Watergate 5k, 22nd August 2024
Low Fell Running Club held their annual 5km race in Watergate Forest Park this Thursday evening.
Conditions were overcast and mild, decent for racing, and a sizeable number of runners lined up, including some very nippy customers, following the junior 2.5k event. We were treated to a pre-race briefing reminiscent of a few local parkruns, in that it was 95% inaudible despite the use of a small megaphone (not helped by continued chatter from many of the assembled crowd), but were thankfully able to make out the countdown to the starting whistle.
The course was exclusively on gravel, occasionally traily-y paths, taking us down a hill, through some woodland to the lake, which we circled before having to navigate a slight incline, followed by the only notable uphill of the night, then running down and round past the cafe and through the finish line… at which point we had to do it again for a second lap.
As mentioned, there was only one real hill to contend with, which wasn’t all that long or steep, but as ever, when you’re at 4.8km and pushing it, any slight incline is greeted with a certain amount of disdain! Otherwise, it was a pleasant setting for a race (once the initial dust cloud kicked up by several hundred stampeding feet had dispersed), with plenty of flat and gentle downhills carrying us through the green, leafy surroundings.
Many marshals and spectators lined the route, giving vocal encouragement, and I earned a handful of places back with a surge down the tree-lined tunnel to the finish. Breathlessly accepting the proffered water and t-shirt, I weaved back up the course to cheer on fellow Claremonters Nina and Cate as they both finished in impressive times. In my haze, I’d somehow missed both cereal bars and chocolate on offer beyond the funnel, but was saved from probable collapse and airlift to hospital by Nina kindly donating half of hers.
A really well organised race, with a lovely, vibrantly blue t-shirt as reward, well done everyone at Low Fell.
| Position | Runner | Time |
| 51 | Laurie Johnson | 19:51 |
| 140 | Nina Jensen | 23:17 |
| 151 | Cate Walker | 24:17 |
