Elite and club runners from the North East of England will compete on December 31, live for those who can’t make it.
Some of the North East’s best club runners will be running alongside other top British athletes in Newcastle on New Year’s Eve.
Scott Beattie, who was fourth in the European Championships this month, Cameron Boyek of Morpeth Harriers and Calum Johnson of Gateshead Harriers lead the North East’s challenge in the men’s race.
They will face British 800m medalist Alex Botterill, who will test himself in his first serious road 5km, along with Northern Ireland international James Gormley and Eritrean and future Birkfield Harrier Aron Gebremariam.
In the women’s race, Verity Ockenden is expected to play for first HogmanHOWAY 5K title before joining the British team for the World Championships in the USA in January.
Ockenden won the Ribble Valley 10km on Sunday and will feature Ireland’s Roisin Flanagan, fellow Brits Izzy Fry and Amelia Quirk, as well as reigning British 1500m champion Sarah Calvert.
Local athletes Jasmine Wood (Durham City Harriers), Elisha Tait (Gateshead Harriers) and Lydia Turner (Birtley AC) will also be in the mix.
The brainchild of North East athletics legend Steve Cram, the HogmanHOWAY 5K is sponsored by Develop North PLC and organized by Events of the North in partnership with the North East Combined Authority, North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and Newcastle City Council.
Starting and finishing at the Civic Centre, the elite men’s race will start at 19:05, followed by the women at 19:07, both taking place on a flat and fast three-lap track, offering plenty of advantages for spectators. The massive HogmanHOWAY 5K will start at 7.30pm, with a route that will take in many local attractions and include a lap around the campus of Northumbria University, one of the event’s key partners.
“We have assembled an impressive field for the first elite HogmanHOWAY 5K,” said Cram, “and the men’s and women’s races look very competitive and exciting. There are plenty of talented local athletes with the crowd cheering them on and it will be great to see them perform against some great runners from elsewhere.
“It’s really encouraging that we’ve been able to attract such a strong line-up for an elite race and I hope it helps establish HogmanHOWAY as an annual feature of the New Year’s Eve program in Newcastle.”
Around 2,000 people are expected to take part in the first HogmanHOWAY 5K, with many starting early on their New Year’s resolutions to exercise and raise money for good causes such as the event’s official charity partner, the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation.
Applications close on December 30. Details: here or watch the races live here…
