The Blaydon Race is a 5.9 mile athletics race from Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 to Blaydon

Blaydon

Blaydon-on-Tyne is a town in the North East of England in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead. The former urban district, however, extends much further, its fourteen and a half square miles constituting the largest administrative district, after Newcastle, on Tyneside...

 that is steeped in local tradition. It takes place on June 9 every year and starts off with the singing of The Blaydon Races

Blaydon Races

Blaydon Races is a famous Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Geordie Ridley, in a style deriving from music hall. It is regarded by many as the unofficial anthem of Tyneside and is frequently sung by supporters of Newcastle United Football Club and Newcastle Falcons rugby club...

-- 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 isn't 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.

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.

Lads and Lasses

	Lads			Lasses
Year	Name	Club / Country	Time	Name	Club / Country	Time
1981	M 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	J Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	32:10
1986	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	26:35	J Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	31:13
1987	A Richardson	S Shields Harriers	27:59	J Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	29:56
1988	P Cuskin	Jarrow & Hebburn AC	25:35	J Hunter	Blaydon Harriers	28:03
1989	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	25:24	L Harding	Houghton Harriers	29:59
1990	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	26:46	V Marot	LeedsCity	29:51
1991	P Campbell	Sunderland Harriers	32:14	K Mitchell	Tynedale Harriers	37:24
1992	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:59	L Marr	Tynedale Harriers	32:22
1993	M McLeod	Elswick Harriers	27:53	N Brown	Tynedale Harriers	32:14
1994	M 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	C Thackery	Hallamshire Harriers	27:25	B Dagne	Essex Ladies	31:18
1999	J Kimtai	Kenya	27:15	B Dagne	Essex Ladies	31:04
2000	J Kimtai	Kenya	26:35	B Dagne	Essex & Woodford	31:18
2001	J Kimtai	Kenya	26:51	K Hind	Gateshead Harriers	31:18
2002	J Kimtai	Kenya	26:19	Y Burykina	Russia	29:34
2003	T Eticha	Switzerland	26:25	Y Burykina	Russia	29:18
2004	J Kimtai	Kenya	27:15	M Wangari	Kenya	30:51
2005	S Tonui	Kenya	26:43	C Mutwa	Birchfield	31:20
2006	P Makau	Kenya	26:13	O Kimaiyo	Kenya	30:01
2007	T Shiferaw	Birchfield	26:28	C Mutwa	Birchfield	30:35
2008	A Mergessa	Ethiopia	28:34	R 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

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

External links

• Blaydon Race
• Blaydon Race