Author: Pete King

Introducing your Sedgefield Spring Marathon Superstars…

 

This was our twin town’s first staging of the event since the pandemic and my first visit too since 2019 (my third in total). It really was lovely to be back.

It was Sam Rudd’s first visit and we made it into something of a boys’ road trip. It could be summarised as a few days of hearty eating and drinking actually, with a run thrown in for distraction. We took the Hull-Rotterdam ferry and appreciated two very calm crossings. On the way out, Sam’s alarm buzzed at 5.15am. He was on the bunk above and I was already awake, fortunately.

“Was that your normal work alarm going off?” I asked him later.

“That wasn’t my alarm. It was my irregular heart beat alert on my Garmin.”

“You have an irregular heart beat?!”

“No. I’d just taken my watch off and rolled onto it in my sleep. It was probably the vibration of the ship. Or my kidneys.”

Hamminkeln is just over the Dutch border so easily reachable in about 2-3 hours from Rotterdam or Amsterdam. We arrived the day before the race and so went to look around the nearby historic town of Xanten first. We then had a walk along the Rhine and watched the industrial barges go by. The Rhine is a proper river, dwarfing anything we have in this country. Our accommodation was a self catering holiday let attached to a farm on the outskirts of Hamminkeln (with electric car charging…) and the hosts explained that tomorrow’s 10k started only 500m from the farm. I knew this not to be true as it was at least a mile walk into town and to the event area, but politely nodded.

The weather had been very muggy so far and we awoke on Friday to heavy rain. Very English, but much warmer. We had a soggy walk into town, stopped for selfies at Sedgefield Strasse and then went to the Town Hall. I was slightly disconcerted by the lack of activity. Normally on the day before the race it’s a very busy area, with lots of people helping with the event setup. Today there was no-one around at all. Even the Town Hall was spookily quiet. A local chap asked us what time it opened, the town hall, and we explained who we were (he spoke good English) and so although we couldn’t help him, we had a lovely chat about the race and about Sedgefield. The rain wouldn’t stop and so we took shelter in a café.

It was whilst in there and a bit of online research that we discovered that this year’s event, as well as being on a different day (Friday evening, not Sunday morning, it’s okay we knew this part) also had a new route and a different start/finish area. Right! So as the rain eased we headed out to the town’s (very impressive) sportplatz where it was all going off, some 500m from our accommodation. Few people were around this early still but we introduced ourselves to Jörg the new race director and then went back to our digs for some pasta.

Staying just 500m from the start was great. We wandered over just before the first races began and met up with Phil and Alda. The Hamminkeln event always punches above its weight with a number of different races in junior categories first, followed by the 5k then the 10k. They set up a timing gantry and PA system and have a range of other family activities also going on. We met up with my old host Rolf, who was doing the 5k with Alda and Phil as well as Hermann, who was previously the RD for the event. These names won’t be familiar to everyone but their faces may be. Hermann and a large group are making the return journey for the Serpentine next month. In 2019 we all ended up in Coxhoe Club on the Sunday afternoon after a walk around Durham. In there the guys started to play darts and this is something they’ve continued back home, forming their own team such that Alda was recently tasked to recce a pub in Consett and the Navy Club in Darlington for two fixtures for them. Cultural legacy, what?

A reminder that we were there for the running. Alda and Phil gave their excuses (Alda something about not running since whenever and Phil about still feeling the effects of a spiked bottle at Hardwick Live). They weren’t going to run it all they said, but their finish time and the extended view we had of them for the last kilometre clearly disproved that. They both did very well and were obviously chuffed with it. Rolf also ran a good time.

Then onto our turn and the 10k. Sam always talks his chances down and in similar fashion I explained I’m in lousy form generally at the minute and have struggled with a dickie stomach for several weeks too. I did strangely feel the pressure of representing the club though and despite the downplay, I did want to run well. We started near the back and Sam kept just behind me at the start. The normal route for the event is four urban laps of the town, but in this new-style evening race, it was two 5km laps out in the countryside to the west. The rain had long stopped, it was very warm and we got into our running. We saw a number of people out marshalling and clapping who recognised the Sedgefield vest (or occasionally me) and gave lots of lovely support and encouragement. If they didn’t immediately recognise the vest, I generally helped them by pointing it out, which meant they were ready on the second lap. Hamminkeln 2018 remains my 10k PB and whilst I was nowhere near that form, I was quite pleased with how I was moving. Sam didn’t come past in the first kilometre or so and I began to realise this would be like a number of training runs we’ve done together. He’s very modest but is a great sprinter and at a number of sessions, he’ll come bounding effortlessly past on the final rep or so, often with a dry comment. So we got onto the second lap and still he hadn’t overtaken. It kept me right.

