It was a busy Saturday morning for Claremont, with 36 runners across seven of the regional parkruns, including the monthly group jaunt which took 16 of us over to Chopwell Wood in Gateshead.
With Town Moor being off, the other local options were very well attended, with Leazes, Jesmond Dene and Rising Sun all having a small group of Claremonters (I was about to go on a tangent about what the collective noun for Claremont runners might be, but then remembered that it is probably sky-blues!).
For our third tourist outing of the year, we chose the the somewhat controversial course that is Chopwell. It seems to elicit very different responses in runners, predominantly due to the inclination. A fairly recent addition to the North East parkruns, started by the group that used to organise Gibside, our presence was definitely felt for their 55th event. With Claremont representing around 15% of the runners, Kris Axon gliding through the finish line in a very comfortable first place, Niki and Izzy taking 2nd and 3rd lady respectively, Mungai ensuring it was all well documented, and several group photos with the Chopwell sign, we were definitely seen as well as heard!
It was a very well organised event, with a lovely team of volunteers, and the perfect mild weather to run through the woods. Everyone agreed on how pretty the course is, and even though there are a significant amount of uphills, there also are quite a few fun downhills. There was much debate over trail shoes and old road shoes ahead of the event, but a mostly dry and clear path made it a good run regardless of footwear. I really enjoyed the course, despite getting a stitch towards the last mile and having to walk the last hill, the fast downhills made up for it, and I even managed a tiny bit of energy for a sprint finish.
As always, we had to finish off by trying out the local cafe, and gathered over at the lovely Beat N Track in Rowlands Gill for teas, coffees, scones and cake. Another successful parkrun outing!