The Saltwell Harriers 10k, England’s oldest road race, celebrates its 106th anniversary on Saturday.
With the race full signs being up since the beginning of December, it shows that the event is still as popular as ever.
It reached its peak in 1984, the year of Mike McLeod’s 11th consecutive win, when there were over 780 entries. That was on the old course that took in the notorious Chowdene Bank before traffic on the highway forced a route change.
This time the maximum number is 500 on the relatively new course that weaves its way around and inside Saltwell Park.
The race was known as the Congers Road Race up until 1970, before the Congers went out of existence and Saltwell Harriers stepped into the breach and they have been at the helm ever since.
The Chowdene course was the one that Elswick’s Olympic 10,000m silver medallist McLeod set his amazing record of 16 successive victories (1974-89), including three course records.
One of the most famous battles that took place on Chowdene Bank was that between McLeod and Steve Cram in 1987. Cram was impressive on the steep incline but McLeod’s acceleration when they reached Durham Road was even more so and he went on to finish in a record time of 29.16 for the 10k course with Cram 22 seconds behind.
In 1964, Houghton Harrier and Tokyo Olympic steeplechaser Ernie Pomfret won the men’s race.
Ryan McLeod, Mike’s son, has won the race twice in succession in 2007 and 2008 and won the 2011 race at Saltwell Park in a course record.
Sunderland Harriers have had two winners of the famous race in Malcolm Price, in 1997 and 1998, and Mark Hood (2005 and 2001), when he outkicked fellow Under-20 Mark Slesser of Jarrow and Hebburn in a superb sprint finish.