It was a Claremont parkrun tourism day, with 10 of us spending a very enjoyable morning in the autumn sunshine at Blackhill in Consett. We were given a warm welcome by the local volunteers – perhaps not surprising as we formed a sizable proportion of the field of only 45 runners! For most of us, this was our first time at Blackhill and talk of it being a tough, hilly course saw us start out with some trepidation.
The course makes the most of the pretty park, with a small loop followed by 3 large laps which wind in and out, and up and down, around a good path network. Although there was a lot of “up”, the climbs were spread out and not too step – apart from the small number of steps which took you to the very top path – and there were excellent views if you could get your head up and look! After starting steadily, Niki Szlovak decided to leave Dave Roberts and myself, and run her own race – which she did very well to finish as 1st lady. Laurie Johnson is currently out of running action with an injury, but came with us to perform tail walking duties – complete with tail! Afterwards, we went to the bowls club in the park to be served with tea and coffee and sample the home baking, available for a donation to charity.
Not the easiest course but, in my opinion, a nice one and a parkrun that deserves to see more runners; I recommend giving it a try!
There was a lot of tourism other than the trip to Blackhill. Not so far away, and on the occasion of Ann’s 150th parkrun, the Smiths both ran course PBs at Hartlepool – in fact, for both, it was their fastest parkrun ever. The only other PB went to our newest member, Yana Bevan on the Town Moor.
Further afield, Sophie Richardson ran in the shadow of Mount Etna in Sicily (a run which I think has just gone on my “to do” list!), but even she was outdone in the far-flung tourism award by Lynne Cornell. Lynne was over in Singapore, where she finished as 2nd female at Bay East Garden. You can read all about her exploits here.
