Sunderland Fast 5k
Saturday 7 May 2022
From our roving reporter Jed Bartlett
On a balmy early May weekend evening, a trio of Hallamshire Harriers – Jamie Hall, Wyatt Hill and Tommy Power – participated in the Sunderland fast 5k. For those unfamiliar with the Sunderland fast 5k course, it’s a more or less flat double looper of the Northern Spire Bridge, making it both quick and spectator friendly (a mercy, given that your author embraced the role of enthusiastic ‘Sports Dad’ for the evening). With just a trace of a headwind and a course consisting of drag race style straights, as well as a keen and mean looking Carl Avery of Morpeth Harriers looking to defend his fast 5K crown, the scene was set for some rapid running.
From the gun Tommy and Jamie settled into the front group of six and kept things composed; clearly working but never in trouble and certainly not rattled by the presence of another white rose representative, John Beattie, of none other than Leeds City AC. Not far behind, Wyatt was pulling through in pursuit of a sub-16 time. This was an admirable objective, given recent interruptions to his training and holiday having contracted C19 somewhere in the USofA.
Things started to fragment at the race midsection on account of the tail wind/descent combination that catapulted the super shoe shod runners back onto the bridge. This did nothing to unnerve the Hallamshire front runners and Tommy, who was perhaps fuelled by dissertation frustration, (poor rhyming attempt intended) looked keen as Colemans and was gearing up for the finishing straight. Jamie was tucked in nicely, looking prepped to play the role of Wily Fox and bide his time for a sneaky sprint finish. Wyatt was in hot pursuit with his lactate face, a superb testament to the effort going into chasing that sub-16 benchmark.
Enough rambling…’to the results’ the crowd plead:
– Tommy Power, 2nd, 14.26 PB
– Jamie Hall, 3rd, 14.28 PB
– Wyatt Hill , 16th, 16.08
Just a note for those considering this event in the future. The prizes are generous to say the least…
Tommy pocketed £100 and £250 in Nike kit and Jamie £75 with £100 in Nike kit.
Also, if athletics celebrity spotting is your thing, you might chance upon a certain Steve Cram.
And in true race report fashion I will conclude by stating a thoroughly good time was had by all.
