Saltwell Harrier Abraham Tewelde won his second Sunderland race within eight days with his victory in the Sunderland Strollers Pier-to-Pier run from South Shields to Roker.
The Eritrean, fresh from his record-breaking victory in the Events of the North half marathon (70.07) at Keel Square last Sunday, returned to the Sunderland Strollers seven-mile event – a race in which you had to find your own way to the finish.
This is sometimes a difficult task for locals in finding the quickest route without running on the highway, but, for Tewelde, who had never been to the coast previously, this was a tricky assignment!
Saltwell realised what faced their top runner, so they had an early-morning briefing session and a tour of the course before the record-breaking event, with 1,250 entries, got underway at 10am.
But the instructions seemed to go out of the window, as he took the wrong turn on the coastal path, not long after the start, losing 200 yards and slipping into second place.
The race leader was now Conrad Franks, but Tewelde had joined him by Souter Lighthouse and they ran together for a while, with the Gateshead Harrier sportingly shouted instructions on the best route to take.
This continued for the rest of the race until the finish on the beach at Roker was sighted by Tewelde, who then made his move for victory.
Franks, who notched up his third time in finishing second, said: “I was just pleased to help him out. He’s a nice man...