Archive for the ‘Sport’ Category

Harrogate parkrun is three laps of The Stray, specifically the north east corner. I was going to a networking event after so I decided to walk it. But I got a little carried away and ended up going sub-38. It’s a mixture of grass, dirt with tree roots, and tarmac. Well organised and friendly volunteers.

Family outing to East Holmes Field parkrun in Ilkley. It is four laps of the park by the river. All grass and dirt path with plenty of tree roots and nice views. Also ran into Aron and it was lovely to catch up. East was the last point I needed to complete the compass club challenge! Joining Newcastle West, North Yorkshire Water Park and Darlington South.

Bishopton Triathlon is a UPrevail event held at the North East Wake Park near Stockton. They do a variety of distances and it was a club championship race for Hyde Park Harriers. I was taking on the sprint. It was an eye-watering early start: up at 4am to get there for 6am.

Despite it still being August, it was freezing when I got there! Luckily, the water was still a balmy 19 degrees. Classically, by the end of the race it was glorious sunshine and I had to go find my suncream.

The swim was fine. I felt reasonably confident the whole way around (as in, wasn’t panicking I was about to drown). It was super-shallow at the edges and I could have stood up in a lot of it. The cycle route was a lovely tour of the countryside and had plenty of flat to get aero while having a few short punchy hills for variety. The run was two laps of the field which was tough in road shoes.

My overall finish time was:

1:34:57

And my splits were:

I was around three minutes faster on the swim than in Ripon. T1 was slow, though, as it was cool enough to put my gloves on and I fumbled them quite badly with my wet hands.

It was a really friendly race and I would do it again. Congratulations to fellow Harrier Jamie who completed his first Olympic distance triathlon at the race.

Endcliffe parkrun is located in Sheffield and is one of the busier ones, regularly attracting 700+ people. I had a meeting shortly after so I turned up the walk it. It is a two-lap course.

The start was well organised and there was a comprehensive first timers’ briefing. Unfortunately, at the main briefing, there were two dogs constantly barking each other so I couldn’t hear anything despite the speaker system. Once we were going, it was predictably crowded, especially as it starts with a little out-and-back section.

At around 1.5km there was a single-file bridge that we had to queue for several minutes to cross. By this point, the fastest runners were already coming around to lap us, and they seem to be able to skip the queue, which slows things down even more. The same thing happens when the path narrows around 500m further down. You also have fast runners whizzing past you as that part of the track is barely wide enough for two people with a wall on one side and a stream on the other.

Thankfully, by the second lap it has thinned out a bit and I nearly lost my way at one of the series of turns. Those who are not directionally challenged will no doubt remember it from the first loop, though. As you come into the finish, you have to dodge around the crowds of those who have already finished walking out of the park.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who were well organised and friendly.

This ticked off another E for me, which allowed me to finish the spell your name challenge (including my title, full name and middle name) and the Old MacDonald challenge. Edwin Carolan, Illaunmanagh, Endcliffe, Isabel Trail and Oakwell Hall.

It’s IRONMAN Leeds day! And what a day to behold. This was the second staging of the race since it moved over from Bolton in 2025. If you’re unfamiliar with IRONMAN, its a long-format triathlon race which means you swim 3.8km, cycle 180km, and then run a marathon. In under 17 hours or you’re out.

Except there was no swim this year. The levels of blue green algae in Waterloo Lake were significantly above threshold. There was a great deal of anger about this in the community, much of it directed at IRONMAN as an organisation. I like to bash IRONMAN as much as the next person, but this isn’t their fault. Water pollution is a massive problem in the UK and is compounded by climate breakdown. Until we, as a society, choose to tackle these issues, more swims will be cancelled.

Personally, it meant I could have a lie in as there as no swim to watch. I turned up just after lunch and had an explore of the event village with plenty of time to get comfortable before Adam Baker and Anna Lawson break the tape. Lawson ran a 2:59:22 marathon to take the win. Because it was a rolling TT start, it wasn’t clear for a long time who had actually won the race. In the end, Toby Nisbet pipped Baker by two minutes.

I took a short break for tea and then rejoined the event as it was getting dark to watch the final 50 or so athletes come in. David Neal (M70-74) was the last athlete across the line, but significantly quicker than some of the other athletes due to the TT start. It rained quite heavily for the last hour or so but it didn’t stop the party.

A lovely parkrun. It’s a three-loop course and largely flat. Busy but a possible PB course if you started at the front. Lots of nice scenery, too, as well as toilets and a cafe. This ticks off my south on the compass club challenge so I just need an east to finish it now.

Oldham parkrun takes place in Alexandra Park, Oldham. It is well worth a visit from Leeds as you can take the A672 and get some beautiful views over the Pennines.

Alexandra Park itself is lovely with toilets, a large playground, a cafe, tennis courts, lakes and lots of other interesting features. The playground and the toilets could use some love, though. The parkrun uses the slogan “like hills? Love Oldham parkrun” so I was surprised at how flat it was: three laps of mostly running from one side of the park to the other, with a hill at each end. So there are hills but nothing compared to Temple Newsam, Chevin, Middleton Woods, etc.

It is a three-lap course and there were plenty of marshals on the route. Thank you to everyone at Oldham for having us.

Isabel Trail parkrun takes place in Stafford and follows and out-and-back along the Isabel Trail. It’s mostly tarmac with some gravel bits. It’s well organised: when I turned up there was a marshal explaining where I could park. They had a megaphone for the announcements, too, but there were a few dogs that screamed the whole way through so I have no idea what was said. It was well marshalled for an out-and-back.

Isabel Trail is currently the most northerly I parkrun, which makes completing the Old MacDonald challenge a tough one for us Northerners. Luckily, I already have one I from Illaunmanagh. Still need a second E, though!

Jubilee parkrun is located in the town of Spennymoor, just over the border into County Durham. It’s a lovely park with a bowling green, two playgrounds and some sports fields. The course is four laps of the park and despite it being quite a mild slope, as each lap goes up and down twice, you end up with a lot of elevation gain from going from the bottom of the park to the top nine times.

Jubilee means I finally have my J. Just Z missing from my alphabet now. Thank you to all of the friendly volunteers for making the trip worthwhile.

North Yorkshire Water Park is an inline water park offering swimming, kayaking, paddleboarding, wakeboarding and other such activities. They also have a parkrun on a Saturday morning that involves two laps of the trail around the lake. It’s a lovely venue with toilets and a cafe offering hot cooked food.

I needed a north for the compass club challenge, adding to the west I got from Newcastle West.