Following overnight rain (remember rain?), a dry, at time sunny morning greeted parkrunners in the North East, though it was still a bit soggy for some of our members running elsewhere. And, as ever, we got around. Lena Lou headed down to Teesside, Rachel Hurdman went in the opposite direction to that Scottish place where they play all the golf (St. Andrews), and Aoife Monaghan travelled across the Irish Sea to run in County Kerry. Luke Woodend was the latest Claremonter to run in Delamere Forest where, thankfully, the A route has been restored, as opposed to the B for Brutal course.
However, you have to admire Lynne Cornell for travelling all the way to Suffolk, and putting up with the rain. just so that she could do a parkrun that ends at Claremont Pier, just off Claremont Road. True dedication to the club (though she may actually have been down there on holiday!):
“Really nice route -a long run along the seafront and then a steep hill up then down and a repeat of a 2nd shorter lap but still the hill! The marshals were lovely including instructions on where to get a cuppa and get warm and dry out before the run and getting wet again!!! The weather was rubbish. It chucked it? It was 2.5 miles from where we are staying and I walked, so arrived soaked and greeted by the locals saying it hadn’t rained for months!!! It continued to rain until after I had finished mile 2, when I could finally remove my waterproof.”
Back home, there were big turnouts and success at Leazes Park and Jesmond Dene. Eight Sky Blues were at Leazes, where the course was re-routed to avoid the goslings by the lake. Alex Taylor won a parkrun for the second week in a row, and Lily Crouzier recorded a course PB, despite the extra distance, to finish as second female. There was an even larger turnout at Jesmond, and the 10 strong group were dominant in the Dene. Harry Mawdsley and Mark Anderson were 1st and 2nd respectively, Sarah Kerr was 1st lady and there were course PBs for Tara Hipwood, who is running incredibly well at the moment, and Rose Hawkswood, with Cate Walker also claiming 1st lady at Ashington Community Woodland.
