Race Review | Blue Runnings

North Tyneside Road Race – 10km – A Taste of Summer

by Sarah J.

What a gloriously sunny day for a run! A positively tropical 12ºC and clear blue skies for Easter Sunday. It makes a massive contrast to the horrible snow and hail we were running in only last Tuesday – I can’t believe it was less than a week ago! I made it to the leisure centre at North Shields early enough to nab an on-site parking space and then loitered around there – without a jacket on, or tied around my waist in my usual ridiculous ways! I’d not even taken one with me, my hoody was in the car but that wasn’t even an option for running in. I had my buff on my head, but I’d been fine with that on muggy Saturday’s morning run. And the great thing? Even while standing around outside the sports centre for 40 minutes I wasn’t cold! Unheard of for the cold North on an April morning! I was running really lightly laden for me – only a tiny waist pouch with phone, dextrose tablets, keys and a small amount of cash – normally for a 10k I take the bigger bum-bag with the bottle pouch, but this time with there being a water station in the middle I didn’t bother with it – and of course made myself psychologically thirsty at the start line without it and had to visit the water fountain a few times!

The North Tyneside 10k is a road race from North Shields to St Mary’s Lighthouse and follows right along the coast, the views were fab, and with the exception of a bit of a pig of a hill by Tynemouth Priory, which I’ve only ever seen from further up the coast and never been to, the route was pretty much flat or downhill for the whole stretch. I still don’t think I can say I’ve been there – I know nothing about its history or anything, but as with Penshaw Monument, I have been ignorant from a much nearer distance! I’ve been to Whitley Bay before, but only to the Sea Life Centre or for a walk along the beach from about halfway between the aquarium and the lighthouse – and never in the direction of the lighthouse, so I’ve probably only covered maybe 2.5 miles of this stretch of coastline.

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No Ego Trail Challenge: Hamsterley Forest – 10km

by Sarah J.

Off on my running travels again today, this time to Hamsterley Forest in Durham with J as my trusty driver, chief waver and photographer! I’ve driven past signs for Hamsterley Forest before on the A68, but never actually pulled in to see what was there – expecting something similar to Kielder Water – several pretty walks and maybe a visitor centre and some other buildings scattered about. All of these were present, but it also appears to be biking central for those who want to launch themselves through the air on their mountain bikes to land in copious amounts of mud. Even on a rather damp day like today, it was pretty busy – it must be really buzzing in the summer!

I had mixed expectations of what this was going to be like after doing the No Ego Torch Challenge at Wallington Hall last month, I’d already figured that I’d probably be going a little off the beaten track and was likely to end up rather muddy, but as the same description was on both the Hamsterley and Otterburn trail run descriptions, I wondered how much of it actually applied to this particular route.

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Thirsk Ten

by Sarah J.

http://www.thirskandsowerbyharriers.co.uk/thirsk-10

Today was my first attempt at a 10 mile race – first time running the distance at all, and first time in an official event. It’s also the first time I’ve been to an event that was organised by a running club rather than a racing organisation, and I was very impressed – Thirsk and Sowerby Harriers did a fantastic job planning and running a long road race that felt welcoming to all levels.

As expected, after the initial mad passing of many people at the start (passing me, not me passing them!) where I learned very quickly how to jog along with my elbows in so I didn’t cause too many injuries, the runners spaced out. Also as expected, I was near the back almost from the get-go! I set my pace more on my breathing than my speed or having any particular time in mind and pottered along at a comfortable jog. The route was gorgeous: the sun was shining, the roads were clear – the long road for the first few miles had been closed off to cars so I bimbled right down the middle, mainly just because I could! I realised when doing the 10km at Kielder last year and after the first 2km wondering if I’d actually make it round, that I just enjoy having my own space to enjoy the settings of a race – not running in a pack where my pace gets upset by mismatching people around me, getting pulled along at a rate I’m not comfortable with or feeling demoralised when starting to lag behind. I also quite enjoy just watching other runners; spotting the neutrals and pronators, different length strides, different breathing techniques, different gear. There were two wheelchair racers that I saw, one runner with a wheelchair passenger, a blind runner with a guide, large runners, small runners, short runners, tall runners, the speed demons and the steady plodders, all in a multitude of colours – pinks, blues, yellows and greens. The great thing about being at the back is seeing the colourful trail highlighting the route in front of you, it’s like a train of peacocks out on display! I think pretty much every type of runner must have been represented today!

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Resolution Run – Sunderland – 4.75km

by Sarah J.

121213 - Resolution Run_Landing_Alternative

http://www.stroke.org.uk/resolution

I would first like to note that this blog post was written under duress. If this post was not written before J got back home from taking the dogs out for a walk after our run I was informed there would be dire consequences. Making me terribly threatened. She was unable to give me details on what these dire consequences would be. Making this a terrible threat. So I had a shower, did the washing and watched the birds in the garden before taking some photos and getting my screenshots sorted ready to waffle.

Running is taking me many new places at the moment, this time it was Herrington Country Park, right next to the Penshaw Monument, which I have seen in the distance from the A1 but never actually been to. I still can’t say I’ve been to it, and I still have no idea why it’s there, but I have at least been ignorant from a much closer distance. For some reason I deem this important.

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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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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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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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