Parkrun #12: Prudhoe Riverside

Note to self: add "go to the toilet" to my pre-parkrun checklist. Aaaand, let's move swiftly on. 😬

Today was my 12th parkrun overall and my 10th different location. I might never (read: will never) catch your run total, John Williams, but I'm gunning for your total of 12 locations. 😉

Anyway, today was Prudhoe Riverside, chosen for the fact it was hosting event #233 in its history, giving me another tick in the Fibonacci achievement on the 5K parkrun app. Still a bit gutted I missed out on another Fibonacci number a month or so back (Carlisle Park in Morpeth?) but so it goes. At least I made it to this one and it was another venue new to me, within reach on a Saturday morning.

I've been to Prudhoe Riverside park before, but not ventured more than a few hundred yards into it. It is, as the name suggests, a strip of greenery alongside the River Tyne, just below the town of Prudhoe. The course takes in two loops around what I think are old spoil heaps that have since been rewilded ("The Spetchels"). On the day, it felt slightly different in extent to what it shows on the map. The first downstream leg was actually quite pleasant the first time around, run on tarmac and giving the occasional view of a pretty swollen Tyne. I was taking it intentionally slowly today, as I've had pain building in my left foot from my previous two runs and it wasn't subsiding much. This was the first time I've decided to forget about my time and actually stuck to that choice.

After about a kilometre, we left the tarmac behind and ran onto a path of compacted mud and tree roots. The uneven surface was second only to the stony tracks on the Town Moor for generating sudden shooting pains, so I slowed further as I concentrated on looking for hidden roots under the autumn leaves. By the time I got back to the tarmac to start the second loop, I'd probably had 5 or 6 moments involving sudden hops and groans, but on the whole, it had been manageable, so I carried on.

The second loop passed in much the same manner, though I barely noticed the pleasant river views this time. And the views of the industrial estate on the return leg were nothing to attract my gaze either — very much like the path by the railway line back home and I'm no fan of that.

Completing the second loop, a sign directed me upriver toward the finish. I was expecting maybe another half a kilometre or even half a mile, but it turned out it was no more than about 100m to the finish funnel. Back on tarmac, I put on a little burst of speed to humour my pride, but I had no idea what my time was until the text message came later that morning. Much to my surprise, I'd managed a 27:12. I was expecting more like 30 minutes, so that was pretty pleasing, especially given the 'relaxed' nature of the run. Maybe I should be doing relaxed runs like this in the middle of the week and saving my efforts for the weekend parkrun? I might even be able to get an official sub-26 minute PB if I do that. 🤔

Plan for next time: South Shields.

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