2nd March 2019
Long time no see!! It’s been quite a while (7 weeks I think) since we last did a parkrun and wrote a post for the north east parkrun challenge. We’ve both been super busy with other races and events and haven’t been able to make it out for a run on Saturday mornings. We are now feeling a little under pressure to get the remaining parkruns in this year, but we’re still confident that we’ll be able to do it.
Yesterday we got back on the bandwagon and decided to do one of the local parkruns: Windy Nook. A relatively new one, yesterday was race number 62 and we were joined by a mere 26 other runners. Yes, that’s right, there were 28 runners. In total.
My stats:
Time: 27:08 minutes*
Position: 7/ 28
Female position: 2nd (gutted there was no silver medal waiting for me!)
Age category position (SW25-29): 2nd
Age-graded score: 54.55%
*Another case of my watch recording more than the 5km distance… 3.17 miles!
Yesterday was a bit of a busy one, so me and Becca didn’t quite have the opportunity to properly debrief about this parkrun. We did however, spend a few hours helping a friend dig up her allotment so we had a quick discussion about it then. (Said friend will be joining us on the odd parkrun this year so will be making an appearance on here soon!).
Course location: 1/5
What a nightmare it was getting to this parkrun. With it being a relatively central parkrun for the two of us, we decided to both drive and just meet there. I have been around the Windy Nook area before so I should have known where this was, but decided to plug the postcode given on the website into my satnav, just to be on the safe side!
What wasn’t helpful was that there were two locations for this postcode, within about a 5 minute drive from one another. 50/50 chance and I picked the wrong one. Leaving my flat a little late to begin with, I panicked, quickly switched my navigation to the second location and made a dash for it. Still confused by the second location, I missed the community centre where the car park was for this parkrun and made another wrong turn. Eventually, I found the nature reserve, quickly parked in a housing estate (in a little lay-by so hopefully didn’t piss the residents off) and with about 5 minutes to spare I ran to find the start line. So at the least, I did get free parking and a bit of a warm up.
Approaching the start line, I get a message from Becca saying she’s lost and also running late. With the very few runners who were actually there, this parkrun promptly started at 9am and my bestie was still nowhere to be seen. I ran about 2/3rds of this parkrun wondering if she had made it or not! Spoiler alert: she made it, and only about 4 minutes late!
Course difficulty: 4/5
Two things I find the hardest when it comes to running: laps (mentally) and hills (physically…and also mentally!). And this one had both. Windy Nook is quite a small nature reserve so it was 3 laps of nearly every tarmac path there was within the park. A fellow Gateshead Harrier took the lead on this one and quickly made a wrong turn at an un-marshalled junction…I’m not sure if he was new to the course, or if the course had changed and was new to him. Either way, it was a bit of a confusing route, so for the first lap I stuck with someone who had done it before (thank you kind lady!) and then pulled away a little on the second and third laps.
The elevation profile was tough though… some gradual inclines, and declines, but one heck of a steep hill thrown in the mix. You get the option of steps (yes, it was THAT steep), or a little cross country mud on the right hand side. Neither of which looked particularly appealing. However, I have been informed that there are steeper/harder courses in the north east (Blackhill, Gibside ahem!) so I will reserve my difficulty level of 5/5 for those!
Course enjoyability: 2/5
I’m not going to beat about the bush on this one. It was a hard course, so we both found it difficult to enjoy it. It is located at one of the highest points in Gateshead though so the views over to Newcastle are pretty spectacular. I guess though when you’re struggling to breathe and not trip over the turning point cone, it is hard to appreciate the landscape!
One thing we both felt was a positive on this parkrun was the friendliness of the marshals again. Each one, at each point on the run kept us going and cheered us on. Becca also said that one of them was quite the comedian shouting at her “only 5 laps to go” and then “you’ve still got another lap” when she was coming up to the finishing straight.
So whilst I was waiting for Becca to finish, I spoke to the organisers and time keepers. They were lovely to talk to and I may have been provided with a little inside knowledge about a couple more parkruns being introduced into the north east. I couldn’t get any names/places from him (strictly confidential) but this does mean that we’ve got our work cut out for us to fit them all in this year!
Overall experience: 2/5
I think with the stress of finding this parkrun, the hilly/3-lap course, and the small number of runners, we wouldn’t rate this parkrun at the minute. But, we don’t think that’s through any fault of the organisers though. It’s still a new-ish parkrun and they are ironing out a few minor issues with it. They were a really friendly bunch of people which definitely helped with the difficulty of the course.
As much as I liked being 2nd female and 7th overall, I feel like I’m cheating myself a little as I know my time probably wouldn’t get me in the top 20 females at some of the bigger parkruns like Riverside and Town Moor. Perhaps when this parkrun becomes a little more popular and widely known, it may be a bit more of an enjoyable one.
On a side note: I was also informed that there were free or discounted drinks and sandwiches at the community centre for the finishers. But from what we saw, not many (or any!) people took advantage of this.
Ultimate question, would we do this parkrun again?? Unfortunately, not any time soon. But never say never!
Onwards and upwards though, Becca and I have the London Vitality Big Half next weekend (another weekend of no parkrun!) so we will be spending the next week tapering down, carbing up and generally just wrapping ourselves in bubble wrap! Wish us luck!
Rosie's north east parkrun challenge 