The ninth ofJoon

Aa went to Blaydon Races, 'twas on the ninth of Joon,

Eiteen hundred an' sixty-two, on a summer's efternoon;

Aa tyuk the 'bus frae Balmbra's, an' she wis heavy laden,

Away we went 'lang Collin'wood Street, that's on the road to Blaydon.

Chorus:

Ah me lads, ye shudda seen us gannin',

We pass'd the foaks alang the road just as they wor stannin';

Thor wis lots o' lads an' lassies there, aal wi' smiling faces,

Gannin' alang the Scotswood Road, to see the Blaydon Races

The above is an excerpt from the song Blaydon Races.  Its a Geordie folk song written in the 19th century by Geordie Ridley.  Blaydon is a small town in Gateshead, situated about 4 miles from Newcastle. The horse races used to take place on the Stella Haugh 1 mile west of Blaydon - the racing stopped in 1916.

The modern Blaydon Race is a 6 mile athletics race from Newcastle to Blaydon that takes place on 9 June every year and starts off with the singing of 'The Blaydon Races' as the words are used as the basis for the whole race. The original route of the road race followed the route mentioned in the song.  In recent years due to road closures etc changes have been made.

When I saw Neil yesterday he mentioned he would be taking part in The Blaydon Race so I decided to go to the finish this evening to see him run in.  The route changed again this year and instead of starting in the Bigg Market in Newcastle it started down on the Quayside.  The finish wasn't in Blaydon as its too congested there so they moved it to a nice big field near Shibdon Pond. 

I got the bus to Swalwell and then walked the 1½ miles to Shibdon.  There were already lots of spectators on the site.  I found a good spot to wait near the finish line.  The race was due to start at 7.15pm but someone on the tannoy announced the start was delayed - there was a car on the route.  So the runners started off 20 mins later than planned.

While I waited I got chatting to two older gents - one on the right of me and one on the left. The gent on my right was there to see his son finish.  His son lived in London and had come up North especially to take part in the race. Chap on the left had no-one running in the race - he was there because of the history of the event. He had actually walked the route from Newcastle to get to Shibdon.  He proceeded to tell me the history of the Blaydon Race - all very interesting but once the runners started appearing I wanted to look out for Neil but this chap just kept on and on. 

I did manage to see Neil come along the finishing straight and cross the line.  His time was around 40 mins ( the winners time was 29 mins ). There were 4,700 runners and Neils position was 313th.  Neil wasn't too pleased with his time - but he hardly ever is.  Rachael and Luna were there too and we all met up near the finish. I have added an Extra showing the crowds and also one of Luna.  Neil spotted a friend of his so they had a chat about how the race had gone.  Photos were taken and we went our separate ways.  Neil, Rachael and Luna waked home and I got the bus to the village and then walked the last bit home. Got into the house at 9.45pm.  Tired and ready for something to eat.

Steps today - 9.782