Gibside Fruitbowl, 5th November 2023

Izzy Neatrour led a small band of Claremonters south of the river today:

“2023 was the long awaited return of the Gibside Fruit Bowl. I presumed this had been a COVID causalty, but it last took place in November 2018 (perhaps the organisers were following developments in China very carefully)…

The morning started wet and grey, and the prospect of a 7 mile trail race was not particularly appealing. By the time we arrived at Gibside, blue skies had appeared and the autumn colours of the estate looked stunning. For once it was not me moaning about one ailment or another, and teammate Kim nursed the hangover.

We arrived just in time to meet the rest of the crew – Jenny, Julie, Nikki and Dean. Julie used this time to frighten us that previous Fruit Bowls had been worse than cross country, and I regretted my decision to wear road shoes.. However, the mud never materialised (the National Trust had clearly used the intervening years to lay down some gravel) and it was pretty easy underfoot.

Julie’s other memories of the race were correct – it was a beautiful route with some serious hills (none of this undulating..). I enjoyed the fast descents and used the steep inclines to walk and catch my breath (Julie ran it all!).

I was hoping for some fruit at the end, but we were instead presented with a branded rucksack, a Twix and a bottle of water. I’m not a fan of the rucksack (I now have three from races) and would have preferred a jolly fruit bowl t-shirt, or even better, an apple.

We didn’t take any group photos as it was cold and we couldn’t be bothered to go back to the car for phones.

Summary: nice route, not enough fruit.”

Position		Runner		Time
43		Izzy Neatrour		59:17
55		Nicki O’Brien		61:32
60		Julie Cross		62:06
69		Kimberley Metson		63:04
70		Dean O’Brien		69:03
124		Jenny Roberts		72:49

_{Photos courtesy of Blackhill Bounders}