In search of the smaller parkruns

Since it dawned on me this last week that there was a chance the smaller parkruns might disappear if not attended (by both runners and volunteers), I've been wondering which others in my area might warrant a visit sooner rather than later. Earlier today, I stumbled on this really handy page that, in among a truckload of other stats, had pretty much what I needed: a list of the parkruns with lowest attendance. Actually, what I really wanted was a table of parkruns in the NE of England and their average attendances, but the page I found will do.

Diving through it, I've now seen that a couple of my other local-ish runs have just as low attendance as Windy Nook, those being:
  • Blackhill in Consett, County Durham
  • Cotsford Field in Peterlee, County Durham (pictured below)

To date, I've run neither of these courses, so they'd also be a handy way to help me meet my target of 5 new locations in 2023. Cotsford Field looks nice for the seaside/clifftop location, a bit like South Shields. And Blackhill would give me the excuse to visit my brother, who lives in Consett (though I've heard the course is another hilly one).

Anyway, I like the idea of having a reason to head to new events — beyond just boredom with existing ones, that is. So let's see how long it takes me to visit these. 🙂

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