north east race | Blue Runnings

Endurance Life – Coastal Trail Series – Northumberland – 11km

by Sarah J.

http://www.endurancelife.com

I did make it to the Endurance Life Coastal Trail Series race at Bamburgh Castle in the end. I’d woken up not having made any attack-the-cold progress from the day before, and decided that stuff it, I was going anyway and would just wrap up extra for the waiting before the race.

There were four races on at the same time, all finishing at Bamburgh Castle throughout the day with different starting locations. The race organisers had several coaches, which would pick up each race distance’s participants at a set time and take them to the start position. The ultra, marathon and half marathon runners all left before the 10k – and at the 10k start-line in Beadnell some of the half marathon runners were already coming past – the second half of their run being common with the full length of the 10k one. I did also see some ultra runners, but they had a full extra loop to do before they could plough up the hill to the finish line at the castle. I don’t know how I’d have felt seeing the castle coming into view and knowing I had to run straight past it to do another massive loop!

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Race Review

No Ego Torch Challenge – Wallington – 6.7km

by Sarah J.

Having done a torch race the night before at Gibside, I thought I knew what to expect from this one. I was wrong. I can see now why this series is called ‘No Ego’! J & I had booked in on this one as a push distance for her, and as an intermediary between the 4km J can now run comfortably and the 10k No Ego Trail in Otterburn we’re booked in for in April. There is a strong possibility that the Trail race, despite being further in distance, may actually be a step down in difficulty just because you should be able to actually see where you’re putting your feet! This one had the terrain I would expect from a muddy trail race, with the added complication of being done with the limited visibility offered by a headtorch…

The race started through the courtyard of Wallington hall and then we were off out over the grounds – slightly bumpy and soft-grounded grass which was more effort than roads to run on, but not per-say difficult, with only about 50m you were better off walking for some half-buried masonry. From here we moved onto a well-trodden woodland trail with a few minor tree roots and then onto a proper laid-down path along the river. So far so good! Next up were the woodland tracks – tree roots and tree-stumps a-plenty! Progress through here was patchy – depth perception is much harder with a torch in the dark, as the shadows are on the opposite side to you and we nearly ended up in an inelegant heap more than once!

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Race Review

National Trust Night Run – Gibside – 6km

by Sarah J.

I’ve done the Gibside Great Run Local 5k route a few times, and I knew this was not going to be a flat course at all, but with it being on the doorstep – I had to give it a go. This is probably the closest organised event to my front door I’ll ever find without moving house. My suspicions about the hills were correct. I did not find this an easy course. The downhills were greatly welcomed but I confess to walking the steep or long uphills, at least partially. Not anything like a personal best but I’m really pleased I went out there and did it. I was right at the back for the first half, but was able to gain some ground and overtake some people on the hills around the 4km with my pat-pending power-walk-up-hills-instead-of-even-attempting-to-run!

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Race Review