Another weekend of accomplishments for many Claremont Road Runners, starting off with these words from Tom Tinsley:
“When planning our trip south for the Great South Run, we not only looked at when we could see friends, but, obviously, which parkrun could we do. So we were delighted to see that the nearest parkrun to our Friday night accommodation was a ‘Q’, the final letter we needed to complete our alphabet.
Queen Elizabeth parkrun takes place in a country park in the rolling hills of the South Downs. The run itself is mostly on gravel trails through woodland, with a steep descent on a grassy path. It is certainly undulating but provided a friendly and scenic warm-up for the following day.”
Congratulations to our latest alphabeteers! Also down south, but further west in Tiverton, Devon, Yana Bevan could be found obtaining another rare letter at the delightfully named Impey Walk Knightshayes. Continuing the streak of British-island tourism to a fourth week, Neil Curry visited the Isle of Wight, the second to do so in as many months after Jim Crinnion in August.
North of the border, Cath Robson was in Castle Douglas, enjoying a trot around the shore of Carlingwark Loch on their 3rd birthday (which from personal experience, is in a much more urban location than the name might suggest!) Two overseas tourists this week, and after last month’s European tour, Lucy Keating was back at it, this time swapping The Netherlands for Italy at Milano Nord. Following last week’s half-marathon, Becky Webster was still in Krakow, helping them celebrate 15 years of parkrun in Poland at Mlynówka Królewska.
Getting back toward more familiar territory, Cate Walker-Johnson racked up her 100th different parkrun venue at Harrogate, in just under 200 runs. A storied location, having just celebrated their 12th birthday and 700 events, the course is pleasant if fairly unremarkable. Three laps around the edge of a big field just outside the town centre, on a mixture of grass, track and tarmac, the majority under tree cover. Perfectly fine, but not one to recommend for those seeking out scenery, variation or quirky features. The town on the other hand, is lovely!
Further personal achievements for those who stayed at home. A course PB and 1st lady finish for Heather Steel in Gateshead. Sarah Kerr was 2nd at Town Moor, continuing a very consistent streak that’s seen her last four runs there all finish within an 11 second spread. The crowning achievement however, must go to Mark Flynn at Leazes, running his fastest parkrun ever, and his first time (I think) completing 5k in under 22 minutes!
