We were in the beautiful Dene this last weekend to celebrate Geth’s 250th parkrun!
Lovely morning and he got lots of congratulations due to the sash. New t-shirt incoming in the new year (we can match again).
Not sure where we’ll be next Saturday but it’s the Christmas Day parkrun first.
We were visiting the in-laws this last weekend so it was a trip to Heaton Park for the first time in over a year! Very busy one with well over 700 people.
Kept it nice and easy (because December) and just got the mileage done.
Closer to home this coming weekend!
It’s been a couple of months since I was last on the Moor for parkrun. December is mapped out as a very easy-paced month running-wise (I’m doing Marcothon again as there’s no race training getting in the way this year, so keeping everything easy and not doing any speedwork!). Geth and I had a nice trot round in just under 30 minutes. Nice to have a brass band playing Christmas tunes at the start/finish!
A little further afield next week.
I wasn’t really feeling this one going in!
Geth and I booked it in May after feeling a tiny bit disappointed with our Sunderland times (I was still of the belief at that point that I would be getting a PB at every distance in 2025 like I did last year… I have since been roundly disabused of that notion!). After a hectic autumn, heading off to Leeds to race a 10k in the cold was the last thing we wanted to do. Nevertheless, we decided to make a weekend of it – there was a Christmas market, after all, and we seem to be collecting those this year.
Despite the forecast, I didn’t feel as cold on the start line as I did when we last raced this one in 2023. I was in a vest last time, mind, whereas this year I went for a longsleeve. It used to be a mid-October race but Run For All have taken it over this year and moved it to the end of November. This did result in an improved course by our standards (the start was right outside our usual hotel and there was no hill towards the end) as the route had to avoid the Christmas market.
It was one of those races where I chose not to look at my watch at any point, ran the whole thing on feel, and tried not to second-guess myself by looking at the pacers. The result was a fairly steady run, a negative split according to the results, and a consistent 50:25. Three seconds slower than Sunderland, which is a bit annoying, but I honestly didn’t expect to be anywhere near 50 minutes. I have found it really hard to recover from Amsterdam over the last month, and I’ve been suffering a bit in the colder weather with my asthma – my interval paces have been much, much slower than usual – so I just didn’t think I’d be able to run at a faster pace. Apparently I was wrong.
The fact that I can pull out a 50ish minute 10k after far-from-ideal training has given me a lot of confidence for next year. Overall I’m really happy with that race. Not at all what I expected!
I had been planning and looking forward to this parkrun for ages!
I knew I would be in Oslo this weekend and so I had selected Ekebergsletta early this year (having previously done Tøyen when I last visited), but it was only a couple of months ago that I realised it would be a good place to do my 50th different parkrun location (something that I have been working towards all year with a target of hitting it by the end of 2025).
I knew late November would be cold in Oslo but I was still fairly surprised to see a forecast of minus 5 degrees and snow for this weekend! In my experience, Nordic parkruns don’t tend to cancel for winter weather, but I was still a tiny bit nervous and checking the Facebook page constantly for about a fortnight beforehand.
We ran the two miles there and back to make it a nice seven-mile morning. A small event and very friendly as small events tend to be! It wasn’t wintry enough for the winter course so they were still on the summer one 😃
Loved this parkrun and delighted to celebrate my 50th location here.
Just a lovely easy run round the Dene again this morning. It’s getting cold and damp but I loved it.
Further afield again next week.
Fulwell Quarry parkrun has been my NENDY for a good eighteen months or so since it launched. When ticking off local parkruns, I prefer to drive north rather than crossing the Tyne (the Saturday morning traffic is generally easier). However, I felt it was about time to start making some inroads into Sunderland, so over the river I went this morning.
It stayed dry for the parkrun but was damp and muddy underfoot (a lot of the surface is grass and trail). I had a vague progression on the plan so held back a little for the first lap while learning the route and stepped up the pace a little for the second. Lots of hills though so not an easy course at all!
Back on more familiar ground next week.
I was in Manchester last night for the Duran Duran Hallowe’en concert (review coming… eventually. There’s a backlog). A Friday night trip away also provides an opportunity for parkrun tourism, so I tried out Philips Park this morning!
It was very very wet leading up to the start of the run so there weren’t many people out, but I did meet a couple of fellow Scots (both of whom had also been to the concert) and the team were very friendly and in good spirits despite the weather. The course is undulating, so not a super fast one, but it was good to stretch my legs and pick up the pace a little after a couple of weeks of marathon recovery.
Local again next week.
After a very slow post-marathon recovery week of streak savers and errand runs, this was always going to be an easy-paced parkrun (mostly!). I just enjoyed beautiful Jesmond Dene at its best time of year, and then picked it up a little for the downhill finish. My legs didn’t thank me on the walk home, so it’ll definitely be another week of short gentle running.
There was one other person in an Amsterdam Marathon shirt (‘nice shirt,’ she said as she went past), so that was a highlight!
It’s getting chilly now and I’m feeling it on my chest a little. Going to have to get back into the habit of taking my inhaler with me.
Bit of opportunistic tourism next week!
