The Long Northern parkrun

 

What a great day it turned out to be! Finally, I have been able to complete my first long parkrun. When we were in Perth last year we met up with Phil and Gemma Gore from Shipwreck parkrun. Phil planned to run 24 parkruns in 24 hours in less than 24 minutes each and I had the privilege, along with a number of others, of joining him in two of these runs—though my two times were 26:55 and 26:53.

Thus, I developed the idea of dividing Tasmania up into its regions and now have a number of long parkruns, whereby I will run each of those regional parkrun courses consecutively on the same day. I decided to start with the Launceston region, which I have termed “The Long Northern parkrun”.

It was a rather cold morning, with the temperature at 4^o, when Val and I drove east towards Launceston along the Frankford Highway so we could begin with George Town parkrun. We stopped at Exeter for a coffee before turning north and arrived at George Town after 11:00 am. As you can see, we had a late start. The temperature had risen to 7^o by the time I set off. As I ran down the grassy slope onto the narrow track beside the water I didn’t think too clearly about my pace. When I saw how fast it really was, I threw caution to the wind and continued on at a very even pace (5:19; 5:22; 5:18; 5:18; 5:18). We had participated in their second event in April 2017 and found it to be a great course, as it wound its way beside the Tamar River, passing the War memorial and through some bush. The course begins on the grass adjacent to the Elizabeth Street Park but it has a short downhill slope to the narrow track (meaning that the finish is up that grassed slope). This track shortly becomes a concrete path for a bit over half of the outward journey, with the last part of this course being gravel. There are great scenic views across and down the river. Strava gave me a total elevation of 6 metres so it is going to be a fast course for those who are looking for a PB for the distance. Since we were there in 2017 a permanent turn post has been positioned beside the track, which is great for those who want to do a freedom run.

We decided against a coffee after this run and made our way down to Windsor Precinct parkrun in Riverside. By the time we arrived at the start the temperature had risen to 8^o. This course, unlike that at George Town which was straight out and back, was two laps of an out and back course in an area where there were a couple of other tracks. Even though we had run this course in September 2018 I couldn’t remember which track to take so relied upon Google Maps. Unfortunately, Google let me down and didn’t accurately show me my position when I needed it. This led to me taking two wrong turns so that I ended up running 5.49 kms, which I completed in 29:55 (my pace was slowed by the fact that I needed to stop and check the map on a number of occasions). However, I did complete one lap in 13:19, which would have given me a reasonable time. Next time I hope to remember where to go! My splits for this course were 6:08 (where I really got lost and had to consult Google); 5:44; 5:33; 5:19; 5:11; 5:41 (down Sculpture Path and to the finish). Those times obviously show that I knew where to go on the second lap (13:19 compared to 17:16). Windsor Precinct is an all gravel flat course with Strava giving me an elevation gain of 6 metres. It is a little bit trickier towards the end of the laps than George Town as you wend your way down Sculpture Path. There is a great café in the Precinct buildings. We had a milkshake and I had a Chocolate Spider (dried noodles and peanut butter covered with chocolate) for sustenance.

By now my legs were beginning to feel the effects of two runs and, as we drove to our next stop at Launceston, I could feel them beginning to seize up a bit. Parking at the Inveresk carpark, and by now the temperature had risen to 10^o, we were pleasantly surprised when we were offered a parking ticket that had enough time left on it to cover us. I jogged down to the start, which is very easy to find because of the marker beside the track. This is a great improvement from when we ran there in September 2018. It certainly helps those who, like us, want to do a freedom run. Even though it looks like a fairly straight forward course through the Heritage Forest I again found myself “lost” by getting off the correct course with Google showing me in strange places (perhaps because I was off course and in a strange place). There are a number of other tracks in the area and I wrongly followed arrows and 5k signs that were on the ground. In hindsight, these would have been for some other event as I ended up running 5.38 kms with splits of 6:00; 6:27 (time spent checking Google); 5:50; 5:46; 5:35 (and my final pace being 5:24 for the last 0.38 km). apart from about 200 metres at the start the course is entirely run on gravel, with Strava giving me a total elevation of just 7 metres. The first kilometre is along the North Esk River flood levee, with its scenic views to the east—we even saw snow on the mountains. Upon leaving the flood levee and entering the park, the course skirts around the outside of the sportsgrounds before turning left to take in a clockwise internal loop of scenic Heritage Forest and back to the Churchill Park sportsgrounds. The last kilometre returns around the outside of the sportsgrounds and back along the flood levee to the start/finish line. It’s a beautiful course that wends its way between stands of magnificent trees, but the run along the flood levee is exposed and I noticed the coldness of the wind in the final kilometre.

We called into Maccas for a drink and something to eat (apart from the chocolate spider at Windsor Precinct I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast) as we drove out to Prospect for the final parkrun course in Kate Reed State Recreation Area. This parkrun course, which still hasn’t had its first event because of the suspension of all parkrun events due to Covoid 19, is my all-time favourite for Tasmania. I knew that this was going to be my slowest run for the day. Not only was it the last on the list but it is a much more technically difficult course (it caters for mountain bikes). Strava gave me a total elevation gain of 61 metres! But what a surprise awaited us, for last week’s snow storm has wreaked havoc on the course. It has been temporarily closed to bikes, though the evidence of tyre tracks shows that not everyone is obeying the signs—especially the fellow we saw riding as we came towards the end of our time there. There were large mud patches to navigate and innumerable trees fallen across the parkrun course. But I decided that I would give it a go. Some smaller trees could be hurdled; others had to be climbed over and under; in other places I had to get off the track and walk around them. Then there were gorse bushes that hung over the track and tore at my legs and hands. But I loved running this course even though every time I started to get a bit of speed up I had to stop or slow down to gingerly cross muddy sections; go around pools of water; clamber over or stoop under fallen trees; and go off the track to get around the larger ones. At least there were no snakes out today. Apart from not having a sign indicating the exact start and finish of the run, there are parkrun direction arrows clearly displayed so you can’t go wrong and this time my distance was 5.02 kms in a time of 39:34.

By the time we had finished the course the temperature was beginning to plummet and darkness was descending. But what a wonderful day we had had and I look forward to running the other long parkrun regions—not just once, but on numerous occasions, though I think “The Long North-Western parkrun” will be next on the list. There won’t be as much travelling to get to them though there are five to be run and they are all so totally different—from trail at Railton, sealed paths at Port Sorell, Devonport and Burnie and a mix of path and beach at Wynyard. That’s what makes each course so unique! I had thought that I would rate the four northern courses we ran today but that would simply be unfair. I know that Kate Reed would be at the top of my list because of the type of course it is—trail running, though easy trail running—and while the other three are gravel (George Town only half so) they all have their positive features. So, I would encourage you to give them all a go and make up your own mind about which one you prefer and why—even doing what we did today by running them consecutively on the same day. Maybe even get a group and run them together. I enjoyed it and I’m sure that you will too.