Kicking off the weekend roundup, and the whole weekend of running, was Nick Armstrong repping DVRC at the returning Trail Outlaws Dark Skies Kielder 10 on Friday night – an event last run in 2019! Nick very kindly gave us a first hand account of his experience…

“One of the many excellent things about this running club is the collective experience in all sorts of races and events that people take part in and encourage others to get involved in and this year I wanted to make a concerted effort to broaden my horizons when it came to my year in running.

I’ve taken part in a few races so far and have a few more planned throughout the year and felt that I had a good mix to look forward to.

The Dark Skies 10 wasn’t one that was on my radar to enter though. Alan Vicarage at the club had signed up for it but unfortunately could no longer run it so asked me if I wanted to run it in his stead.

A few emails to the organiser, a decent headtorch purchase and a pleasant drive over to Kielder later, I was at the car park nice and early to hop on the shuttle bus and travel the 2 miles to the Hawkhirst Scout centre where registration and the start line was situated.

There seemed to be a problem with the shuttle bus though. There were hundreds of us in the queue and one, 15 seater bus to ferry us all ready to start running at 6:30. The heavens opened on the waiting runners and we were lucky it was quite mild. After a good test of my waterproofs I finally got to the front of the queue and made it to the registration hall, although admittedly later than expected.

The rain finally eased for the delayed start and with the race organiser apologising over his PA system about the lack of better shuttling capacity along with the rest of the information in his race briefing, we were finally off through the woods to start our journey in the dark. 

With just under 400 participants and me starting right in the middle of the throng, it was quite a slow start. With no idea how I was going to pace it not knowing the route or topology I settled in and waited for the field to stretch out before picking up the pace.

The route meandered anti-clockwise around the South side of the lake for a few miles. Glancing back over the lake at points as the coastline jutted out made for some great views of the long stream of headlights making their way around the course.

The path undulated but was fairly flat up until about mile 5 when it suddenly seemed to start climbing consistently up Bull Crag for what seemed like the next 3 miles or so. Making good use of Adele’s hill training I tried to keep the pace steady and on downhill sections relaxed and let gravity help me down.

I kept telling myself that what comes up must come down and by around mile 8 the ‘down’ showed up. With a nice steep decent, the end of the race approaching and the headtorch working well I had the confidence to ‘hoof it’ straight down the hill and tried to keep the pace up as it flattened out again.

Returning back past the Waterside accommodation complex, the teepees were blasting out some loud rock music which helped drag me towards the finish line at mile 10. With a quarter of a mile to go according to the watch and a few runners in front within attacking distance I gave it one final push.

My watch buzzed for mile 10 and the finish line was nowhere in sight. I knew I was close as we were running back over the route we started at, past a long hedge of fairy lights but felt I’d peaked my last effort too early especially as I turned the corner on to another stretch of hill.

With my lungs burning and legs slowing down I could hear applause from supporters and see the lights of the Scout complex. Assuming the finish line was the same as the start I was really confused when the arrows started guiding me further and further into the maze of buildings, the final arrow actually taking me into the Scout hall, past the race chip sensors to stop at a table in the middle of the room with three people sitting in seats looking like something from Britain’s Got Talent! A quick photo, a man chucking a medal round my neck and asking what size T-Shirt I would like, that was it. Race done. 10.6 miles according to Garmin.

After a lovely marshmallow and rice crispy square, and a full-fat can of Coke purchased and then demolished it was time to queue for the shuttle bus which had grown to be a decent sized mini coach for the return trip.

I really enjoyed that and would recommend it to others. With a relaxed, friendly atmosphere and all abilities catered for (I think some people even walk it), it’s a really good introduction to running at night with a headtorch.”

What Nick fails to mention, there, is that he was 33rd out of 387 runners – a fantastic result!

And the Armstrong family weren’t done there… Melanie Armstrong was joined by Sally Ann Greenwell at the Wild Deer Alnwick Trail races – 10k and half marathon. Melanie tackled the 10k, while Sally Ann took on the half marathon. Melanie finished in a brilliant 1:08, while Sally Ann smashed out a 2:32. Brilliant work from both of them!

Also doing us proud was Lisa Gilbert at the North East Marathon Club’s Urban Marathon, around the sights and sounds of Newcastle and surrounding areas. Lisa finished in just over 5 hours, despite, in her own words, not knowing where she was for 90% of the run! Great going!

ParkRun saw DVRC members visiting Prudhoe Riverside, Windy Nook, Blackhill, Chester-le-Street (Riverside) and Chopwell Wood – with Chris Hewitson helping himself to a new course PB at Windy Nook.

Finishing off the weekend, was the Sunday Mumday Social run – a 12km loop around our favourite trails of Chopwell Wood. Sunny weather and smiley faces… the best!

Happy Mother’s Day to all.