Sunday 5 April
North Tyneside 10km.
Back to its usual Easter Sunday slot, the North Tyneside 10k proved to be a popular event with 1,867 finishers. The race, which is organised by North Tyneside Council, starts at the Parks Sports Centre in North Shields, passes by the Fish Quay, Tynemouth Priory, Whitley Bay and finishes at St. Mary’s Lighthouse.
The winner was James Anderson of North Shields Poly in a time of 32.25.
We had ten Elswick runners ranging from seniors to over 70. Some great results and category rankings with five runners finishing in the top ten of their age category. Yet again, David Walton came out on top in the V65 category. Susanne Stephenson overcoming months of back problems, finished second in the V55 category. Out of 132 V35 runners, Gillian Johnson finished tenth. Great running everyone.
| David Walton | V65 | 1/40 | 00:43:37 | 00:44:02 | |||
| Martin Connelly | V55 | 7/88 | 00:44:34 | 00:44:36 | |||
| Gillian Johnson | V35 | 10/132 | 00:45:35 | 00:46:04 | |||
| Susanne Stephenson | V55 | 2/79 | 00:48:50 | 00:49:19 | |||
| Andrew Middleton | V50 | 44/99 | 00:49:01 | 00:49:19 | |||
| Debbie Spoor | V50 | 8/111 | 00:50:37 | 00:51:24 | |||
| Rebecca Connelly | SNR | 64/219 | 00:51:56 | 00:53:30 | |||
| Nigel Hollier | V70+ | 18/45 | 00:58:54 | 00:59:23 | |||
| Victoria Connelly | SNR | 103/219 | 00:58:10 | 00:59:44 | |||
| Jeffrey Emmerson | V70+ | 42/45 | 01:18:30 | 01:20:42 |
Sunday 12 April
Port of Blyth 10km (part of the NECAA road league series)
The Port of Blyth 10km is a two lap route starting and finishing on the coastal promenade near the beach huts. It’s described as flat, but there are multiple undulations through the dunes and the southerly wind proved a challenge for everyone.
Alex Brown (Houghton) won in 31:37, and Jess Eaton (Tyne Bridge Harriers) took the women’s title in 37:27. The race featured 450 runners and it forms part of the new NECAA road championship series.
As the first race in our club championship for 2026/27, Blyth 10km attracted 27 of our Elswick members. In spite of the strong southerly wind, everyone completed the course in pleasing times.
Highlights include a great battle between the senior men with Dan Milton finishing on top with a time of 32.45 and finishing in fifth place overall. Maria Catterall finished in 40.48, a sure sign that breaking 40 minutes for 10km is definitely imminent with the right conditions. Rachel Dodds achieved a time of 42.40 so has clearly got over her hamstring injury. Laura Shepherson was second V40 women claiming a prize along with David Walton who was second in the V65 category. Debbie Spoor knocked out a second 10km race in a fortnight and Sydney Bungay finished second in the V20 category.
Paris Marathon
Across the English Channel, we had two strong V50 competitors in the Paris Marathon. Returning to form, Jason Old finished in 3.11 and Mark Turnbull achieved 2.54. Remarkable times by both I’m sure you’ll agree, but Mark was disappointed not to break 2.50, so he’s searching for the next marathon to achieve his aim.
In his marathon debut, having only started running in the last year, Mark Graham (V40) ran a superb time of 3.14. Looking forward to seeing Mark in future races.
Saturday 18 April
North East Senior Development League – 1st fixture –Stadium 2000, Shildon
Eric Lewis’ time to shine – team manager and participant in at least six events. Taking inspiration from their manager, our athletes turned their legs and arms to a variety of events not normally in their remit. Great to see some new members to the team – Rob Emson in the 400m, Steven Bond in the 400m, long jump, 1500m and 3000m, Kirk Haddon in the 800m, 3000m and javelin, Chris Snook-Lumb in the discus and shot and Luke Lister in the 100m and 200m.
Our regulars were also out in force: Grant Henderson in the discus, shot and triple jump; Ibraheem Hamoodi taking a diversion from his ultra marathon training in the 100m and 200m; Su Lewis in the 200m, hammer, discus and long jump; Joanne Forster in the 200m; Simon Allen in the 800m,; Imogen Bungay in the 800m and 1500m; James Douglas in the 1500m, 3k steeplechase and the 110m hurdles; Jude Nutt in the 1500m, 3000m and javelin; Sky Lewis in the 400m hurdles, hammer, discus, shot and high jump and Eric in the 3km steeplechase, 110m hurdles, hammer, javelin, long jump and triple jump.
Well done to all our track and field stars.
The next fixture is on 16 May at Whitley Bay. If you would like to participate, speak to Eric or one of the captains at training.
Rat Race Ultra Tour of Arran
I wasn’t sure where to place this event as it spans two days. This is a 60 mile off road race which took place from 18 – 19 April. It’s a challenging event aimed at runners with trail experience as the terrain includes high mountains including goat fell areas, steep glens, deep forest and coastal paths around Brodick. The course is fully waymarked and has checkpoints.
One guess who took on this toughest of challenges. Dave Allen of course. He completed the first day in 7.24.59 and the second day in 9.47.20 providing a cumulative time of 17.12.18. Incredible achievement – congratulations Dave.
Sunday 19 April
Manchester Marathon
Proud Dad day for Martin Connelly as he watched his two daughters take part in the Manchester Marathon. Vicky and Becca have thrown themselves into running over the last few years and its great to see them taking on such a big challenge as the marathon. Becca was over the line in 4.09 and Vicky in 5.55. A superb achievement by both and we look forward to seeing them take part in more of our club championship races and relays.
Monday 20 April 20, 2026
Boston Marathon
Maintaining an Elswick presence in the oldest road marathon (its 130th year), Luke Hilliard took to the streets of Boston. There’s only actually three streets involved in this gruelling of marathon courses, which starts in Hopkinton and finishes in Boston city centre.
Luke achieved a fabulous person best time in 2.24, an improvement of 6 minutes from his previous best time and was 113thmale. Inspiration indeed for our competitors in the London Marathon.
Other news:
With Ben Hall stepping down as men’s captain, we welcome Mark Turnbull as our new man at the helm of our ever expanding men’s team. He’ll be working alongside Gary Young; and Felicity Smith and Heather Donald who captain our women. All will be involved in managing teams for relays and assisting recruit runners for other events such as the NESDL (track and field league), NEHL (cross country league) and road events including championship races in and outside of the northeast region.
Many thanks to Ben for all his efforts in his role as captain including all the many race reports he wrote.
Next club championship race is a 3km – new for 2026 on Saturday 30 May. This will be held on the track at Wentworth Leisure Centre, Hexham. Simply pay £2.50 for use of the track. We’ll circulate a link nearer the time of the race. Parking is free provided you display a Northumberland parking disc which are available at the reception desk of Wentworth Leisure (£1).