Castles Half marathon 2015

[Sun 25th Oct]

Bamburgh was the starting location for the 10th race of the GP competition and the last opportunity to score points in the ‘Above 10M’ category. The Castle itself provided an excellent backdrop to start the race with a nice downhill section into town. There were many familiar faces at registration and along the route with many Blyth runners opting to volunteer for marshalling duties. The Castles races also took place last year but this was a new course for 2015 so nobody knew exactly what to expect, however it was common knowledge the Half would be one lap and the Marathon would be two. Davina Lonsdale was competing in the Marathon which started a little bit later than planned, then it was time for the Half to start. The race itself took place over quiet mostly single track roads and the word ‘undulating’ would describe the course perfectly. There were no significant hills but there was always a gentle rise or dip around the next corner. One point to mention is the mile markers were a shambles, some were accurate but the majority were 0.5 miles too short, very confusing I’m sure for those without GPS.

Tony Holland (not in GP) was first back for Blyth (4th overall) with a pb of 01:24. Great running after an equally impressive parkrun pb the morning before. There were 2 runners in attendance from Div 1 and Div 2. Robbie Barkley finished ahead of Steven French in Div 1 but it was Martin Scott from Div 2 who split the two Div 1 runners. Mark Nicholson was the other Div 2 runner who picked up some valuable 2nd place points.

There were no runners from Div 3, Dave Roberts already has this title wrapped up so a missed opportunity for those chasing points perhaps?

Div 4 and Div 5 also had 3 runners each. In Div 4 Michael McKenna had a good run to take max points and was closely followed by the first Blyth Lady, Lisa Scorer (not in GP). Next to follow in Div 4 was Claire Mason and John Mallon. Leanne Davies put in a speedy finish and was first back in Div 5 with Joanne Stobbart and Alison Warnes also picking up good points. Other non-GP competitors making up the 16 from Blyth were Anita Brabazon, Claire Everett, Andrea Wilson and Gemma Harmon – maybe next year for the GP ladies?

Thanks again to the Blyth marshals and to Andrew Grieves and Craig Harmon taking photos on the route.

The full results can be found HERE.