The route was flat but not uninteresting. Think Sedgefield East Park, with connecting narrow country lanes. It actually took us right past our accommodation too and the whole host family and their neighbours took the time to come out and cheer us, which was lovely. The second lap was really quite tough but I settled in with several other guys and ground it out. I’m not in race shape at all but the terrain and the knowledge that 10k doesn’t last forever were enough. There were also enough right angle turns for me to realise that Sam wasn’t in view and therefore wouldn’t come bounding and mickey taking past in the final stages. I finished exhausted in an okay 51 minutes. Sam had struggled a little, he said, and came in a couple of minutes behind, pleased in the circumstances.

Hamminkeln isn’t just about the running though. It’s about the guy who saw our running vests afterwards and brought his daughter over to show her, keenly explaining they lived on Sedegfield Strasse and wanted to make the link. Was there a Hamminkeln Street in Sedgefield, he wanted to know and we showed him the Google Street images of Hamminkeln Place. They thought that was cool. It was about the feller who’d talked to us earlier in the day outside the Town Hall and then decided to come along to support at the race and chat to us again. It was about getting to know Jörg the new Race Director and congratulating him on a super job. It was about going for a late meal afterwards with Rolf, Hermann and their partners, once it had all quietened down and the chance to catch up properly. I was really pleased to have made the effort to go out there again.

On the drive back the next day, Sam and I spent an enjoyable afternoon in Rotterdam, going up the Euromast amongst other sights and then a North Sea crossing home, during which all of his organs behaved normally.

For obvious logistical and financial reasons, a Hamminkeln visit can’t be for everyone, I realise that, but considering I don’t even live in Sedgefield, I really do recommend it. It’s good to have a reason for maintaining the twinning and Harriers are always made to feel extremely welcome.

There has been a number of sparkling performances by Harriers recently, both individually and teams. This rundown isn’t about another so please feel free to click on something more interesting or inspirational if you prefer.

My good friends Gary and Steph persuaded me to participate in my home town 10k for the first time last year and after enjoying it, we all did so again this time around. Gary and I have history; we were at Derby College together and then Hull Uni (where he exchanged roommates for the much lovelier Steph) and nowadays they are both Tadcaster Harriers and quick. This year I asked Mark if he fancied it too, to which he said yes and we had a good trip to the Midlands. We stayed over at my Mum’s and went out for a very nice pub meal on Saturday evening with her, my Uncle Malc and another good mate Roo and his family. Sunday morning began with a 6.30am alarm, 5.30am if the clocks hadn’t gone forward. It was a damp, cold morning but my mum said she’d come along too. She is 83, I am 53, it’s still nice when your mum comes along to watch you on a Sunday morning.

The race starts and finishes at Derby County’s Pride Park Stadium and all proceeds go to the club’s charitable trust. This trust includes providing a luncheon club at my mum’s church so I know they do good work. Derby County as a football club is struggling in the third division at the minute but it’s just a temporary thing. It is still the centre of the footballing universe and not just my universe because Roo once told me that it is the club most geographically central to all other clubs in the country and Roo knows some stuff so I believe him.

I’ll get to the race in a minute, honest. Pride Park is not just the stadium name but for the whole former area of railway industry and sidings, reclaimed in the 1990s. It was also on the national shortlist of four venues for the Year 2000 millennium park. I had moved to the north east by then and so despite the local excitement, recognised that it never quite had the cache of the Greenwich Meridian for ushering in a new age. We got a nice football stadium out of it though.

