The Blyth Sands Race: 5 miles – Sunday 1st December 2024
by Geoff Hewitson
Described on the race entry form as “A beautifully scenic, always inspirational, often challenging, approximately 5 mile handicap race along the sands between Blyth Harbour and Seaton Sluice Harbour” (wouldn’t disagree with any of that) 2024 was the 64th running of what is one of the regions oldest races.
A brief history
In the late 1950’s members of Blyth Rowing Club regularly ran along the beach in the winter months with the local harriers. The rowers club house was an ideal meeting place and over hot cups of tea a challenge was issued. The Pearson brothers, Jim, Tom and Doug, county rowers claimed that with a handicap (a few minutes start) they could produce a team that would beat the runners. The race was to be run from Blyth Harbour across the bay to Seaton Sluice, around an upright oar, then back – a distance of about five miles.
The challenge was accepted and in the middle of December 1959 Jim Pearson led the rowers to a convincing victory. The handicap that the runners gave the rowers was ridiculous.
Apart from the Covid lockdown of 2020, the race has continued without a break and is one of the oldest races in the region. Although runners are the only ones who compete at present the race still retains the “start” system which makes the race an extremely exciting spectator event as the “scratch” competitors attempt to make up the stagger. Handicaps are based on the age and gender of the participants:
• Ladies O/75 – 15 Minutes start
• Ladies O/70 – 14 minutes
• Ladies O/65 & Men O/80 – 13 Minutes
• Ladies O/60 & Men O/75 – 12 Minutes
• Ladies O/55 & Men O/70 – 11 Minutes
• Ladies O/50 & Men O/65 – 9 Minutes
• Ladies O/45 – 8 Minutes
• Ladies O/40 & Men O/60 – 7 Minutes
• Ladies O/35 & Girls U/18 – 6 Minutes
• Men O/55 – 5 Minutes
• Senior Ladies & Men O/50 – 4 Minutes
• Men O/45 – 3 Minutes
• Men O/40 & Boys U/18- 2 Minutes
• Senior Men – Scratch
The earliest results are not available but there are records from 1966 and they make fascinating reading. Names like T. Horne, D. Coker, N. Rackman and W. Pickles featured again and again. Ray Caruthers of Gosforth was the fastest runner in 1967, 1974, 1977 and 1978. Reg Checkley (Heaton) fastest in 1968, Gordon Freeman (Sunderland) first veteran in 1973 and a “J Hedley” was the fastest over-forty in 1968.
Inevitably Jim Alder has frequently won the race and as part of his training he would run to Blyth Beach from Morpeth, a distance of twelve miles, take part in the race then run home again. Jim broke the record in 1964 when he ran 25.26 and this stood for eight years before two emerging Elswick Harriers appeared on the scene.
Dave Gibbon and Mike McLeod entered the 1970 race as teenagers and were placed seventh and eighth respectively behind the winner R. Balding of Heaton. In 1971 McLeod was to win the race but a year later Gibbon took the title in a record time of 25.20 and went on to confirm dominance in 1973 with a victory, again inside Alder’s old time. McLeod did not race on these last two occasions and neither runner competed in 1974.
However, in 1975 they were back again in a head-to-head confrontation which must have been a magnificent duel. The bare facts record that M. McLeod ran 23.59 and D. Gibbon 24.00. The course record being demolished by 1 minute 21 seconds! This awesome performance is unlikely to be beaten.
2024
Despite several expressions of interest, ultimately I was the sole Crookite in this year’s race. Clare Weir and Gayle Askwith had also entered but both were “non-runners” on the day. The start time is largely dictated by the tides (I assume) because it changes every year. It was 2pm in 2018, 1pm in 2019, 10.30am in 2021, 10am in 2022, and 12pm in 2023. This year the start time was back to 10am, so a fairly early start was required. Weather-wise, 2021 remain for me the benchmark of how bad it could possibly get (lashing rain driven almost horizontal by a freezing cold gale force Northerly wind) and even last year’s freezing temperatures with a cover of snow extending about 1/3 of the way down the beach were far preferable. Conditions this year could hardly have been more different – it was overcast and damp before the race, but the sun broke through as the clouds cleared, lifting temperatures to a balmy 12 – 13 degrees.
As explained earlier, the Blyth Sands Race is quite unique in employing an age/gender handicap system, with a 15 minute spread of start times. I had the advantage of a 9 minute start over the scratch runners.
The start and finish is on Blyth South Beach adjacent to the Dave Stephens Centre. The course itself is pretty straightforward – you start off by running North for about half a mile with the sea on your right. After making a U-turn around a marshal point you then run South for 2.5 miles, this time with the sea on your left. Another U-turn around a second marshal point then the final 2 mile stretch back to the finish. You must stay on the beach, but otherwise the exact choice of route (“racing line”) to take is down to the individual runner. Only where there is deemed to be a potentially hazardous situation do the marshals intervene to indicate where you need to go.
In terms of underfoot conditions you have to be prepared for (and accept) pretty much everything. Unlike a road race it’s never the same twice, and you have to cope with whatever variations of surface the tide leaves behind. I found it quite hard work this year, with long stretches of the beach “pock marked” with depressions full of sea water. Some were fairly shallow, whilst others were a foot on more deep, so a lot of route plotting was needed and few opportunities to stretch out on firm sand. Also, for most of mile three (roughly the half mile stretch to and from the turning point at Seaton Sluice), the sand was much softer and therefore more draining to run on. There is a large water pipe running down the beach that has to be negotiated (ie crawled under) twice in the first mile, and the famous groynes (three in total) which have to be crossed in the second mile and then again in the last mile from the opposite direction. Their purpose is to reduce the southward erosion of the beach by the tides and with full commitment it’s possible to hurdle some of them when running down the beach, as long as you remember that, like Becher’s Brook in the Grand National, there is a steeper drop on the landing side. Coming back towards the finish, however, it’s a case of clambering over or squeezing through the gaps as best you can.
An advantage(?) of the course layout is that you have the opportunity to see who is behind you (as well as up ahead) when making the U-turn at Seaton Sluice with 2 miles to go. Approaching this point I started counting runners coming back in the other direction and found myself in 22nd place overall (perhaps another sign of my decline as by a remarkable coincidence I’d turned in 13th on all but one of my previous five visits). I passed another couple of runners on the way back, but was also caught and overhauled by several more of the faster male runners and two ladies. My eventual finishing position was 33rd out of 161 finishers in a time of 43m 25s. It’s the furthest back I’ve been since I first did the race in 2018 (21st last year, 11th in 2022, 18th in 2021, 9th in 2019 and 13th in 2018) but I got the impression that the overall quality of the field was a lot stronger this year (the entry limit was reached at least 2 weeks before the race date).
This is a great event if you’re looking for something different to the usual race formats and well worth supporting. The online entry fee was only £7 (plus a small admin fee) for attached runners, with free tea/coffee, mince pies, biscuits and small glasses of sherry all on offer in the race HQ afterwards. There is ample free parking close to the start/finish, and the race HQ and toilets are literally a stone’s throw away. I know it’s not for everyone, but personally I’d much rather support this type of event and the friendly local club (Blyth RC) who keep the tradition going every year. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that the Race Director, organisers and marshals from host club were brilliant in terms of their support and encouragement.
There are individual prizes to the first 3 finishers, the winner of each 5 year age category, and the first three teams (4 to count regardless of age category of gender).
Geoff H