Gateshead Trail 10K – 12th August 2023

by Joanne Hope

This event had never really been on my radar until I was talking to Emma a little while ago who mentioned that she was entered and that it was a nice race. I had a look and it sounded good so I signed up.

There were four of us from Crook, Patricia was also entered, both she and Emma had done the race several times previous, and myself and Ken who were first timers. It seems to be a really popular event that sells out, some of the local clubs had massive turnouts.

It was a well organised event, we got there around 9 am at which point the traffic was okay and we got parked in the main car park no problem, there was a bit of a queue to get out but nothing unbearable. There is a field near the start line that people were using for warming up which was really handy.

They’d created a funnel out of metal fencing just before the start line to limit the flow of people crossing at once and the paths for the first mile or so are really wide which seemed to alleviate any bottle necks. Most of the route was on wide paths with good underfoot conditions. There was only one short stretch on grass.

It was a really nice route and a thoroughly enjoyable run with some lovely views. It has all the scenery of a trail run without any of the muddy, slippery conditions. It is slightly undulating in parts with one short hill but most of it is quite flat.

We were quite lucky with the weather after all of the downpours of late! There were only a couple of short showers which were actually quite refreshing.

The volunteers were all friendly and enthusiastic and all in all it was a great morning out, I’d definitely recommend it. Emma also got a course PB so her training with Crook is clearly paying off!

Joanne