I went to parkrun this weekend – my third of this year. I’m trying to make exercise a regular part of my life again as I continue working to improve my health; and because I’ve genuinely missed it. I’ve been going back to Bounce classes for a few months now, and in the last few weeks have even been back on my boots instead of trainers. I’ve just started going to weekly weight training classes with a friend at the local gym, but running seems the slowest to follow. The very bleak January and February of cold, dark, rain and wind are probably significant contributing factors! There’s not been many of those crisp and cold winter days I used to love being out in.
At the start of the year, I printed a map of the parkruns available in the North-East with the idea of giving myself a bit of variety and tracking which ones I ticked off in 2026. I enjoy Chopwell Woods, and last year was going to Denton Dene to ‘work up to’ going to Chopwell again (honestly, I don’t know why – I don’t think it’s any easier), but this weekend decided as the newest North-East parkrun at Ushaw Historic House was closed, I would bite the bullet and tick off Blackhill.
Looking at my parkrun results after the event, it was 2019 when I last attended Blackhill parkrun – despite it being my most-attended venue overall, and as I shuffled my way around it was clear to me why. The route has changed slightly since I last showed my face here, now starting with a nice downhill to the bandstand before heading up on a more gradual but longer uphill to the ‘theatre’ section of the park, but those three longer loops are just as they always were. Each, in isolation, not too bad – plenty of flat sections between the uphills and a long down at the end of each one. However, three is too many. I used to say I only went to Blackhill because I always forgot it was three laps instead of two and that still rings true. While it was good to pass so many familiar faces so many times, by the end of the second lap I was patting the Wishing Stone before the long downhill asking for ‘survival’ before turning to the final one.
This is the first event of any type I’ve been to in a very long time where there’s been someone taking photos of the runners – and while there’s definitely no flying feet and I’m still not as fit as I’d like to be, I deliberately hunted the pictures down to have a marker of where I’m coming from at the start of 2026. My once mile-eating pace is still hiding in there, albeit with substantially less stamina than it once had (a metre-eating pace perhaps?), and despite being very much done by the time I crossed the finish line and scanned my tokens, it was good to be out again.
I’ve been leaving my watch behind for exercise sessions for quite a while now, preferring to go purely on how I feel and how I’m breathing and to be able to enjoy a session for itself without that glance at the screen at the end undermining the mental pace feeling. As such, any parkrun results come in later by text message when I’ve had a chance for a wash and a cool-down. I’ve been creeping my way down below the 45min mark, and been hoping over the next few months to see something starting with a 3X. I did not attend Blackhill with any aims other than ‘get around’, so it was a pleasant surprise when the text message landed to find that not only did I get around in 41m48s – faster than I’d thought by at least 5 minutes – I actually beat my time at Chopwell a few weeks earlier by 2 minutes and I’d argue Blackhill is the tougher course. That may only be in my mind. That thirty-something may be in reach sooner than I’d thought if I keep showing up for myself, especially if I stop always choosing hilly courses…
I even have a few running events booked for 2026 so determined am I to find my running gait again, the first being the Cockfield Chase fell race in April, and I’m daring to hope if I keep plodding on regularly I’ll not only be fit enough to attend but also be able to enjoy it without turning into a jelly blob at the finish. I’m not pushing the distances, but I do want to get back on the trails and be able to share my race experiences here again; which needs me to be out and completing them!
The weather is improving, the days are longer at both ends of the clock, and it’s getting easier to get out for walks or runs as well as rolling out the door for classes.
See you out there!
Sarah
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Blue Runnings 