Thurso parkrun, 17th June 2023

It is great when members share their adventures at far-flung parkruns and races, so many thanks to Lucy Keating for telling us of her Scottish adventure this weekend. Lucy has run more parkruns than any other Claremonter – and though a number of us have visited more venues, she has certainly been to some fantastic locations! Here is her report:

“I achieved a long-held ambition of visiting the north coast of Scotland this week, via a delightful train journey along sun-drenched golden beaches and remote moors.

Obviously I had to fit in Thurso parkrun too: the most northerly one on mainland Britain.

It’s a lovely route round a boating lake, followed by three riverside laps incorporating two footbridges, meaning there is plenty of scope to lap or be lapped. I was also able to put my turning techniques from Claremont warm-up routines to good use!

My hopes of a rare achievement of being the most southerly tourist were soon dashed in the pre-race briefing when I discovered fellow runners included visitors from Brisbane! In the unexpected Highlands heat, I slithered home as fourth female finisher, and contemplated a post-run paddle. Thanks as always to the cheerful volunteers.

This was my 455th parkrun on 32 different courses, and my most northerly (followed by Inverness, Aberdeen and Amager Strandpark in Copenhagen, fact fans). I note that Pokkinen parkrun in Oulu in Finland is the world’s most northerly at 65 degrees North, so I’ll have to start planning that train route…”