Alasdair Blain reports from a hazy Hartlepool marina.
The Hartlepool Marina 5 Mile race wouldn’t have been high on many peoples race list, but both Jon Moss and I saw it as an ideal opportunity to take a good chunk of time out of our PBs from last year’s TBH Bridges 5.
I collected Jon at the Tyne Bridge and we made our way through the dense fog, courtesy of my disconcertingly noisy Clio. We arrived bright and early in Hartlepool, so after a pit stop aboard the boat that served as race HQ, Jon decided to show me a few of the sights and smells Hartlepool Marina had to offer. After touring an abandoned shopping centre and marvelling at the black sandy beaches, we set about getting ready for the race with a decent warm-up.
Start line of Marina 5 Mile RR
The race started, as all good races should, with a blast from a cannon. After some tight turns and a bit of road furniture as we crossed a car park and residential streets, we were soon onto the pier and heading towards the first mile marker. I’d been tracking Jon for the first mile but managed to get up alongside him as we left the pier and made our way along the promenade. Jon clearly wasn’t on top form so I gradually pulled away as we approached the turning point at Seaton Carew and made our way back to Hartlepool.
As I made for home, it was good to spot John Pickering and Anji Rippon running well in the opposite direction. I managed to pull in two or three tiring runners along the endless promenade and a little kick in the final straight reeled in a couple more close to the line, including new TBH recruit Paul Andrews. A rather wordy blue t-shirt was our prize and I was pleased to be able to ease a medium over my vest, before cheering a white-faced Jon, John and Anji over the line.
All in all, a well organised and supported run, with great pb potential over a rarely run distance.
Members results.
Alasdair Blain 30:37
Paul Andrews 30:38
Jon Moss 31:21
John Pickering 33:50
Anji Rippon 37:24
Race results can be found here.
Alasdair & Paul (in TBH T-Shirt)
Jon
John
Anji
6 Responses
Hartlepool Marina certainly sounds like one for the local tourist board to be shouting a little louder about! Nice report Alasdair and well run all
…although by the sounds of it, a clean-up of the beach wouldn’t go amiss
Thanks for the report Alasdair, and for a fine run (over 4 minutes faster than your time at the 2013 Bridges race).
Well done everyone. It was hard work yesterday so I was pleased to be only 15sec behind my PB!
I’ll definitely be back next year
BLACK sandy beaches! Race HQ on a boat! And a cannon ball blast! Sounds like the most exotic race the North East has to offer! Nice concise account. Love the photos too, especially Jon wearing his Arnold Schwarzenegger teriminator look, Mind, you must spend a lot of time and money on hair dye. Isn’t your hair normally redish? scottishish? No matter. Good report and good results from everybody.
It was sea coal, I knew i had remembered right thats why the beachs are black lol. An im glad you wrote this cos mine would of had a lot more references to my dodgy stomach an toilet trips. Great race, great day, Should be more TBH there next year
excellent report and great pics..well done to the TBH army. I’ll do this next year.. definitely!