Blaydon Race

The Blaydon Race is a 5.9 mile athletics race from Newcastle upon Tyne to Blaydon, in England, that is steeped in local tradition. It takes place on June 9 every year and starts off with the singing of The Blaydon Races -- with the words as the basis for the race.

The actual race was the inspiration for Dr James Dewar of Blaydon Harriers, who organised the first 24 races starting in 1981. In the early years, the race attracted around 250 entries, but by 2004 a record of 4,000 people took part with more than 600 other hopefuls usually rejected.

The 25th anniversary of the race was run by the Blaydon Harriers in 2005 as the "Nike Jim Dewar Blaydon Race" in memory of James Dewar, who died in June 2004 just 2 days after the running of the 24th event.

The task of organising the race was guaranteed, with very heavy hearts, by other Blaydon Harrier stalwarts, and the event is now becoming more and more difficult to organise as its popularity means that the 4000 entry limit is now reached within hours of the race entry forms becoming available. The task is not made any easier by the fact that the race runs through some of the busiest roads in Tyneside during the early evening rush hour - close cooperation between local councils, police, and local residents ensures that everyone still manages to have a great night out.

To be fair to all, the organisers allocate 2000 entries to online entrants, with another 2000 being available by post to allow those with limited internet access to have an equal chance to enter. In 2010, the 2000 online entries were all snapped up within a few hours of entries opening. The local postman even asked for help from Santa Claus to carry all the mailbags for the postal applications!

Each year, the event adopts a local Charity - many thousands of pounds have been raised for them each year.

The 2014 and 2015 events were sponsored by the sports retailer Start Fitness.

Such was the demand in a few days in 2010, the event website became overloaded within a day of entries being announced. In response, the organisers quickly made alternative sites available:www.blaydonrace.co.uk and www.theblaydonrace.com

In keeping with the local flavour of this race, a lot of the instructions for entering, together with subsequent information mailed to competitors, is written in local Geordy Dialect. Some translations follow:

'Divvent wurri if ya moovin withoot ya legs waakin' : don't worry if you find yourself moving without trying to.

'Gan canny pet' : please take care.

'Wu wivvent charge ye owt extra or tyek any cut from it' : we will pass on to our charity everything you donate.

Past winners

Lads and Lasses

	Lads			Lasses
Year	Name	Club / Country	Time	Name	Club / Country	Time
1981	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	26:27	H Boyes	Morpeth Harriers	34:10
1982	K Forster	Saltwell Harriers	25:16	H Boyes	Morpeth Harriers	31:39
1983	K Forster	Gateshead Harriers	25:59	M Dodsworth	Houghton Harriers	31:30
1984	K Forster	Gateshead Harriers	25:18	P McFarland	Claremont RR	32:05
1985	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	27:36	Jill Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	32:10
1986	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	26:35	Jill Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	31:13
1987	A Richardson	S Shields Harriers	27:59	Jill Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	29:56
1988	P Cuskin	Jarrow & Hebburn AC	25:35	Jill Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	28:03
1989	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	25:24	L Harding	Houghton Harriers	29:59
1990	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	26:46	Veronique Marot	LeedsCity	29:51
1991	P Campbell	Sunderland Harriers	32:14	K Mitchell	Tynedale Harriers	37:24
1992	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:59	L Marr	Tynedale Harriers	32:22
1993	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:53	N Brown	Tynedale Harriers	32:14
1994	Mike McLeod	Elswick Harriers	29:14	K Mitchell	Tynedale Harriers	37:24
1995	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	26:52	S Allen	Houghton Harriers	33:05
1996	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	27:37	S Morley	Jarrow & Hebburn AC	33:00
1997	M Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	27:24	S Griffiths	Cramlington AC	32:13
1998	Carl Thackery	Hallamshire Harriers	27:25	Birhan Dagne	Essex Ladies	31:18
1999	Julius Kimtai	Kenya	27:15	Birhan Dagne	Essex Ladies	31:04
2000	Julius Kimtai	Kenya	26:35	Birhan Dagne	Essex & Woodford	31:18
2001	Julius Kimtai	Kenya	26:51	Karen Hind	Gateshead Harriers	31:18
2002	Julius Kimtai	Kenya	26:19	Yelena Burykina	Russia	29:34
2003	Tesfaye Eticha	Switzerland	26:25	Yelena Burykina	Russia	29:18
2004	Julius Kimtai	Kenya	27:15	Miriam Wangari	Kenya	30:51
2005	Simon Tonui	Kenya	26:43	Catherine Mutwa	Birchfield	31:20
2006	Patrick Makau	Kenya	26:13	Ogla Kimaiyo	Kenya	30:01
2007	Tewodros Shiferaw	Birchfield	26:28	Catherine Mutwa	Birchfield	30:35
2008	Ayele Mergessa	Ethiopia	28:34	Roman Gessese	Ethiopia	31:59
2009	Ian Hudspith	Morpeth	27:44	Justina Heslop	Clapham	31:46
2010	Ezekiel Cherop	Kenya	27:41	Justina Heslop	Clapham	31:25
2011	Edwin Kipkorir	Kenya	28:25	Justina Heslop	Clapham	31:44
2012	Peter Lemuya	Kenya	27:35	Lauren Howart	Leigh	30:26
2013	Boniface Kiprop	Kenya	26:22	Perendis Lekepana		29:51
2014	Peter Emase	Kenya	26:34	Joanne Chelimo	Kenya	29:42