My running over the last few months has been garbage. Full of  self pity, I’ve had a ‘thing’ down my left side for a couple of years and recently it has been very sore in a sciatic kind of way. I made it to last week’s Thursday session for the first time in ages and in Ean’s 2 x timed 1 miles, I managed an average of 8:13. Painful and rubbish. Mark also had flu in the week so between us we were rattling with ibuprofen and paracetamol on the start line (don’t try it kids, drugs are never cool) with no expectation of running well at all. We didn’t see Gary and Steph but knew they were there somewhere, and then spied them after about a mile on an early switchback. They were about 50 seconds ahead.

The rain stopped and though windy it was really quite pleasant for racing. Mark and I began deliberately steadily but at 2k I realised he was getting restless and off he went. The course took us away from the stadium and into the city centre. Mark never really pulled away that far and at 4k I noticed I was catching him again. On the way down St Peter’s Street I closed right up and at the junction of St James’ Street I caught him with some trivia about my dad. My Dad – who passed away on Easter Sunday 2017, a week before my maiden marathon in London – was Derby born and bred, Derby County daft and for most of his career was Derby’s tallest policeman at 6’8”. I don’t remember it, but as a younger bobby, he used to do traffic duty at the corner of St James’ Street. He was very visible apparently. Mark, it turns out, wasn’t in any frame of mind to receive this trivia and so I eased on realising I was feeling quite a lot stronger than anticipated.

The only problem with overtaking your best running mate at the half way point is that you then have to stay ahead of him. We swung past the cathedral to a drinks station and a PA shout-out point. I heard a “Well done Sedgefield Harriers!” on the tannoy, immediately followed by “And well done to another Sedgefield Harrier!” so I knew he was still there. The route back to the stadium followed a coned off section of Brian Clough Way (the A52 dual carriageway between Derby and Nottingham, the two clubs once managed by the great man, though he had sense and always lived at western end…) and I felt I had put some distance between myself and Mark. You can’t look around too often though, that’s not cool. I began to think about Gary and Steph too. I knew Steph was after a PB and wondered now if I might catch them. A couple of guys ran with me for about a mile, one pacing the other to his first 10k. The pacer was from Manchester, they told me, though his younger novice was local. I told them I was once local but now living in exile in the north east. Was it a job that took me north, asked the pacer? No it was a woman, I explained, and later this week we celebrate 27 wedded bliss years so it’s all worked out alright. I’ve no idea what happened to those guys, but I was grateful to the distraction.

Last year the second half of the event was really tough. This year, amazingly, given all my recent hypochondria, it was actually quite pleasurable and also my favourite part. Negative splits too. What’s that all about? My Mum gave me a shout-out in the final straight and I finished in a very ordinary but pleasing-in-the-circumstances 51:24. Only a few seconds slower than last year. Gary and Steph had also just run through the line with an excellent PB for Steph, and so with Mark finishing less than a minute behind, we were able to do the final celebrity walk-up together.

A shower and a bacon sandwich at my Mum’s, followed by a nice drive home, if a little sore once the ibuprofen wore off. Mark was definitely a bit under the weather but I think he enjoyed his first visit to the home/centre of English football. Me, I’m back again next weekend with Grace for the Ipswich game. I had a good time.

I’ve never taken part in the Signals Relays before, although I know Sedgefield has quite a stong history with it. Last year, until it was postponed, there was a suggestion we might put some teams out including an over 50s veteran outfit. So it was on my radar this year (having joined that age category in the meantime) until I realised a few weeks ago that it clashed with a trip to see family in Derby. Shame, I thought when Chris Lines was recruiting, another time maybe.

Then earlier in the week leading up my trip to Derby was put off. So when Chris posted the day before that there were two spaces in the team, I became quite interested. I am not, however, in the same running league as Chris, Gary, Paul and Declan (the other team members) so I messaged him to say I’d be happy to make up the numbers to ensure we got a team out, but not offended if any of the faster lads wanted to run. Only Eric showed any interest (called himself slow on the facebook post, but quicker than me) so by teatime Chris confirmed I was in.

The race began at 1.15 so I went to marshal at parkrun beforehand (top of the hill if you remember the abuse/encouragement). This wasn’t a wholly altruistic gesture. My wife Deb had announced the day before that we were to be painting the lounge and dining room.

