Hartlepool Marina 5 Miler – 28th April 2024
by Geoff Hewitson A reasonable turnout of 9 Crookites were present for this annual event, much healthier than in 2023 when I was the sole club representative, and 2022 when I think it was just Stan and myself. A less than encouraging weather forecast (to put it mildly) for Sunday morning unfortunately proved to be spot on, and we were greeted on arrival with lashing rain and what felt like a freezing cold Northerly wind. As we took refuge inside the
Brass Monkey Half Marathon – 21st January 2024
by Rob Teasdale The very popular Brass Monkey once again delivered the goods with a cracking turnout of 14 runners from the club. For the first time this years event was a ballot process which meant many missed out, I did originally but thanks to Lee I was able to secure a place. Not that I need motivating to run but I always feel a place in Brass keeps you going over those winter months when it’s cold and dark to get out
Heaton Memorial 10K – 12th November 2023
by Caroline Teasdale The Heaton Memorial 10K takes place on the Town Moor in Newcastle - a flat course that can be notoriously windy on a bad day. Thankfully I arrived in Newcastle in bright sunshine, cold but no breeze! I walked to collect my number then made my way back to the car to take a few layers off and warm up. Lee and Stan invited me to warm up with them which was nice and they happily ran my
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
Great North Run – 10th September 2023
by Brad Wight Where to start? Safe to say from both a running and a weather perspective it was a right mixed bag! All week the weather forecast was looking far from ideal for distance running. Brendan Foster wrote to runners saying “Sunday will not be a day for PB’s.” Well, what does he know? I’ve counted NINE personal bests in the results, and there may be more as some of our newer members registered without a club name. At the front end, starting
Middlesbrough 10K – 3rd September 2023
by Rob Teasdale A decent turnout of 7 Crookites lined up to do business this morning in Middlesborough. This one was always one of the to do races on the calendar and a very popular one lap loop but since Covid it's changed hands in organisers and also had a route change. Although it's now been like this for a couple years this was my first go of running the new route. It was a pretty decent route with a few turns but completely
Sunderland Silksworth 5K NE Championships – 20th July 2023
by Simon Pickering This was my first time doing this course, and I’d been sold it as a “bloody quick course”. As soon as I saw the first half mile, I understood why. It turned out to be a good night for Crook, with many people getting 5k PB’s. I got there early as I went straight from work and was one of the first to register. Simple enough process. I soon started to get imposter syndrome seeing the height and the
Ali Brownlee 5K – 30th June 2023
By Rob Teasdale Last Friday saw the second running of the Ali Brownlee 5k since its return from Covid times. Pre-covid this was one of the 'to do' 5ks in the region with its flat and predominately fast course. Friday saw 5 of us from the club line up, plus second claim member John Firby. The course is a little twisty and turny but not bad overall and to finish you get to do nearly three quarters around the inside of the