Gadgies and Dames

	Gadgies			Dames
Year	Name	Club / Country	Time	Name	Club / Country	Time
1981	J Alder	Morpeth Harriers	29:55	V Robson	Gateshead Harriers	38:53
1982	E Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	28:30	V Robson	Gateshead Harriers	35:45
1983	J Alder	Morpeth Harriers	28:19	M Anderson	Elswick Harriers	34:41
1984	R Highnam	Tynedale	28:56	S Wilson	Houghton Harriers	33:54
1985	K McNally	Gateshead Harriers	28:56	P McFarland	Claremont RR	33:13
1986	D Littlewood	Crook & Dist	29:22	P M Farland	Claremont RR	34:21
1987	H Matthews	Elswick Harriers	28:45	E Lawson	Elswick Harriers	36:59
1988	H Matthews	Elswick Harriers	28:37	P McFarland	Claremont RR	31:59
1989	A Whitfield	Chester-le-Street	27:17	R Haggan	Claremont RR	32:40
1990	H Matthews	Elswick Harriers	28:17	M Laney	Clayton-le-Moors	34:15
1991	H Matthews	Elswick Harriers	34:01	P Goddard	Claremont RR	38:28
1992	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:59	E Robinson	North East Vets	34:34
1993	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:53	A Adams	Chester-le-Street	37:55
1994	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	29:14	E Robinson	Border AC	34:33
1995	L Atkinson	Morpeth Harriers	28:02	S Allen	Houghton & Peterlee	33:05
1996	I Haggan	Sunderland Harriers	29:41	S Allen	Houghton & Peterlee	33:25
1997	A Dent	Blaydon H & AC	29:06	L Harding	Houghton & Peterlee	32:58
1998	D Mullen	Sunderland Harriers	29:13	H Robinson	Chester-le-Street	33:35
1999	D Mullen	Sunderland Harriers	29:11	H Robinson	Chester-le-Street	33:40
2000	D Mullen	Sunderland Harriers	28:46	T Thomson	Pitreavie	32:14
2001	L Atkinson	Morpeth Harriers	29:09	T Thomson	Pitreavie	32:34
2002	R Hand	Durham City Harriers	28:34	P Affleck	Gala Harriers	34:25
2003	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	28:35	A Raw	Darlington Harriers	35:32
2004	P Embleton	Chester-le-Street	30:49	C Bowman	Chester-le-Street	38:48
2005	D Robertson	Sunderland Harriers	29:36	H Lambert	North Shields Poly	38:15
2006	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	28:39	L Parker	unattached	36:19
2007	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	29:18	F Lothian	Fife AC	36:34
2008	B Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	30:14	H Robinson	Chester-le-Street	38:26
2009	Brian Rushworth	Sunderland Harriers	30:11	Yamuna Thiru	Elswick	36:43
2010	Gary Moore	North Shields Poly	31:42	Yamuna Thiru	Elswick	36:54
2011	Ian Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	28:37	Caroline Acaster	Blaydon Harriers	39:25
2012	Ian Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	27:51	Yamuna Thiru	Elswick	35:32
2013	Ian Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	27:19	Sue Phillips	Darlington Harriers	36:46
2014	Ian Hudspith	Morpeth Harriers	27:20	Joanne Lee	Tynebridge Harriers	36:07

External links

• Blaydon Race
• Blaydon Race