“Oh Deb, I’d love to help, but Ian needs me at parkrun and then the team needs me in the afternoon for the Signals Relay.”

At parkrun, I did notice that a few ‘unavailable’ fast lads were jauntily stretching their legs for two laps. Paul Weir also did parkrun and warmed up for the afternoon’s race with a gentle 20 minutes around Hardwick. Afterwards in the café I received great advice from two Signals veterans, Ray and Jane, both of whom thought it quite funny I was going to spend my afternoon with Storm Dennis running around those tough laps. The hill on each lap was made to sound like the north face of the Eiger by the end. The other runners (“it is the cream of the north east Pete”) were all unbelievably fast. I was so excited…

Deb was in full decorating mode when I called home briefly to change before going back out to pick up Eric. Eric was dressed much more for stormy weather and let me know it when he got in the car.

But then the first positive portent of the day. We parked up in Hetton-le-Hole and I managed, without any fuss, to get an electric charge for my car. I love finding a place to get a charge and I knew now that everything would be alright. I told Eric this on the short walk to the country park, on reclaimed colliery land, and the rendezvous with fellow Harriers.

Changing and toilet facilities were super, and although we’d had some serious rain earlier, we began to talk in hushed tones that maybe the conditions weren’t so bad. Very windy certainly, but not as wet as forecast. I’d agreed 4^th leg in the team, running straight after Declan. Declan arrived about fifteen minutes before the start; result. The final runners of the earlier race (Women and Vet 50 men) were finishing as we began to assemble.

With the two replacements, we were now a Vet 40 team and Eric led us off. He was followed by Gary and then Declan. I went to warm up on a side road with lots of fast lads. They were all wearing those canoe-shaped Nike shoes that make you bounce along like Buzz Aldrin on the moon. I did lots of fast-lad type side steps and stuff before heading down to the starting pen.

Then I was off. Each leg is two laps around the park lake, 2.2 miles in total. I went off quite quickly but conscious of the wind and the impending Eiger, tried not blow up too quickly. Within the first few hundred metres several fast lads went past me but I wasn’t too bothered. The last of these was a guy in a Red Kite Runners top but once we were over the first hill (which really wasn’t as bad as predicted, quite hard work but not impossible) I realised that he wasn’t really stretching away.

Towards the end of the first lap (and another bit of an uphill drag) I passed Karen Harland taking photos, and then our Chris doing the same. I managed a finger for them both I think. Chris also gave me some motivational news that West Brom were winning. No-one else in the park would have known the significance of this, but in our private Derby County-Nottingham Forest-local-football-rivalry world I knew this meant his beloved Forest was losing. Big of him, and it spurred me on.

On the second lap several more fast lads came past me, but I continued to reel in one or two of my own, such that Red Kite man was almost caught on the Eiger. It’s great to have a marker when you’re racing but unfortunately he heard me and paced away on the downhill. Another wave (well tongue) to Karen on the final hill and I thought, I’m catching him again. We had about three hundred metres left. For a few strides I thought about just sitting on his shoulder but I felt good enough to give it a go. There were about ten metres between us by the time we finished, I was well chuffed. I heard Chris shout something like ‘well done Pete’, and he was off. I breathlessly thanked Red Kite man for the pacing and went off to find the others. Chris caught a few up before handing over to last man Paul who managed the same. Fast lads both.

I have to say I really enjoyed it. My own performance wouldn’t have made the official race report but I ran well for me and was very pleased. Yes there were some seriously fast lads but it felt no different to cross country in that respect. The whole event was very much like the atmosphere of cross country actually, competitive, inclusive, but without the filth. I am a lousy cross country exponent; the roads around Hetton Park suited me much more. And 2.2 miles at full tilt is tiring, but it’s not even a parkrun. It was over quite quickly.

Running as a team is a great experience, very bonding and it was a nice final act to call Karen over for an ‘official’ team photo. I really hope that Harriers enters a team or two again next year, I recommend it very strongly. Maybe a female and an over 50s too.

