Author: Liz Simpson

Cleveland Way relay race report by Tara and Chris... Its 5am on Sunday 25th June 2017, the dog has kept us up most of the night and the alarm is about to go off to tell us to get up and ready. Ahead lies 18 hours of running for our two teams, luckily no-one is having to run all of it… Its glorious sunshine in Whitby we’re told, although not convinced as it looks like it’s about to rain in Stockton. There’s just time for a quick wash and to get dressed in our Sunday best (aka shorts, vest and running shoes). Tara has a quick check to make sure there’s no last-minute drop outs and we’re off, driving to Robin Hoods Bay to pick up Mark and Jess from…

What a great Striders turn out for the Ali Brownlee Riverside 5k, despite some Striders somehow not knowing who Ali was. ? A bit of Boro education needed before next year's race me thinks. ? There was a sea of green and blue, and the odd bit of just blue from Cat, for the club photo shoot. Although some of us may have mistimed the road closures and had an extra warm up to sprint to the Ayresome Park games just as the photo was taken. We must have been looking our usual fabulous selves as even the Evening Gazette wanted photos of us... famous at last! ? On to the serious business of running. There were tough conditions for league race number 13, with warm temperatures and a strong…

Just a small group of Striders braved Ossy Oiks fell race, our 11 league race of the year. With a suggested safety equipment list including map, compass and whistle plus photos of a brutal downhill doing the rounds before the race it’s safe to say we didn’t quite know what to expect. For once there were no nerves about finishing times, just nerves about finishing at all. The pre-race safety instructions told us we should expect to slide and bump into rocks and trees. Turns out these instructions were pretty accurate! Ossy Oiks has a fell running classification of AS, meaning a short race with some very steep climbs and descents. It’s a very friendly small race where the more experienced runners were happy to share their knowledge and experience…

What better way to spend a sunny Sunday than a trip to the beach? ??However our 10th league race meant we took our running shoes rather than bucket and spade. After the usual late arrivals (whoops ?), forgetting numbers and quick dash home the Striders bus was on its way to the Pier to Pier. We met many more fellow Striders in South Shields as once again we were out in force. Chris showed his usual relaxed attitude by eating a bacon butty 30 minutes before the start. To most people that would mean leaving more than just footprints on the race route. ? The Pier to Pier is an odd race where for part of the way you choose your own route. Qu weeks of people trying to find…

Gail Robinsons race report from Hamsterley 10k.... Well I did say I would write the run report for the Hamsterley Forest 10k so here goes. Firstly I apologise for the delay; a certain BBQ and a trip to Wembley kinda got in the way. However, being late with the report means I can mention the latest results to come from the event, but let's start at the beginning... Ben & I chose to enter this event only a few weeks ago, it sounded lovely; a trail run through Hamsterley Forest, I imagined running 'through' the forest but no, we ran along a road and back! To make it feel different the road was gravel tracks in parts. I also imagined maybe having to navigate my way around the odd tree…

There was another superb turn out and heaps of pb's at our 7th league race. The Mermaid 10k started just behind the Mermaid pub in Marske. Beginning with 2 laps of the housing estate, goodness knows what the locals thought when they saw a few hundred people flying past their houses. ? It soon moved on to the coast road towards Redcar for 2 laps of the prom and coast road. Safe to say there was mixed reviews of the course, but one thing we can all agree on is how fast it was. The hard training paid off with some massive pb's by some and others pleased to see their official times had taken a few seconds off theirs - they all count just the same.?? The race was…