The Long Run Collective – LRC – Tees Trailtastic – 23rd June 2024
by Claire Weir
Geoff and I were having a conversation about upping our mileage and I mentioned to him that I had been given a flyer at Darlington parkrun from LRC about a new Tees Trailtastic 9 miler. Geoff, with a raised eyebrow, pointed out that the running event had been listed for quite a while in his race calendar, published every week in our favourite e-zine Crook-Ed. I assured him I do peruse the race calendar (I do 😊) and he said he was interested in the race too; we had a discount code for 15% off so we both signed up.
The event took place on Sunday 23rd June at the Teesdale Community Resources Hub (very snazzy) in Barnard Castle. The weather was warm, but the sky was overcast. There had been no rain overnight, so we had perfect running conditions. After a warm-up and a pre-race briefing, we set off. I took it steady as I was feeling a little bit daunted by the distance and frustrated by my ever-present knee niggles. Once I got into the forest though I forgot all about my worries and niggles. They said the route was scenic and it absolutely was. The 9-mile circular course took you along sections of the gorgeous Teesdale Way with a few gentle inclines and descents. It was a beautiful morning, and the forest was calm and tranquil.
I was on my own for much of the race but after about 4 miles I could see a Swaledale runner far ahead in the distance. I am quite nervous when running on bumpy forest terrain, so I wasn’t gaining on her at all until we got to a road. The marshal told me it was 500 metres long and it was. 500 metres of pure tarmac, my favourite running surface! I got some speed up and ran past the Swaledale runner, she wished me well and shouted, “I hate tarmac”, I responded telling her I loved it! I managed to stay ahead of her for the rest of the race and finished in 19th place out of 65 finishers with a time of 1:35:06.
Geoff was 3rd early on and then held 2nd place until 4 miles in. He ended up finishing 6th place with a time of 1:18:16 which is a fantastic result considering he had a tumble 1.5 miles from the end. Looking at the results we think it might have cost him a place as he was only 22 seconds behind 5th at the finish.
Everyone had a smile on their face when they finished the race and we all left with a LRC wooden coaster. The course was well organised and marshalled, it was a fabulous event. If you are looking for an off-road adventure, I would highly recommend it.
Clare