Incidentally Forest managed a late draw and later in the afternoon Derby finished even in their game too. All fair in running and football. I got home on a full electric charge and Deb stuck a roller in my hand soon after. She happily listened to my running stories as we painted together until late into the evening…

 

Results: a respectable 37th out of 66 in the race, and 5th out of 10 in the V40 category.

https://necaa.weebly.com/uploads/6/4/8/5/64850927/2020_signals_relays_senior_men___v40_men_results.pdf 

 

This was my third Parkrunathon, having done one each in 2016 and 2017. They don’t get any easier. Previously they have been in support of Acorn Children’s Hospices and organised by George Nicholson. George is well known around the Durham sporting scene as a runner and former rugby player and rower. A really great guy, he is also one of the ever-presents in the Great North Run. I sat one place behind him on this year’s bus.

This year, Elvet’s Catherine Smith took on the organising role and we decided to support local mental health and suicide prevention charity If U Care Share. Catherine will be familiar to many Sedgefield runners. She lives in Coxhoe and regularly runs or volunteers at Sedgefield parkrun. She did a great job.

With mainly Elvet runners, the numbers grew in recent weeks and a coachload became an additional minibus became a fleet of cars. Via social media a group travelled up from Wakefield and at its fullest we had about 100 runners. Catherine gave me a few ‘picks’ and along came Ray as well as a Darlington (Quakers) friend Alistair plus a late call-up for Durham Harriers’ Diane Wood. Alistair bust his calf a few weeks ago so decided to do his bit by cycling the whole route instead. Diane photo-bombed our Sedgefield group at Wynyard last week; that’ll teach you!

 

Sedgefield junior parkrun

PK: 11.37              Ray: 11.16

A nice gentle jog around Hardwick lake started us off at 8.15. A marathon is 42km, so it needs this little extra to make the full distance. Steve Foreman (parkrun gaffer) was setting up around us, looking quite chilled as we all posed for initial photos.

 

#1 Sedgefield parkrun

PK: 26.49              Ray: 26.43

What a spectacle. Runners streamed all around the lake like never seen before. 485 in total, a record by 101 I believe. Ray and I jogged around together, Steve still looking quite chilled at the end too.

A nice touch for me was that both my kids, Oliver and Grace, were on barcode scanning and managing quite well.

We posed for a few more photos afterwards and then got away on the bus. Nice to have the officially timed one of the day on home turf and I even managed a take-out coffee for us both before we left.

 

#2 Hartlepool parkrun

PK: 28.33              Ray: 25.40

The weather was still very nice at this point. I’ve never done Hartlepool before but know the seafront route well enough as it covers much of the same stretch as the Marina 5 Mile. I nipped into the public loos on the front, hence a slower time. Wee stops were to become a recurring theme…

 

#3 Cotsford Fields parkrun

PK: 27.23              Ray:23.31

We didn’t have time to get a coffee from the accompanying van before we left Hartlepool, so Ray’s plan was to run this one quicker to be at the front of the queue at the end. It worked. I ran much of this one with Paul ‘Lord Smyth’ Smith. Many will know him for his running a mile a day (at least), for a decade or more and his eccentric outfits. I think he changed into red budgie-smuggler santa shorts for this one.

Cotsford Fields is on National Trust coastal land near Horden and passes the metal sea bird sculpture on each of its two laps; beautiful on a day like we had, perhaps less so in the depths of winter. Coffee was enjoyed post run, as was some chocolate cake and away we went.

 

#4 Sunderland parkrun

PK: 26.45              Ray: 26.39

Alistair, by now known to everyone as ‘Bike Man’ got a bit lost on his way to this one. ‘We’re at the bottom of the ski slope’ I text. ‘B********’ he replied, ‘wrong place’, but still got there on time to see us off.

I’ve run this course on both previous Parkrunathons; it starts and finishes at the top near the ski slope and takes in two laps of the lake at Silksworth. Rain had appeared from nowhere and Ray and I had a wet run together. We had a nice chat with the Rodillian Runners of Wakefield. I needed the loo too!

 

#5 South Shields parkrun

PK: 31.05              Ray: 24.09

Ray and I also did this parkrun back in February as part of a recce morning for the Marathon Club’s Leazes event. It starts by the Sandancer pub and runs south along the coast path, almost as far as Marsden before turning back and following the road (Great North Run finish) for about a mile. Colin Robson is their run director, and just as in 2016, he joined us for the day. Before today Colin had only ever run Sedgefield parkrun once and that was GNR day in 2016 when their course was taken over. As a result of a chat that day I got a last minute place in the GNR; I digress but it shows the kinds of quirky occurrences that come as a result of running together.

