Birtley XC Relays – 14th January 2024
by Geoff Hewitson This annual event was traditionally held on a January Sunday morning in Durham for many years, when it was known as the Cathedral Relays. Towards the end of 2018 the long-standing host club (Durham City Harriers) pulled out of organising the event at which point Birtley AC stepped in to take it over, and moved the venue to the Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy in Birtley. It was held here for the first time in January 2019. The
Elswick Norman Woodcock Memorial Road Relays – 5th November 2023
by Geoff Hewitson History Hosted by Elswick Harriers, this is one of the longest established road races in the North East, in name at least. The event has undergone several changes of venue and distance throughout it’s long history. Most older runners will remember it as a 6 mile race, mostly up and down the minor road that runs through the centre of High Gosforth Park. Increased development of sports facilities within the park, such as the golf driving ranges and outdoor
Redcar Running Festival – 24th September 2023
by Andy Turnell The Running Festival is a regular event at the end of September and packs four races into a single morning (early afternoon for the slower runners). There's a 2k Junior Fun Run, 5k, 10k and Half Marathon all starting before 10:15. Crook had representatives in the 10k and the Half. One of my long standing targets has been a sub 1:45 half marathon and, although the course has changed somewhat over the recent past, it's about as flat as you could
South Shields Sand Dancer – 23rd April 2023
by Geoff Hewitson A very busy time for local (and not so local!) races continued on Sunday at South Shields, where the local club hosted its annual Sand Dancer 10k. This year’s race was incorporated into our Club Championship but with many of our runners either competing elsewhere or nursing injuries there were just 8 of us taking part. The Sand Dancer is advertised as multi-terrain, which is an accurate assessment, so anyone thinking of doing it for the first time don’t