Lads and Lasses from Aycliffe Running Club were gannin alang the Scotswood Road on Friday 9th June for the annual Blaydon Races. The Blaydon Race is a 5.7 mile athletics race from Newcastle upon Tyne to Blaydon that is steeped in local tradition. It takes place on June 9th every year starting on Collingwood Street in Newcastle, heads west along Scotswood Road and finishes in Blaydon. The 1862 Blaydon Races song is widely regarded as the national anthem of Tyneside and is the inspiration behind the event which  became an actual road race in 1981. First to finish for ARC was John Surtees in 32:02 followed by Mark Wade 34:26, Tommy Scott 37:13, Michelle Jane 39:06, John Heywood 43:13, Tracey Surtees 43:43, Trish Kay 45:12 and Dave Thompson 50:55.