost 500 other athletes in this fast, traffic free, road race. Billed as one of the fastest courses in the country, it’s ideal for anyone looking for a PB and of course, I was.
On arrival I bumped into Clare R with Harry then Mark S and Lee T who were all telling me I should go for a warm up but how could I when there was so much fat to chew plus there was only about 15 minutes left till the pre-race briefing so, in proper Amanda style, I didn’t bother. I’m going to hurt myself one of these days, aren’t I?
Hideously fast start at 6.45pm for the women and over 50 men but the field very quickly spread out as runners jostled for position on the first downhill stretch along the narrow path. I’d started almost at the back of the pack after Gerry tried to convince me to move forward but I was scared of being trampled since I knew how fast this race was having done it in 2021 when I got my 5k PB of 24:13. So I was now after a sub 24 which I’d have been happy with but I also had in mind that I’d done a 23:21 5k in the middle of the Blaydon Race so I knew I was more than capable.
Took full advantage of that delightful downhill start and just went off as fast as I possibly could (pace yourself, Amanda. Ha!) and was on the verge of overtaking Geoff till he clocked me, dropped down a gear and zoomed off.
The first mile went over really quickly then I thought I could hear Mark (Blower) S behind me but it couldn’t have been, he should have been way ahead of me by now but as I looked at my watch I’d done a 7 minute mile so maybe it was him. Not long after he cruised past with a word of encouragement and was gaining on Geoff. I was flagging like mad but tried to hang on as best I could with still another mile to go.
It all got a bit blurry after that, so much so that I didn’t really notice the little hill that I’d felt the last time round as I concentrated on trying to keep up with Mark. I couldn’t see my watch so had no idea how I was getting on, I was just going for it.
I couldn’t even tell you about my surroundings at that point but was super relieved to turn a corner and see the little grassy downhill section to the finish line, crossing in a time of 22:48, absolutely spent.
I’m sure it’s quite a pretty course with a few twists and turns around a lake but it is most definitely very fast….Lee T reckons it’s faster than the Quayside 5k so who are we to argue? If you’re in it for the goodies mind, don’t bother ‘cos you get nowt but what you do come away with is a huge sense of achievement on smashing your PB.
Well done all.
Lee T 16:23
Dean S 17:46
Harry R 18:13
Andrew D 19:00
Matty B 20:22
Simon B 20:46
Peter C 21:24
Geoff H 22:31
Mark S 22:40
Amanda T 22:48
Gerry H 23:54
Amanda T