I also had to digress on the route at #5. I needed another wee badly from the start and so went down on the rocks. By the time I emerged I was well adrift of all the runners.

I gradually caught up a few by the end. South Shields was also the first time I began to feel really quite stiff at the start. The Sunderland run had been quite pacey (well, for me) and the hill at the end had taken something out of my legs. By the end of #5 I knew I was certainly feeling it.

 

#6 Windy Nook parkrun

PK: 29.00              Ray: 25.34

This is a semi-urban nature reserve in Gateshead, in the shadow of the Wrekenton cross country course. Experience told me that #6 is always the toughest, made especially so by this very hilly three lap route. The rain had stopped though and there was a full team of Windy Nook volunteers to guide us. This happened a number times throughout the day and was really welcoming and welcomed.

Keeping well hydrated I needed another wee before the start. By now Ray was inventing his own timing rules; either each one faster than the previous or under 27 minutes. Off you go mate. The route was hilly and twisty and 29 minutes doesn’t tell of how much effort I put in on this one. There was a series of steps on each lap and that was punishing.

Another member of our running group was Oliver’s A Level history and politics teacher, Mr Brown. I couldn’t quite manage to call him Alex. He’s a super fella and Oliver idolises him but ‘Mr B’ was as informal as I could muster. He tailed me all the way around this course and believing that he was going to pass me at any moment, I even managed to run the steps on lap 3. I finished ahead, job done Mr K.

Another wee stop in the nearby community centre, where they also provided us with very nice refreshments, and we were off. Just two to go.

 

#7 Riverside parkrun, Chester le Street

PK: 29.05              Ray: 23.28

This is normally a fast, flat course, but serious stiffness and another public toilet stop put paid to any kind of performance from me. Meanwhile Ray the machine was smashing it up somewhere near the front. I never got near enough to the front runners, but I think there was some competitiveness up there. Support from volunteers was lovely, including a nice shout out from our Aileen Henderson.

 

#8 Durham parkrun

PK: 26.00              Ray: 22.49

The home parkrun for many of our number, there was a great turnout as well as speeches before and after. Bike Man Alistair received warm applause before we started. His day had been a different challenge. Unlike for us on a sweaty coach and running together, his time was quite solitary; a great effort.

The Durham folks had also set it up as a ‘proper’ event with bar code scanning and everything. Just as well then that Ray and I got a sneaky wee in the cricket pavilion as we walked to the start.

Because of where I was standing for the briefing I was near the front for once when we started. I felt myself spring off with not too much stiffness and so I decided to run hard for the last one. Okay, so Ray and the quick guys soon came past but I was pleased to finish with a proper run. It felt quicker than 26 minutes but that’s what fatigue does to you I guess. The ‘new’ course at Durham which finishes along the river and back to the bandstand is lovely, but try as I might I couldn’t quite catch Paul Smith in his leopard skin shorts. The man is crackers, he drank a bottle of Peroni after each leg, but he can run.

We had a few more photos (Maggie Davison is a great photographer, and trailed us all day) and I led a few words to thank Catherine and Co. Diane even admitted after, that despite her protestations, she had really enjoyed it. I knew she would.

Parkrunathon is a great communal event and it was good to support a worthy cause. It is tiring and you do have to pace yourself a bit, but for me a normal marathon is tougher. We all hugged, shook hands and promised to do it all again soon. I hope we do.

The last hug and word went to Kerry Anne, one of Catherine’s lieutenants and run director for Cotsford Fields.

“Pete I think you should get your prostate checked out mate. I’ve never known someone have so many wees.”

