Just 48 hours on from our bonus parkrun, it was Saturday again, and while some were out running after putting their feet up over the festive break, a lot of the same faces from Christmas Day were at it again, everyone no doubt making at least a token gesture at tipping the scales back towards ‘calories out’.
There’s possibly an argument to be made that a bit of over-indulgence just adds ‘fuel to the fire’, as Antony Darne, Gill Milne, Lena Lou and Mary Martin all achieved course PB’s, while Mark Flynn blasted out his fastest ever parkrun at Gateshead!
After ‘A Very English parkrun Christmas’, there were a few more ambulating across the wintry waters. Aoífe Monaghan came within a whisker of a course PB deep in Northern Ireland at Enniskillen, Diana Walmsley opting to stay closer to the coast at Belvoir Forest near Belfast. Rachel Hurdman returned once more to Guernsey after her first visit in November (an interview with their Event Director on BBC Radio Guernsey is available via BBC Sounds until the end of January 2026) , and Yana Bevan continued her festive Welsh journey a bit further up the road at Bryn Bach. Claire Taylor outdid everyone by fully breaking out of the UK, popping up at Fælledparken in Copenhagen.
Back in England, Rose Hawkswood moved a little further south from her Christmas venue, enjoying a first taste of ‘Eve’s Ham’ in Worcestershire. The Smiths drifted similarly, debuting at Brickfields in Bath. To the east and up a bit, Aoife Campbell tried out the fairly new Brook Leys in Cambridge.
Bringing it back towards the North, Niamh Garratt returned to the more well-trodden Markeaton in Derbyshire, Jim Crinnion continued his revisiting of outer-Leeds parkruns at Temple Newsam and David Devennie hit his 250th parkrun, on his ninth trip to Lytham Hall in Lancashire. Gill Milne was the only one outside of Leazes to retrace her steps from Thursday, while achieving that aforementioned course PB at Millfield.
After delving into The Demesnes, Cate and I ventured to nearby Shildon, as part of her ongoing mission to tick off all the North-East parkruns (a potentially Sisyphean task, given that a new one seems to open every few weeks!) Pulling up next to Hackworth Park, we glanced to our right to see Lucy Ward and Rob waving at us from the van we’d parked right alongside.
Hackworth is a straightforward urban parkrun, mainly on tarmac with a short grass section, a curious slalom through a playpark, and a steep but brief incline to tackle on each of its 3 laps. After an easy canter at Barnard Castle, Cate decided to push on this one, and was rewarded with a 1st lady finish, 2 minutes ahead of 2nd place, Lucy joining her on the podium in 3rd.
Perhaps not one for the coffee snobs, but we availed ourselves of free hot drinks and cake (lemon drizzle and chocolate brownie) at the charming community hub, which we’re reliably informed happens every week!
