I had hoped to do a new-to-me parkrun this last weekend, but Geth and I had a bit too much on, so plumped for an easy trip to Rising Sun instead. Yet another Saturday taking it relatively easy in 30ish minutes, as we had a (short) race to do the following day!
I will definitely get round to that new-to-me parkrun next week, as one of my 2025 targets is to do a new one every month.
A slightly damp morning but the rain stayed off during parkrun and it was fairly still too. A good day for pacing 30 at Town Moor!
Kept a few people on target for the first couple of miles and they were all able to sprint off during the last bit. Really enjoy pacing 30 minutes as so many people are aiming for it.
Possibly a new-to-me location next week…
Another lovely parkrun morning. Clear and cold but not frosty, so the only slippery bits of Jesmond Dene course today were the muddy patches. Lots of friends there too as Town Moor was off!
Geth and I took it easy for 30ish minutes, which was the perfect start to a quiet weekend.
Probably back on the Moor next weekend but we’ll see!
A trip over to west Newcastle today to keep working on the p-index!
All remnants of yesterday’s storm (save for a few twigs on the ground) were gone and it was a beautiful morning for a parkrun. I decided to push it a bit to see how recovered I am post-Dopey and came in at 25:33.
This is a couple of minutes slower than my PB at the moment – I reckon this is due to other winter-related factors in addition to recovering from the challenge – but it was really nice to put in a bit of speed after over a month of slow/steady running.
Might be somewhere new to us next week, might not. The nice thing about being at home is not having to decide until the last minute!
Following our adventures in Disney World, Geth and I returned to the more familiar environs of Town Moor parkrun today!
We had been annoyed by Florida being colder than we expected, but going out the door at 8am to scrape ice off my car so that I could drive to parkrun reminded me what cold really is. It was a frosty morning on the Moor! Absolutely beautiful but pretty chilly, though we did warm up when we were running. Took it easy for 30ish minutes today, and it was lovely to catch up with friends and tell them about our adventures. We even met a runner from the visiting Bournemouth AFC fan group who’d also done the Dopey in Florida last weekend!
Next week isn’t finalised yet but it’ll be another local one! No more travelling for a while…
I went to my favourite parkrun for my birthday weekend parkrun and my first performance in my new age category as a VW40-44!
Not that I was banging out a fast time or anything, especially not in the frosty conditions we had this morning (I was just grateful that Jesmond Dene was on). Geth and I took it easy for another 30ish minute one and enjoyed a lovely run round the Dene.
(Well, I say easy, but that hill is always murder on my asthma on cold mornings no matter how slowly I take it!)
A rare non-parkrunning Saturday next week as there’s something very special going on, but I expect to be on the Moor the week after…
Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is a fairly obvious parkrun for me to do. It’s not my NENDY (nearest event not done yet) but it’s a popular one with my running friends and people are often surprised that I haven’t done it. It’s also one of the few parkruns in the local area that put on a special event on New Year’s Day. As Geth and I have been at home in Newcastle for New Year (a rare occurrence), I decided it was a good time to visit this parkrun at long last!
We were very lucky with the weather as the wind has died down here since yesterday, which has not been the case in other parts of the UK (lots of NYD parkrun cancellations today sadly). It was a beautiful morning running along a beautiful seafront, though it certainly was a bit harder when the wind did pick up on the outward leg! I loved this parkrun as you can see everyone along the out and back, and it has its own culture and character. Lots of the Benchies came out this morning and we had a bit of a New Year party.
Back to regular Saturday parkrunning in a few days’ time… and what will be my first performance in my brand new age category!
A new venue for me and Geth yesterday!
Auldcathie District is a relatively new parkrun to the west of Edinburgh, having started last year (I think). I wanted to tick off one more new-to-me parkrun event before the end of the year, and it’s as quick to get to as any of the parkruns closer into town (given that they all require driving from Morningside… I will forever live in hope of a parkrun starting up within short walking distance of my childhood home).
When we arrived in the park (which was only built a couple of years ago as part of the new estate) I wasn’t sure how much character it would have. However, this turned out to be a GREAT parkrun. The new tarmac paths are lovely to run on, there are a few mild inclines but nothing major, and while we were taking it easy yesterday (30ish mins) we both agreed it could be a nice fast course if you were giving it a go.
Another new-to-me event planned for New Year’s Day, as we’ll be back in Newcastle for New Year!
Many parkruns in the UK hold special extra events on Christmas Day, as it’s the designated ‘special event day’ for the country. I would personally rather have the UK’s special event day be a less-notable festivity, such as a bank holiday or something, as I’m usually too busy with family stuff to manage the Christmas Day parkrun. However, this year it was agreed that we could squeeze it in before heading home for a slightly-later Christmas breakfast, so Geth and I went to the main Edinburgh event at Cramond for our first ever Christmas Day parkrun!
While I’d probably never seen so many Santa hats in one place, going to parkrun (and the accompanying slightly stressful driving along the badly-maintained back roads of Edinburgh) did make the morning feel like a regular old morning rather than Christmas morning. But we had a lovely parkrun, taking it easy and enjoying the beautiful scenery along the Cramond coastline. It turned into a bit of a progression run despite the headwind on the return leg, and we finished comfortably under 30 minutes.
The next parkrunday is a regular Saturday, and we might be trying out a new-to-us venue…
Town Moor parkrun typically doesn’t do a Christmas Day parkrun these days (it tends to be the smaller parkruns in Newcastle that are on for Christmas Day), so the event on the Saturday before Christmas is the one that’s specially themed. This is a lovely opportunity to celebrate the festive week with running friends and wear my loudest Christmas leggings, and this last Saturday was no exception (except for the fact that I wore Christmas shorts instead because it was mild – saved the loud leggings for the following day!).
We did consider a change of plan to Denton Dene as a friend was doing her 350th parkrun, but decided to stick to the quicker option. The winds were really strong but I somehow managed to finish 14 seconds faster than the week before, so I’m happy with that! Looking forward to the spring and getting back into 5k PB shape though.
The next parkrunday is Christmas Day, for the first of the two festive special event days. Geth and I have never done a Christmas Day parkrun before, but this year looks like being the first…