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A race we’re proud to host each year, A memorial race held in the name of the great late Norman Woodcock, arguably the ‘father of Elswick Harriers‘ who kept the club afloat before during and after the Second World War.
This race has seen some changes through the years, the inaugural ‘Norman Woodcock Memorial Road Race’ took place 1974, then a 10km road race held in Westerhope Village.
Later moving to Gosforth High Park due to metro rail line extension work in 1989. The 10km course ran through the park and out onto the roads around High Park. Due to significant increases in vehicle traffic it was necessary to once again move the course.
In 2009, the club successfully utilised the ambulance road inside Gosforth Race Course. Three, 1.66 mile laps of this ‘track’ made the Normal Woodcock Road Race a quick 5 miler. Due to an ever expanding race calendar, the club re-formatted the event in 2017 to a mixed team relay: A very successful day sees this new format continue to honour Norman Woodcock and the memorial trophy named after him.
The race has had many famous winners including Brendan Foster, Steve Cram, Paul Davies-Hale, and Elswick’s Olympic athlete Mike McLeod who has won it on no less than 10 occasions! More recently Andrew Butchart, Elswick’s Philip Hurst and Morpeth’s Nick McCormark have been recent winners of the open road race format.
The inaugural winners in 2017 of the team relay event were North Shields Polytechnic Athletics Club.
| Name | Club | |
| 1975 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1976 Joint winners | M.McLeod A.Gibson | Elswick Harriers Gosforth Harriers |
| 1977 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1978 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1979 | Brendan Forster | Gateshead Harriers |
| 1980 | Paul Harker | Darlington Harriers |
| 1981 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1982 | Charlie Spedding | Gateshead Harriers |
| 1983 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1985 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1986 | Ray Smedley | Gateshead Harriers |
| 1987 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1988 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1989 | Steve Cram | Jarrow and Hebburn |
| 1990 | Paul Davies-Hale | Cannock and Staffs |
| 1991 | Chris Lees | Elswick Harriers |
| 1992 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers |
| 1993 | Mike McLeod | Elswick Harriers | J Coleby | Durham City Harriers |
| 1994 | Colin Walker | Gateshead Harriers | Shirley Griffiths | Cramlington |
| 1995 | Brian Rushworth | Sunderland Harriers | Shirley Griffiths | Cramlington |
| 1996 | Steve O’Gara | Wallsend Harriers | Shirley Griffiths | Cramlington |
| 1997 | Gary Nagel | Gateshead Harriers | Suzanne Stephenson | Elswick Harriers |
| 1998 | Ian Hudspith | Morpeth Harriers | Kirsty Dodds | Richmond and Zetland |
| 1999 | Steve O’Gara | Wallsend Harriers | Carly Wilson | Morpeth Harriers |
| 2000 | Ivan Hollingsworth | Wallsend Harriers | M Dodd | Bingley Harriers |
| 2001 | Mark Hudspith | Morpeth Harriers | Heather Robinson | Chester Le Street |
| 2002 | David Anderson | Elswick Harriers | Sheila Allen | Jhoughton Harriers |
| 2003 | Terry Wall | Morpeth Harriers | Michelle Holt | Sunderland Harriers |
| 2004 | Dave Robertson | Sunderland Harriers | Sophie Milburn | Chester Le Street |
| 2005 | Ryan McLeod | Elswick Harriers | Judith Nutt | Elswick Harriers |
| 2006 | Nick McCormick | Morpeth Harriers | Angela Hibbs | Chester Le Street |
| 2007 | Dan Samuels | Morpeth Harriers | Angela Hibbs | Chester Le Street |
| 2009 | Nick McCormick | Morpeth Harriers | Angela Hibbs | Chester Le Street |
| 2011 | Phil Hurst | Elswick Harriers | Justina Heslop | Clapham Chasers |
| 2012 | Marc Elliot | Gateshead Harriers | Morag Stead | Morpeth Harriers |
| 2013 | Cameron Boyack | Shildon AC | Chloe Price | Durham City Harriers |
| 2014 | Chris Parr | Gateshead Harriers | Alyson Dixon | Sunderland Strollers |
| 2016 | Tadele Gemerew | Elswick Harriers | Chloe Price | Durham City Harriers |
| 2017 | North Shield Poly |
Past Results