Great North Run

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Barrie Evans

Sunday 20th September 2009 dawned clear, bright and fresh for the 29th running of the Great North Run. For Striders, friends and others getting to the Newcastle start line started before 8am as a coach organised once again by Andy James began its pickup of runners, marshalls and supporters at Langley Park then County Hospital and other points in Durham and along the route to Washington Services. Relief at this point as all scheduled 52 passengers were safely aboard and accounted for. Next stop, the bridge over the central motorway in Newcastle to the rear of the race assembly area where the runners spilled out, having earlier been asked to make a prediction of expected finish time, received last minute encouragement and advices including directions to the post race meeting point at The Look Out. The runners dispersed with their own thoughts walking along Claremont Road and making use of the baggage buses before taking their places in the appropriate starting zone.

Waiting for Godot-ful smelling runners.

The perfect blue sky and sunshine belied the chill prior to the start but for many it was a prelude to a very warm run. After the wheelchair and then elite women had got away Sting signalled the start for the elite men and masses at 10.40am and the charge was on.

My own start from zone A amongst the celebrities and GNR ever-presents was unhindered and I settled into an 8+ min/mile pace as younger / fitter runners from zones B, C and perhaps further to the rear surged past in their haste to reach South Shields before the pubs ran out of beer !!! Maintained a quite steady pace through 5k , 10k and 15km , enjoying the warm conditions but leg-wise never ever feeling 100% comfortable , ( must try harder and do some training !! ) before slowing a little over the last 3 miles to finish in 1.51.37 . After a brief chat to a group of Striders manning one of the finish lanes, collected my ‘goody bag’ and retrieved my kit bag before walking up to The Look Out ( feeling surprisingly fresh ) . Met our coach driver ( Ian ) who’d parked up at the junction of Fort Street and chatted to him as we sat and watched a spectacular performance by The Red Arrows. When Jamie Steel arrived after a 1.37.23 run it was time to make for the pub and enjoy a welcome pint. The pub gradually filled with Striders and friends with their own tales and experiences most having beaten estimated timings. ‘Super Vet’ Jackie Smith continues to set an example achieving 3rd place in her age group in a time of 2.25.48 with 12000 others ( the vast majority younger ) left in her wake. The exit from South Shields at 4pm was slow and a further holdup occurred at Chester-le-Street as we met traffic leaving the cricket ground where England had salvaged just a little pride in beating Australia in the final one day match – losing the series 6-1. Back in Durham just before 6pm to complete a long day. Many thanks to Ian from Gillinghams Coaches for providing an excellent, helpful and friendly service.

A prize was offered for the person running most closely to their estimated time – owing to some runners not returning on the coach it was not possible to confirm a winner on the day but subsequent check has revealed Lindsay Brough ( a friend of Steph Barlow ) to have run 2.05.00 to exactly equal her prediction!! Steph is hoping to bring Lindsay down on a Wednesday evening soon to receive her award – a potential new member perhaps !! Note: 282 finishers were noted as DH1 residents very few of whom are currently with clubs . Maybe we should nominate a recruitment officer?

Joanne Heron adds: Finished in 1hr 48 min, which was OK considering I may have broken my toe at home this morning, (OK, broken may be a slight exaggeration!) and the fact that someone had left the blow torch on this morning….v hot!

If I’m around for next years run I’ll definitely be offering my help at the finishing line. Thanks again.

Nigel adds: Many thanks to Paul Loftus for organising us all and turning us into Smurfs once more! Note to self;- Take hat, sunglasses, and apply sun lotion next year!

And Dougie adds: This was my third GNR and the best one yet. Down in no small part to not having to worry about getting there, and getting back. Thanks to Andy for organising the coach as it makes the whole day far more straightforward and stress-free. Again I’d say one of the nicest bits was just chilling out and winding down in the Look Out Inn afterwards and swapping stories and having too much beer before getting on the coach and stuck in traffic, and a big thank you to the coach driver for the pit-stop at Washington Services where I ran faster than I had all day to get to the toilets. Looking forward to the 30th next year! Indian Man

Results

Pos Name Club Cat Pos Time
1 Martin Lel 0:59:32
1 Jessica Augusto F 1:09:08
309 Michael Mawby 1:26:33
1614 Jamie Steel 1:37:23
1799 John Robson 1:38:21
4028 Sandra Graham F 1:45:46
6496 Barrie John Evans 1:51:37
7026 Andrew Jordan 1:52:40
7083 Stef Barlow F 1:52:48
7188 Anna Pethybridge F 1:53:03
7269 Kirsty Dykes F 1:53:12
7747 Jennifer Copley F 1:54:09
8997 Zoe Tomlins F 1:56:18
11016 Alan Smith * 1:59:31
15828 Julie Mitchelson F 2:07:35
16516 Douglas Nisbet 2:08:40
16807 Jim Nicholson 2:09:10
18591 George Nicholson 2:12:04
18784 Jane Ives F 2:12:23
25792 Jackie Smith F 2:25:48
25851 Margaret Thompson F 2:25:55
27887 Emma Detchon F 2:30:29
29207 Greta Jones F 2:34:00

* Subject to dental record check.

37,540+ finishers

(Visited 62 times, 1 visits today)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.