Clear skies and bright sunshine welcomed the early risers preparing for race 5 of the 2023 Grand Prix, Sunderland Strollers Pier to Pier race.
With the review of the divisions following race 4 being completed, all competitors now knew exactly who they were ‘looking out’ for in this race and so the competition really began to hot up.
Two busses from Blyth Sports Centre had been arranged and with many others making their own way, a total of over 40 Blyth Runners were heading over the Tyne for the start in South Shields at 10:00
Pre-race discussions within some groups centered on shoe choice for the multi-terrain race, where you could risk disqualification by running alongside the road, and a consensus could not really be found. Trail for some, old road shoes for others and for the brave (or foolhardy maybe) , carbon plate road shoes, were the choices made, with some raised eyebrows for those choices, but decisions made, onto the busses we jumped and off to South Shields we went.
Just after 09:00 was the arrival time south of the river and plenty time to sort ourselves out, get a warm up and some drills done and attempt to get a ‘full’ group photo, the latter not 100% successful however plenty snaps taken to demonstrate the strong showing from the green and whites on the day and this strong showing carried through to the start area where most of us milled around just in front of the start line, awaiting the marshal’s to instruct everyone to step back behind the line, leaving us in prime position for the cavalry charge along the first mile on the sand, there was, after all, prizes on offer for first man and first woman off the sand.
Quick briefing from the marshal’s and 3-2-1, were off…and well done to those that challenges for the first off the beach prizes. Michael Stott off the sand high up the order and oooh, how close was Kandis Watson to claiming the trophy, only pipped on the soft stuff by 2 other females, great effort Kandis!!
The competition within divisions was clear from the outset, eyes peeled for your fellow division challengers, are they going too fast?, are you too slow?, follow or lead?? Pretty soon however, the race thinned out a little and you were where you were and time to concentrate on your own race and yes, you really did need to concentrate. The tracks were thin in places, uneven in others and while it is a beautiful coastline, maybe not as nice as Northumberland mind??, looking down to ensure the right footing was a necessity early on in the race.
Soon to halfway and Souter lighthouse passed, the drinks station was reached and another decision to be made. Cups of water were on offer, not bottles, so do you try to pick one up while running hard and spill it all over, or do you back off, make sure you take on the fluids then go again?? Sun had been shining bright all morning and it was beginning to get a little warm so discretion was decided to be the better part of valor and time was taken to get the fluids on board, still spilt some mind??!
The second half of the race over the cliff tops was a mix of gravel paths (like the beach dunes path at Blyth) and grass sections. In places you had the choice, path was longer, grass more uneven but shorter, how brave were you?? That lot successfully negotiated, it was the promenade for about a mile before the final stretch on the beach heading for the finish line, avoiding the exposed rocks/stones as you try to put in a sprint finish and keep the face straight just in case the cameras are there, although some did put in an effort for the ‘Stampy’ award from the pics I have seen!!
So all done, finished line crossed, a welcome bottle of water and cheer on fellow finishers before heading off to collect what is arguably the best goody bag on offer locally for any race. Crisps, chocolate, beer, energy gel, beer glass, glass memento, bag and t-shirt, worth it me thinks.
Post finish, loads of chats with fellow BRC runners, stories of tumbles for some, loving of the race for others, dislike from a few and then some hardy souls braved the north sea for a dip to ease the aching legs.
A fabulous event, great showing from BRC members and strong runs all round. Great to see some returning from injury and illness and others smashing PB’s to bits on a beautiful day. Mind you, there are one or two who didn’t heed the ‘sun cream’ warnings on the day and have semi permanent reminders of the outline of the t-shirt/vest worn for the race etched onto their skin!!
Big shout out to all those that were out on the route supporting Blyth runners along the way, some having cycled over in the morning, that support and those race pics are very much appreciated, and many many thanks to all those that made it possible, @Sandra Watson for sorting us out some busses, alongside many others.
Onto race 6 now, Newbiggin parkrun on the 3rd June, when no doubt the competition will again be strong but friendly. See you all there.
#TeamBlyth
The full results can be found HERE