Parkrun #28: Carlisle Park, run 2

The River Wansbeck and Carlisle Park in Morpeth on a gloriously sunny morning

Whew, what a scorcher! Only 16°C as I crossed the finish line, but boy did that feel hot! 🥵

So, it was Morpeth for the 2nd time today. Last time I was here, I actually had COVID but didn't know it (I found out the next day) and on that run, I got a time of 26:54. Today, my time was 26:02. Venue PB! Before the previous two parkruns happened, that would even have been my overall parkrun PB. So that's all of my last 3 parkruns that have beaten my best time from 2022. I am on a roll. 💪

This board shows only part of the route, as the out-and-back heads off to the bottom-right

Anyway, enough blowing my own trumpet; back to the write-up. When I saw it was going to be good weather, I knew I'd get some decent photos for once, as the run in Morpeth is a lovely location. Another enticement to return here was simply that it's one of my favourite parkruns to date. It's a fairly small turn-out (60-70 runners), making it quite... I hesitate to use the word "friendly" as that seems to be said about every parkrun. Maybe "intimate" is better; it feels like there's a certain togetherness about it. All of this makes you appreciate the volunteers more than ever and I suspect I'll do it myself here sometime.

I turned up with nearly 10 minutes to spare, so spent a few of those refamiliarising myself with the hill on the loop section near the start. In essence, I wanted to mentally prepare myself for it. I remember from my first run here that the first time up it felt like a breeze, but by the third time, I was practically dying. Luckily, the hill looked shorter than I expected, though it was a bit steeper than I remembered. So... "expect moderate pain," I told myself.

Heading back down the hill to the start/finish area, the briefing had begun. Volunteers were clapped, various other things were said (that I totally ignored), and then we were ushered a few yards away to the start area. Once again, I fumbled to get my phone ready for timing and this time I nearly managed it. But not quite. Google Fit's 3-second countdown for starting a run didn't help either, so I knew my time at the end wouldn't be accurate, but whatever. 🤷‍♂️

Nice weather for ducks (and everyone else)

After 100 yards or so alongside the café and bowling greens, it was round the first corner and into the hill for the first time. Immediately, despite the low numbers, I got stuck behind someone, so dashed past on the grass. With the fairly narrow paths (just room for 2 people side-by-side), having your pace dictated by someone in front was quite common until nearer the end of the run. Even on the out-and-back section where it's a little wider, going for an overtake puts you into the oncoming traffic of those who are backing while you're outing (and vice versa). You often have to put on a burst to get past during a gap in the traffic, or just take entirely to the grass, which feels rude/daft when your pace differential is small.

Anyway, the first lap (hill, plus out-and-back) felt okay, I guess. In hindsight, that is; not so much at the time. I was puffing and panting a lot today, but at least in those first couple of kilometres, I was concentrating on finding the people I needed to measure myself against. A lady in a green top had been just as keen to get past people as I had been early on and I figured she might make a good pacemaker. In the end, she was too quick for me. Another lady in white (I think) ended up with me on her shoulder for an uncomfortably long time (partly due to the aforementioned difficulty of overtaking in two-way traffic), but finally I made it past her. And from there, it was a pair of guys who looked like they were in their late 50s. One stayed ahead and ultimately pulled away a few seconds while I switched places with the other a few times. In the end, he got me too, as he was better up the final hill.

By the time I'd reached the turning point of the out-and-back on the 2nd lap, I was really starting to feel affected by the heat. The sun was taking its toll, just as it did at Weetslade earlier this week, and I regretted leaving my drink in the car rather than by the finish line. But, noisily, I pushed on and despite having to invite one of my cohort to pass me up the final hill, I ended up giving it a not-quite-sprint finish. After more fumbling with my phone, I stopped the clock at 26:14, so while I didn't know my exact time, I already knew I'd beaten my previous time by some margin. That and the sun were reason enough for a celebratory Cornetto... right? 😋

Think this one had been sitting in the freezer a bit too long, but I didn't care

Actually, the Cornetto only came after I'd been sat by the car glugging water in the shade for a while and snapping a crazy number of photos. But it was still a good move, imho, and the presence of the Pavilion Café was just another good thing about this parkrun.

Reflecting on my time now, in the late evening, I'm really, really happy with it. It's decidedly not a flat course. And though it has long bits that are flat, you spend them trying to recover from the latest tri up the hill. So to get a time that was under what was my parkrun PB for over 6 months on a course like this is deeply satisfying. Now, to repeat the feat at other hilly parkruns...