Road race won’t get up and running

Apr 21 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal

FAINT hopes that Britain’s oldest-established road race could be resurrected on its traditional North East route appear to have been dashed for good.

The annual Morpeth to Newcastle race – which was traditionally run every New Year’s Day – was last staged in its centenary year of 2004.

In September 2006 the organising committee, which included Morpeth, Heaton and Gosforth Harriers and Claremont Road Runners, decided to disband and effectively scrap the event, because of insurmountable problems with continuing to stage it along the A1 route.

At the time, some running enthusiasts said they hoped it was not a final death knell and that the famous race could one day be revived.

But yesterday Morpeth Harriers secretary Mike Bateman said the race remains defunct and there are no current plans to get it up and running again.

The Morpeth, as it was affectionately known by runners all over the North East, was first run on New Year’s Day 1904. It became a popular fixture in the region’s sporting calendar but soaring costs and prohibitive police requirements to make the busy A1 route safe led to its demise after the centenary event.

In latter years it was staged later in January to ease organisational problems, and to try to attract more runners and make it more financially viable.

Yesterday Mr Bateman said: “People such as Jim Alder still make positive noises about reviving the Morpeth but it is more, I suspect, a wish for it to happen rather than anything actually being done about it. We have not completely closed our minds to it but I believe the opposition from the police would be too great to overcome.”