Haltwhistle Half marathon 2015

[Sun 27th Sep]

On an unusually warm, still and sunny day for late September in Northumberland, 18 of our runners assembled for their first experience of this race, which was in its second year of running. It turned out that we accounted for slightly more than one in every eight of the field, and this seemed to result in lots of support from those locals scattered along the entirely rural route.

The race was an out-and-back route and almost entirely off road, although the surface varied from tarmac-coated path through rough track to a few short stretches of grass. Several of our runners found conditions underfoot quite taxing and the local insects were also out in force and a problem for some, but the race was mostly considered to be a good addition to the calendar.

First back for Blyth and in a hugely creditable 4th place overall was Rob McDonald, while Claire Calverley was first Blyth lady and an excellent 5th lady overall.  Both Rob and Claire ran PBs, as did Martin Scott and – by a huge margin – Richard Shillinglaw, so the course cannot have been too tough after all.  Claire also won the FV35 age category, so we took away one prize as well.

It is to be hoped that this race thrives despite the rather disappointing turnout – no doubt the unkind scheduling of the first Harrier League meeting of the season for the previous day did not help – as it is a nice part of the world for a run and half marathons within the county should be valued and supported as much as possible.

The full results can be found HERE.

Dave