Ian Hudspith wins the Blaydon Race

Jun 10 2009 by Paul Cunningham, The Journal

MORPETH Harrier Ian Hudspith said he had run the "race of his life" to end a decade of African dominance of the Blaydon Race.

The 38-year-old maths teacher ran a clever tactical race to beat the strong Kenyan challenge of Raymond Tonui and become the first North East winner since his brother Mark broke the tape first in 1997.

The pair led the field from about the halfway point, but Hudspith broke at the top of the Scotswood Bridge and had enough strength left to fend off Tonui’s attempts to reel him in.

And there was a British winner of the women’s race as Clapham’s Justina Heslop edged out Kendall’s Sarah Tunstall with a time of 31 min 46 sec. Kenya’s Joyce Kandie, who was one of a stable of runners brought over by coach Ian Ladbroke, finished third in a time of 32.27.

Hudspith grabbed the headlines, though, building on last year’s third- place finish and shrugging off any suggestions of rustiness in his first race since suffering a hamstring injury in March. Watched from the sidelines by his brother, he was a deserved winner. And he said that finishing victorious had been one of the highlights of his running career.

"Behind the Great North Run, this is the North East’s biggest distance run and while the strength of the field means I’ll never win that one, it’s great to win this one," Hudspith said after winning the £1,000 first prize.

"There was a big group of about six or seven of us at around about the two- to three-mile mark but we broke away at about the halfway stage and from there we were taking it in turns to lead it.