Every year, Elswick Harriers host the Good Friday Relays, with light at the end of tunnel it remained unsafe to run this event as normal.
With Covid and local restrictions in place this made the traditional event untenable. We as a club decided on running this event virtually following the success of the Norman Woodcock Virtual Relays held in November.
Runners from clubs were organised into teams of 3 for women and 4 for men by their home club. Each runner ran a 2-mile effort socially distanced at a location of their own choice on or between Friday 2nd April to Friday 9th April.
A total of 18 clubs took part which saw 146 complete teams (82 women & 64 men) & 520 individual runners (255 women & 265 men) engage in the event which is normally held at One North East on Good Friday. No prizes were on offer however it gave runners a goal and an event to be motivated to engage with coming out of lockdown 3.
Race 1 Senior & V35 women consisting of 3 runners per team (results highlighted in grey are vets)
The top 3 senior women’s teams were Tyne Bridge Harriers A, Morpeth Harriers A and Jarrow and Hebburn A with Ellen Jeffreys (Tyne Bridge Harriers) running the fastest senior female leg 11:22
The top 3 V35 women’s teams were Tyne Bridge Harriers F, Elswick Harriers B and Crook and District C with Daniel Hodgkinson (Wallsend Harriers) running the fastest V35 female leg 10:52
Race 2 Senior & V40 men consisting of 4 runners per team (results highlighted in grey are vets)
The top 3 senior male teams were Gateshead Harriers A, Wallsend Harriers A and Elswick Harriers A with David Race (Gateshead Harriers) running the fastest senior male leg 09:30
The top 3 V40 male teams were Tyne Bridge Harriers E, Prudhoe Plodders A and South Shields Harriers B with Cees Van Der Land (Tyne Bridge Harriers) running the fastest V40 male leg 09:50
As there was no entry fee a Just Giving fundraising page was created to raise funds for the purchase of a Defibrillator. A huge amount of £1390.00 so far has been kindly donated by clubs, runners and non-runners with the money going to ensure the maximum safety of our runners at training sessions and club events. The JustGiving page will remain open for the next week so it is not too late to donate if you have not already done so.
The club would like to say a massive thank you to all involved in these popular Relays hosted by the North East’s oldest club.