With no events at Whitley Bay or on the Town Moor, local options were reduced this weekend. Out of those available, Leazes was the most popular, and Mark Anderson chose Denton Dene to mark his 200th parkrun and celebrated with a 3rd place finish. David Devennie ran a course PB there, while Lena Lou went up the coast to collect her latest PB at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, and Heather Steel went west for a Keswick personal best.
On the tourist trail, this was surely the first time that we had participants at both the most northerly and the most southerly parkruns in Great Britain on the same day! Chris Jones added to the growing list of sky blues to sample the delights of Bressay in the Shetland Isles, while Anna Round was running at Land’s End (where the pre-race briefing included advice to be careful of stepping on the adders!). It seems that runners were seeking shade from the early morning sun, as trees seemed to be popular this week. There was a pair of community woodlands, with Sarah Taylor getting a PB at Ashington and the Smiths turning up at York; Jim Crinnion at Dalby Forest in North Yorkshire and Cate Walker in Robin Hood’s old stomping ground at Clumber Park.
Our international traveller this week was Tara Hipwood, who ran in the scenic surroundings of Mensola Park on the outskirts of Florence. Despite the thermometer reaching 300 at 9am, Tara kept going and made the podium as 3rd female.
Finally, you just have to love the attitude and dedication of Craig Swanson. To steal a quote from his Strava: “When you have parkrun at 9 and have to drive the Hexham train at 1004.” Love it!