 

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/iucsparkrunathonposse2019

This was part of the ‘Winter Wonder’ series organised by North East Marathon Club. I’ve been a member of NEMC for two years and enjoy their local, low key events. The Winter Wonders have generally been a Newcastle Town Moor fixture but this year have started to branch out to such places as Herrington and, next month, Hardwick Park. You don’t have to be a marathon runner to be a member of NEMC and the Winter Wonders are designed accordingly for runners of all distances. They tend to be multi-lap events, for participants to run as far as they wish within a six hour window. There are no finishing placings as such and sometimes runners’ own times are used as their ‘official’ time. I also like them because you get to run past the refreshment table for snacks and drinks every few miles, avoiding the need to carry your own kit.

Fellow Harriers Justin Cox and Ben Smale also took part. Justin needs no introduction. Ben is an unassuming guy from Coxhoe and a good runner (first Harrier at the Coxhoe Trail 10k the other month) and we shared a lift. Coxhoe, by the way, is a hotbed of running talent, just ask Mil Walton. Following Storm Deirdre and her freezing rain the previous day, this was a chilly but rather pleasant sunny morning for running. I chose road shoes based on the tarmac path at the start, but soon questioned that once we danced through some downhill icy slush. Despite having to stop twice to empty stones out of said shoes, it was a decent decision. Herrington Park, a colliery until 1985 with the largest spoil heap in the North East, is in the shadow of Penshaw Monument and the course was a 5km loop on good paths. There were several inclines but they served more to break up the run rather than tire out and it was an enjoyable event in good surroundings. I’m not training for anything in particular so was happy to call it a day after five laps and sixteen miles. Further ahead Ben had decided the same. He’s recently completed five marathons in five days at an event near Bolton so felt he didn’t to push himself too much. Justin lapped me on lap four, well ahead of anyone else. I happen to also know the guy in second place, Elvet’s Gareth Pritchard from Coxhoe (hotbed, I did say).

75 runners completed the event, each deciding their own distance, with 25 doing a full marathon or more. All entry monies were for charity too, raising an impressive £1,500 for Special Olympics Sunderland. For the record, I completed my five laps (16.2 miles) in 2hrs 27:40, and Ben in 2 hrs 17. I stiffened up on the last lap but was pleased overall. Justin ran 8 laps+, the full marathon distance in 3hrs 1:33; a great effort for a training run, eight minutes quicker than anyone else.

A bonus was that Herrington Park has an electric car charging station, which got me all the way home too. Result!

Full results from a very well organised event can be found at: http://www.northeastmarathonclub.co.uk/winter-wonder-runs.php

by Pete King

Coxhoe Trail 10k, 23rd September 2018. A coolish but pleasant morning for racing. This run was re-established in 2014, with the original Coxhoe 10k on a different route dating back to the 1980s. The modern version was put together by local runner Iain Twaddle and our own Ean Parsons and attracts a decent number of Harriers. The course is a good one, an out and back along the old Kelloe railway line, with a loop around the plantation (‘pit heaps’) at the far end. This doesn’t really hint at the two or three taxing hills on the route, the last one a particular energy sapper, especially with another half mile still to go once back at the top before the finish. The finish area is where Coxhoe Hall used to stand (once the home of the Victorian poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning) and offers a good vantage of those struggling up the final hill. Well, I always struggle anyway.

Registration is down at Coxhoe Leisure Centre, followed by a fifteen minute walk up to the start/finish area in the woods. This year I got chatting to folks at the finish area for too long and only just got to the start in time. It meant I was right at the front and after just the briefest of intros we were away. I’ve never started a race so quickly. I dare not do anything other to avoid tripping other front runners and only eased off once we were halfway down the first hill. Turns out it was a successful tactic as normally I’m tripping over folks on this bit myself. I kept a decent pace throughout, for me, and beat my best time in five attempts at the course by a minute and a half. The organisers moved the date back three weeks this year, to avoid Tees Pride 10k, and I think the cooler morning helped too. Either way, I was pleased with my performance.

A record 200 runners completed the event this year. First Harrier was Ben Smale (a Coxhoe lad) and first female overall was Lisa Darby, a brilliant effort. A special mention also to 15 year old Daniel Avery-McAleese who finished 33^rd overall in 44 minutes. Fifteen Harriers in total took part. It’s a great local event and even more next year would be super.

Full results can be found at: http://www.activelifecoxhoe.co.uk/downloads/Coxhoe%20Trail%2010k%20Results.pdf

by Pete King