Ashington Trails 10K, 11th January 2026

Eddie Smith has been out on the trails and sends us this report.

“I was one of the 103 runners (and, I think the only Claremont Road Runner) who completed the inaugural Ashington Trails 10k on Sunday morning in the (sometimes horizontal) sleet.

The route started and ended at the same place as the local parkrun. The first 4.5k was a circuit of the lake in the country park by Woodhorn Museum. The remaining 6k was around Ashington Community Woods. (10.5k in total!)

There was a crowded start with most of us setting off tentatively. The run conditions underfoot varied throughout the course between very wet slush, slippery compressed snow/ice, and mud. The mud was the easiest to run on.

Quite a bit of my progress was painfully slow on the slippery bits but I was happy to make it around without a fall. Unfortunately, others weren’t so fortunate, particularly those in road running shoes.

Overall, I enjoyed my 68 minutes of sliding and, occasionally, running. I ended up in the median finishing position.

Two points of interest: More women than men completed the course, and the overall winner by almost 4 minutes, was under-18 .(Liam McDonough).

If they repeat it next year I’d probably check the long range weather forecast before entering it, but it’s definitely a great route.”