A Fab Weekend of Running - Part 1 parkrun and Whinlatter 5

I have had to split this post into two due to the amount of running we've done over the weekend! Each run was that fantastic it deserves a post of its own.

The weekend started with parkrun as usual. It was a warm one! The boys got some great times, especially Sam (running with Andy) who came away with a PB of 50 minutes exactly! He beat his previous time by 15 seconds. It might not sound much but it would have taken him a lot of focus that morning and we are enormously proud of him. Just hoping that at some point in the future he can crack that sub-50 minute mark!

Later in the day Andy and I took part in the Whinlatter 5. It's a 5 mile trail race for both runners and nordic walkers set in the beautiful Whinlatter Forest near Keswick. We'd been itching to try a trail run since dabbling a little at the Grasmere Gallop so when I saw this one online we signed up! It was a lovely evening for it, the start was at 6.30pm and the weather was perfect, dry and not too hot.

There was a grand total of 27 of us all together (it was the very first Whinlatter 5 event), including 2 nordic walkers and a couple of other road runners like us. The route consisted of about half a mile downhill before the ascent began. The next 3 miles were mainly uphill and I nearly died struggled with this so a lot of walking was done especially on the steeper parts. I discovered muscles in my legs that I never knew existed! According to the Garmin we had a total elevation gain of 1,190 feet, which made Barrow parkrun seem positively flat (*makes mental note NEVER to whine again about Barrow parkrun's undulations at least until next Saturday). The views from up there were amazing though, really spectacular which made the climb all the more worthwhile.

The last part of the run was of course downhill! (and in my opinion the best part!) The elevation we gained was rapidly lost again in about 15 minutes. And although we were the last two to finish (both in 1.16.23), we came back to clapping and cheering which was fab. Snacks were abundant at the end and we both received a terrific medal to add to our small but growing collection of race swag.

The organisers, marshals and sweeper were all very encouraging and friendly and I'm pretty sure that Andy has been nearly convinced to try the route again in November for The Hope Northern Skeleton Run which is run in the dark! I think I'll need some more hill training before I make up my mind about that one!