It was a major logistical exercise for all the various groups who travelled south on the weekend of 5 /6 October to Newcastle. This is the largest road race in the UK with over 47,000 entries this year. Our group Ian, Peter and Anne accompanied by Betty and Bob as the "bag carriers" booked accommodation for Sat 5th in a village about 20 minutes drive form Newcastle. The race starts in the centre of Newcastle and ends in South Shields. We worked out that the best plan was to park at one of the Metro stations and ride into town to the start area, and to use the public transport at the end to get back out again... (along with thousands of others). It was unseasonable warm and sunny – even the bag carriers got sunburnt, but all the runners made it safely over the 13+ miles. The times given are very inaccurate as it takes over twenty minutes for all the competitors to get over the Start line, (there is no use of electronic tags to provide an accurate time), but all agreed it had been a worthwhile experience.