Gather round, tune in! It was the turn of the Dalton Park 10k organised by Run Nation on Bank Holiday Monday 5th April for the second race in our club championships. The weather had taken a turn for the worst, a minus 7 wind chill factor the weather apps were showing after experiencing a warmer climate just day prior.
Travelling into Dalton Park via the A19 I noticed 2 flags swaying in the wind high upon a hill, I thought to myself “pleased we don’t have to run up there” as I drove closer it became apparent that was the finish line! However, the cold and the strong north westerly wind did not put off 20 hardy souls that were set off in waves, it was great to see so many red and white vest standing on the line full of enthusiasm, excitement, or fear in some cases.
This was the 1st proper race in the North East of 2021 and notably Imogen Bungay’s debut 10k race after training alongside Amy Fuller in recent months. She is only 15, but wow what a strong start to those longer distance races. Amy herself and Scott Brady were the standout performers on the day, Amy worked alongside Steve Robertson during the early part of the race which saw her secure 9th place overall and best of all Amy finished as 1st lady in 37.50 running a new 10k pb.
Scott stormed home finishing on the podium for the first time in his history of running. Scott sealed 2nd position (36.17) behind Conrad Franks of Gateshead Harriers after a well-paced race where he became stronger when others were fading, especially on that final steep climb.
11 harriers finished in the top 20 which is something to treasure as well as the age group wins for Imogen Bungay 15-16, Andrew Ball V40, Felicity Smith V45, Steve Robertson V45 and Andrea Banner V50. The team prizes also came Elswick’s way as Amy was joined by Andrea Banner and Imogen Bungay whilst Scott was joined by Andrew Ball and Luke Hilliard.
There were 10ks pbs for Jonathan Rewcastle 39.35 (14th) Simon Allen 40.55 (19th) and Steven Naylor 42.39 (28th) and to think the last km was up hill with the flags of the finishing line blowing ferociously in the wind, that was seriously strong running by the Elswick team on the day with the following times and positions for Andrew Ball 37.04 (6th) Luke Hilliard 37.23 (7th) Steven Robertson 38.18 (10th) Richard Houghton 38.54 (11th) Robb Young 39.13 (12th) Paul Taylor 40.10 (15th) Mike Russell 40.21 (16th) Simon McEnaney 42.29 (27th) Andrea Banner 43.08 (29th) Lee Coulson 43.30 (31st) Imogen Bungay 44.36 (35) Peter Dawson 45.43 (39th) Susanne Stephenson 45.51 (40th) Felicity Smith 46.03 (42nd) and Tom Hanson 55.38 (76th)
Excellent performances on a challenging morning with a field of 107 completing the course. Please note there were discrepancies between the official times and those recorded by individuals. For club championship purposes, positions and times were used from the official Run Nation results making some of us look even faster.