I had really been looking forward to this one as it attracts a much bigger entry than many races and the route offers some amazing scenery.
I woke early and had a couple of hours to relax and sit out in the garden with a couple of strong coffees with the sun already shining out of a clear blue sky.
The start was at a sports centre near North Shields and once parked up it was immediately obvious that this one was a different scale in terms of number of competitors compared to the Dalton Park and Blyth runs.
People were milling around everywhere but just before 10 we were called to the start on a closed section of road. I decided to start near the back on the hope of overtaking some people rather than my usual tactic of starting as near to the front as possible which always results in people streaming past me.
Almost 2000 were lined up in front of me and as the horn sounded and the temperature climbed I started quickly and made my way up the field. The first kilometer was through a housing estate with plenty of people out offering encouragement to the runners. Then at North Shields a right turn and a sharp downhill plunge to the river Tyne. We made our way through the Fish Quay then around the bay towards Tynemouth with views south over the river to South Shields. In the far distance I could make out Souter Lighthouse, close to the finish of the Great North Run. Both the first couple of kilometres were well under 6 minutes, in all honesty to quick for me and my progress was brought to a halt by the 2 steep climbs up into Tynemouth.
From this point it was following the coast north passing some beautiful spots, Tynemouth Priory and beach, Cullercoats Bay and the newly restored Spanish City in Whitley Bay.
After the climb I got some of my momentum back but after the quick start and with temperatures well into the 20s for the last 3 to 4k the legs felt like lead.
As I struggled over the finish line at another local beauty spot, St Mary's Island, I was very glad to get home thought my time of 1 hour 9 minutes was at least 5 minutes slower than I hoped.
Still it was a wonderful event, well marshalled with hundreds of people cheering us on and weather you can only dream of in the North East at Easter.
2 weeks to go until the Sunderland HM where I must remember to start slow.
I'm sure many of you will have had races over the Easter weekend and hope you enjoyed them.
Run happy, run safe.
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That was a tough one.
Picking a 10K race
That was a tough one :(
