Parkrun #38: Jesmond Dene, run 3

Last time I attended Jesmond Dene parkrun, it was in the knowledge that it was the last remaining venue I'd been to where my PB was over 28 minutes. Consequently, the goal was to get under 28 minutes, something I definitely felt I was capable of. But I failed. 😞 To say I was disappointed would be to put it mildly.

Funnily enough, ever since then — just as with Newbiggin and its disappointment — I'd been reluctant to return. Fear of failure strikes again. However, circumstances conspired today to see me return to Jesmond Dene. Of course, I went with the same goal to get under 28 minutes, but this time I had a bit more of a focused plan:

1. I would start much nearer the front; closer to the front than my pace warranted, as it turned out. The Jesmond Dene run gets pretty congested at the start, so I didn't want to get stuck behind anyone.
2. I would focus on the section in Paddy Freeman Park i.e. after the punishing hill. Knowing how I've been able to push myself on the flat elsewhere recently and comparing to earlier efforts here, I figured I could gain some good time there. I just needed to survive the uphills first.

And did it work? HELL YEAH IT WORKED! 26:51. Smashed it. 💪

Some interesting discrepancies here with my official time... 🤔

I do have to acknowledge that I owe a debt to a young Tyne Bridge Harrier, who was the perfect pacer for me in the first couple of kilometres. She was also wearing a dayglo yellow top, so was easy to keep track of when she gapped me. I felt a bit bad when I eventually passed her and she ended up with a time of 27:19, but she could've easily beaten me had she wanted to, given she has a PB of 22:12. Always humbling when you see that someone you've practically died to overtake could've easily knocked another 5 minutes off their time. 😂

Anyway, yeah, the first couple of kilometres involved just settling in, trying not to overdo it before the main hill, and... being overtaken by a moderate number of people. Some of whom actually shouldered their way past a bit, which was a new experience. I mean, Jesmond's a bit narrow, but clearly these young guys weren't interested in waiting for a clear moment to pass. 🙄

Impatient runners aside, I was mostly surrounded by people who were at a similar pace to me, which was good. It made it easy to settle in mentally. Remembering how surprised I was by the early undulations on my last attempt also helped mentally. I wasn't shocked when passing the pavilion, for example, that the incline was sharper and more prolonged than expected. This time, I did expect it. I don't think I made as much of the early downhills as last time, but that's mainly because I was so focused on the couple of kilometres of flat running ahead.

The hill was, as ever, a killer. But even that was just a matter of digging in and sticking with it. Sure, I was fairly ruined by the top, but I didn't give myself too long to wallow in it this time. My Tyne Bridge Harrier had pulled out about 25 yards or more on me by this point, so I focused on bridging that gap. By the time we were about half way round the seemingly endless first grassy area, I'd caught up. It struck me that I had a choice to make quickly: continue to use her as a pacer and risk it being slower than I was capable of, or dig deeper and try to go — and stay — past. Last thing I wanted was to regret taking it too easy in the park again, so I dug in and crawled past. And I'm glad I did.

I think it was around that point that I started to notice that I was keeping pace with, or even slowly catching, some runners ahead of me. I wasn't expecting that at all; I'd started so close to the front and we'd been going long enough that I figured everyone still ahead of me must be faster than me and pulling away. So, with my pacer behind me, I started to focus on some of those in front. Overall, I reckon I gradually picked off about another 4 runners. There was the odd person who passed me too, but I think I was in the black, so to speak.

Looking back, I actually felt pretty good during the 4th kilometre. I mean, "good" is putting it a bit strongly as I know I was truly heaving breaths, but mentally, I was in a pretty good place. Picking people off certainly helped that, as did not being retaken by the Tyne Bridge Harrier or anyone else I'd passed. I didn't dare look over my shoulder, but the longer I stayed ahead, the better I felt.

And then came the descent back into the dene. I actually felt like this was the worst bit of my run. Where I'd really exploited the downhills in my previous runs here, today, I was just trying to stay in control and not jar my knees. I was tired and some of the hills heading back down are steep. Steep enough, especially on a rainy autumn morning, to have you worrying about slipping on the leaf-fall and the beech nut cases. So yeah, I hardly made the most of it. I kept my pace on the few tiny uphills there were, but other than that, there was no blast to the finish.

When I finally made it into the funnel and got my token, I was stopped by a guy with a clipboard who was clearly doing cross-checks, asking me my token number and name. I've never seen that before. Maybe it's an acknowledgement that things sometimes get out of synch and can adversely affect people's official times? Maybe they already knew something had gone wrong? I'm not sure. But my token number was 71 and final position was 72 — an indication that it had gone wrong? Pass. But when I finally stopped Google Fit's timing and saw that I'd let 27:41 elapse and that it reckoned by 5K I was at 27:12, I expected an official time of about 27:15 to 27:20. To be given under 27 minutes was a big surprise. I feel a bit like I cheated, but... I guess you take the smooth with the rough. I'm sure there'll be other times I've done worse out of a parkrun than expected. Maybe even the previous visit to Jesmond Dene? Whatever, 26:51 is what's on record, so I guess I have to take it.

What next, though? Given my last two outings, maybe I should continue to attend venues I've been shy of returning to. On that list could be Rising Sun (whose course has changed since my last solo effort there), Leazes Park, and Gateshead. My previous times at each of those have been a disappointment, especially at Leazes. Or instead I could now focus on getting each of my 27-minute-plus event PBs down to a 26-minute-plus time? Or... I might just aim to extend my tourist streak further still, beyond the frankly ridiculous 15 venues at which it now stands. And competing my Tourist achievement at the same time. Watch this space.