North East parkruns continue to go from strength to strength with the latest addition to the family now in place in Whitley Bay.
At times it looked as though this run would never happen, but common sense prevailed and the day after the Olympic flame passed by, over 200 runners turned out to try out the new course.
At times it looked as though this run would never happen, but common sense prevailed and the day after the Olympic flame passed by, over 200 runners turned out to try out the new course.
It’s an interesting little route, starting out from the wide space at Panama Gardens near the War Memorial and jinking round the paths on the Links, down towards the skate park and onto the promenade.
Even on a grey and overcast day, you can sense this is going to be a scenic run with the sea on one side and the Links on the other. With space to stretch out your legs along the promenade, there’s a good long straight to get your pace up and a chance to wave at the faster lads and lasses zooming along the paths above.
At the end of the promenade, a short incline takes you up and onto the trail paths, over a stream and then up a little more, encouraged on by one of the very cheery marshalls, before you turn back on the links paths towards the start line.
Once back round to the beginning and you’re over half way, with more encouraging shouts to spur you on.
There was a good turn out of local club runners, including a posse from Tyne Bridge Harriers, and a contingent from Tyne triathlon who were also eyeing up a post run sea swim. With casual and new runners and youngsters also welcome, it was a mixed and friendly field that also included parkrun and North East running legend, Eric Appleby on his 98th parkrun.
A fast finish and into the funnel for a quick distribution of timing tokens and a slick registration, then back to cheer on every finisher before a quick catch up over drinks and food in the nearby Boardwalk cafe.
It’s inevitable that parkrun enthusiasts will be keen to bag a first as a new course comes onto the scene, but the Whitley Bay parkrun deserves to remain popular and well supported. Praise is due to Heather and her parkrun team who did an absolutely brilliant job directing a relatively large field for such a new event.
With the new Riverside parkrun starting up soon, North East runners have never had so much choice for a Saturday morning run.
Even on a grey and overcast day, you can sense this is going to be a scenic run with the sea on one side and the Links on the other. With space to stretch out your legs along the promenade, there’s a good long straight to get your pace up and a chance to wave at the faster lads and lasses zooming along the paths above.
At the end of the promenade, a short incline takes you up and onto the trail paths, over a stream and then up a little more, encouraged on by one of the very cheery marshalls, before you turn back on the links paths towards the start line.
Once back round to the beginning and you’re over half way, with more encouraging shouts to spur you on.
There was a good turn out of local club runners, including a posse from Tyne Bridge Harriers, and a contingent from Tyne triathlon who were also eyeing up a post run sea swim. With casual and new runners and youngsters also welcome, it was a mixed and friendly field that also included parkrun and North East running legend, Eric Appleby on his 98th parkrun.
A fast finish and into the funnel for a quick distribution of timing tokens and a slick registration, then back to cheer on every finisher before a quick catch up over drinks and food in the nearby Boardwalk cafe.
It’s inevitable that parkrun enthusiasts will be keen to bag a first as a new course comes onto the scene, but the Whitley Bay parkrun deserves to remain popular and well supported. Praise is due to Heather and her parkrun team who did an absolutely brilliant job directing a relatively large field for such a new event.
With the new Riverside parkrun starting up soon, North East runners have never had so much choice for a Saturday morning run.