Wednesday evening saw the rescheduled Pitstop events take place at the fantastic croft racing circuit. After many months of frustration we finally got this one over the line and the evening proved to be successful thanks to many club volunteers and athletes who came along to support the event.
After some military drilled processing at point of registration by Kelly Sloan, Jade and Anne Hutchinson and Amanda Trees the first race got off to a flying start as the junior’s took to the track to complete the 1.2 mile loop. Conditions were pretty good all evening although there was a 12mph wind which made running harder than any of us would have wanted in places, but we couldn’t complain.
After some well marshalled organisation from Dave Tomlinson, Ian Barnes and starter Bernadette Caygill got the race underway using the clubs new TEES starting equipment…with Bernie choosing the beep rather than the bang to start the waves.
It was a fast pace in the race and as runners came round to with 400m to go, superbly marshalled by Brian Burdon it was Noah Williamson from Birtley who kicked on and took the honours in 6mins and 24 seconds for the 1.2mile run, Rowan Steel the first Harrier home in 6th in 6:58. Results for this race can be found here
Next off was the 5km race, this is a 1.5 loop of the circuit and was contested by a field of 161 runners, much reduced from the original sign up number. Again after some clear guidance from Dave Tomlinson the runners set off in their respective waves of 25 to run the 5km course.
David Green took the tape for North Shields Poly in a rapid 14:57 just ahead of Carl Smith from Tyne Bridge in 15:00 with Alex Kiel third in 15:37. Lee Johnson was first Harrier home in 5th place in 15:49 but some terrific performances from all club runners with a sprinkle of personal bests. Full results can be found here
Finally the 10km got away again with Dave in charge, the half a dozen wheel chair athletes motored around the course under the watchful eye of Tanni Grey-Thompson. This spectacle is fantastic to watch, the speeds that can be generated is incredible and it was Callum Hall who took the tape with 30 seconds to spare in 22:57 ahead of Sean Frame in 23:33 although there was a mix up with a couple of the athletes who missed the start despite the race being a couple of minutes late. Results can be found here
Setting off directly after the wheelchair athletes the 10km runners soon got into their stride as they set out to complete 3 laps of the course. New Marske’s Lewis Gamble-Thompson looked a class act as he completed the course in a winning time of 30:20 eight seconds ahead of Liam Aldridge of Billingham Marsh Harriers with Rob Scott 3rd in 30:40. Big shout out to Leeds runner V45 athlete Mick Hill who was an impressive 4th only 1 second outside of a time he set 10 years ago. Barry Talman was first home for the club in 41st place in 37:49. Full results can be found here
This event was a major success thanks to many volunteers in addition to the ones mentioned above the timing team of Trevor and Linda McDermot along with Sam Richardson, Steve Wilkinson and of course Tom Addison who provided video footage to ensure we didn’t miss anyone crossing the line together were absolutely superb! Photographer Karen Harland, Andy Dobson, Hilary Bevan, Julian Waller, Sarah Tomlinson, Tim Jones and Karl Hume all supported the event ensuring that runners and the small number of spectators felt secure at the site and knew where to go on the evening. The support before, after and during the event is invaluable so thank you!
Photographs from the day can be found here