THE Blaydon Races - the national anthem of the Geordies, and a 5.7-mile race run every June 9th from Newcastle to the town of Blaydon.

In 1862, an annual horse race meeting held in meadows alongside the River Tyne was commemorated in song by George Ridley. It begins "I went to the Blaydon Races, Twas on the ninth of June", and the words are used as the basis for the run.

The actual race was the inspiration of Dr James Dewar of Blaydon Harriers, who organised the first 24 races starting in 1981. In the early years, the event attracted around 250 entries, but by 2004 a record of 4,000 people took part with more than 600 other hopefuls usually rejected.

The 25th anniversary of the race was run by the Blaydon Harriers in 2005 as the "Nike Jim Dewar Blaydon Race" in memory of Jim, who died in June 2004 just two days after the running of the 24th event.

The runners start from Balmbras pub and make their way along the Scotswood road, over the Scotswood Bridge which crosses the River Tyne and to the finish in Blaydon itself.

The race is started by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle using the handbell mentioned in the song, which is usually on display in the Laing art gallery.

On Saturday evening at 6pm, 4,000 runners took part in the race, to the bemusement of locals, and a fair sprinkling of hen and stag parties which were about to embark on a long night of partying.

I had driven up from Southampton on the Saturday and headed for Blaydon to park up. Boy, was I disappointed with Blaydon. The town is a dive. Just one shopping centre stuck in the middle next to the bus station and McDonald's, and then housing dotted around the outside. The only mention of the Blaydon Races I could find was a plaque on the shopping centre, but Blaydon is a town in decay.

I couldn't wait to get out and onto one of the buses which ferried runners in Newcastle itself. The difference couldn't have been greater. I met up with Ken and Carol, who live in Sunderland, and they gave me a guided tour around this impressive and vibrant city. Newcastle was buzzing. The architecture is wonderful, the centre on a hill overlooking the town was filled with shoppers enjoying the June sunshine, people sat on the Grey memorial, others watching a busker playing a trumpet accompanied by electronic music, and all around them a growing number of runners ready for the race.

It was choca-bloc at the start. Many of the slower runners had crept to the front, and inevitably it was slow progress for the first mile as we wound our way out of the city. Ken and Carol had warned me the run wasn't scenic or inspiring, and they were right. We headed out along the Scotswood Road out of Newcastle. Even though it was just after 6pm, it was still hot and humid, but fortunately road closures enabled a clean and clear run.

Knowing I had another race the following day, I had told myself to run cautiously, but it was impossible with so many runners around. I needed a good pace to break away from the slower runners.

We crossed the Scotswood Bridge, and then the course took a twisty run-in to Blaydon, past McDonald's up the hill, and then a sweep into the shopping centre car park. I finished in a time of 41min 20sec, which was okay, and came away with a pretty impressive goody bag which included a t-shirt, a bottle of beer, various snacks, and a ham and tripe bap! I was so hungry, that I ate all the food on the drive down the A1 afterwards.

To make by day, as I was leaving to drive south, I spotted the Blaydon Belle, the beauty queen chosen for the race. She had just finished the run herself and was pretty flustered, but after a little persuasion I got my photo taken with 19-year-old Claire - purely for publicity purposes, you understand!