Heaton Harriers

With the clocks going forward the night before, getting up to Wallington Hall by 9:00 am for the start of this race seemed even more brutal than usual.

En route through Ponteland, the outside temperature dropped from 4 to 0.5 Celsius and the fog started to roll in from the countryside.  It looked like we could be on for a cold and somewhat hairy race through the unclosed but marshalled roads that made up the route of this new event on the race calendar and a welcome addition to 13.1 mile races in The North East.

Arriving at Wallington, the car parking was abundant and there were marshalls on-hand to guide us to our parking places.  Many club colours were on show even at this early hour with Blyth and Tynedale well represented.  Within the grounds of the hall, there was an organisers tent where last-minute enquiries could be dealt with and a large digital clock was present counting down to the race start.  It was very cold and it was great to bump into James and Clare Buis and I warmed up with James through the forest tracks of the estate.