Today I was meant to be running the Aviemore Half. Unfortunately work had other ideas and I had to be in Liverpool by 10am on the Monday, not something I could really do even with a blistering PB. I resigned myself to staying at home and I looked around for an alternative. By the power … Continue reading The Wee Toughie
Category Archives: Colin Blackburn
I’ve done a few Coastal Runs over the last five years but up until now I’ve always arrived from the south. This year when I entered I lived in Co Durham but by race day I’d moved to Berwick-upon-Tweed. It turns out that arriving from the north is quite scenic courtesy of the X18 bus. … Continue reading Coastal Run
I moved up to the English side of the border – I can’t afford to have to get a new passport – a couple of weeks ago and had hoped to take part in the Berwick Curfew Run shortly after the move. Unfortunately while Alister travelled up to a race right on my doorstep I … Continue reading Duns Reivers Week Fun Run
Striders who know me will know that I am not usually one for the roads but that I have been turning up for some of the club’s classic road races over the last couple of years: GNR, Brampton and the GNR again! This year I decided to tick off the Brass Monkey, though given … Continue reading Brass Monkey Half Marathon
I was over in France and this 10K caught my eye. Bessans is a beautiful little town nestling in the Rhône-Alpes. It’s a wide valley surrounded by snow-covered alpine peaks. The 10K started shortly after its sister races, a marathon and a half marathon, and shortly before the children’s races of 5K and 2.5K, there … Continue reading Marathon de Bessans 10K
On Sunday I didn’t do the Ellesmere 10K. In fact I didn’t know the Ellesmere 10K existed. But I was in Ellesmere. Not Ellesmere Port but Ellesmere, Shropshire. Ellesmere is pretty. Ellesmere has a mere and so Ellesmere is flat. Ellesmere is pretty flat. The Ellesmere 10K has 31 metres of climb. That’s 3 metres … Continue reading Not the Ellesmere 10K
The Compass Sport Cup & Trophy is the nearest thing in orienteering to what the Harrier League is to NE cross country. One key difference is that it is a national competition with regional qualification rounds; another is that, as some orienteering clubs are very small, the competition is divided into the Cup for big … Continue reading Compass Sport Trophy
Despite sending out an email letting people know about this option for New Year’s Day I hadn’t planned on doing this race myself. When, late on New Year’s Eve, Elfie saw the weather forecast for Tuesday she suggested a trip up to Rothbury just to get out of the house after being pretty much housebound … Continue reading Hillforts and Headaches
Colin Blackburn … As a runner I’m happiest when I’m orienteering. At even the biggest orienteering events such as the Scottish 6-Day I can still find myself completely alone in a forest with the sounds and smells of the woodland all around me. So what was I thinking when I entered the Great North Run … Continue reading Great North Run
…they didn’t. Still, I had a half marathon to run so I hobbled downstairs – whoever thought spiral staircases were a good idea was clearly not a runner with DOMS – and ate a lot of cereal. My landlord, housemate and friend, Chris, had offered me a lift to, you’ve guessed it, Camperdown Park before … Continue reading Half DRAM