51st
[Sun 5th Dec 2010] Many thanks to the runners.
marshals, helpers and organisers who ensured that the annual Blyth Sands Race
was able to take place on Sunday 5th December.
This was probably the first race held in the North East for a couple of
weeks due to the recent Siberian weather, and although there was snow on the
dunes, thankfully the beach was snow free.
However, the recent bad weather had washed away a lot of the soft sand
leaving the beach in a rather unusual condition; first the good news - the
remaining sand was fairly hard underfoot, making it much easier than normal to
run on. Now the bad news - the runners
had to negotiate stretches of the beach with no sand at all, just various sized
pebbles and for the first time in the history of the event the organises supplied
step-ladders at two of the infamous groynes due to
their unnatural height above the beach.
The course
was the same as last year, with the race starting on the beach outside the new
Dave Stephen’s building and the runners heading north towards Blyth Pier where
they turned and headed along the water’s edge to Seaton Sluice. At Seaton Sluice, it was again about turn and
back to the finish at the Dave Stephen’s building. Congratulations to the first three of Lesley
Miller, Paul Waterston and Tracey Etherington. Fastest time on the day went to James Buis of Heaton, who because of the age handicap system was
in the last group away but worked his way through the field to finish 4th
overall.