Life is still a bit too manic to get a phone box post done (Geth and I are enjoying a holiday for his birthday at the moment!) but normal service should resume next week (most likely with the long-awaited book review!).
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #264
I’ve been too busy with work this week to fit in much running, so salvaged things to an extent this morning with a parkrun sandwich. Zero energy but I got it done!
Planning to be back in the same place next week…
Phone Box Thursday: Day Job Hiatus
Very very busy with the day job this week, so, while I have finished reading the book mentioned the last few weeks (and have really enjoyed it and made a lot of notes for phone box tourism), I’ve not had time to put together the review it deserves. So another hiatus post today, but I will get that review up very soon!
parkrunday: Town Moor #708
Back on the Moor today for a warm parkrunday. Took it easy with Geth due to the heat.
Our friend Penny was celebrating her 500th parkrun so it was a happy morning!
Most likely back in the Dene next week.
Phone Box Thursday: B5281, Broughton Beck
Mum and Dad have been exploring again and found this rural phone box in Cumbria.
(Coordinates 54°23’01.9″N, 3°09’94.4″W.)
Always nice to see a defib box!
There are a couple more boxes to log from Mum and Dad’s travels, but next week I’m hoping to review the phone box book I’m reading.
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #262
Third JD in a row between running and volunteering. Big difference in temperature from last week (when I almost wished I’d brought my gloves for timekeeping) – it was a bit tough in the heat today!
Staying local again next week.
Phone Box Thursday: A Quick One
Can’t do too long a post because the dark mode on the new WordPress update isn’t working properly so I have to look away from the screen while typing 😫 Not ideal!
I’ve finally started reading The British Phonebox. It’s really good so far! Review coming next week hopefully if I’ve finished it by then.
The book foreshadows the Hull exception fairly early on, which reminded me of this fun BBC phone box article from the other day! Hull probably isn’t on most people’s tourism bucket lists but it is on mine…
Race Recap: Sunderland City 10k 2026
A fortnight after the Toronto half, this was definitely not a goal race. Half and metric marathon are my targeted distances for 2026 and any 10ks I race are for fun. This one was a lot of fun!
It was the tenth anniversary of my first 10k race, completed at this event in 2016, so I was in a celebratory mood. It’s been a long time since I felt so relaxed and pressure-free before a race, and we had a lovely metro ride down to Sunderland with a big group of Benchies who were all doing the event.
The bag drop was in a different place this year, but still not very secure as there’s nobody checking bag tags against numbers when you leave. We did hear after the race that one lady had her bag go missing with her car keys in it, most likely because someone else had taken it by mistake. Just one volunteer doing a check at the door would avoid this!
Caffeine gel and a few stretches before the gun and we were soon away. Sunderland is always a fast start (especially if you find yourself up the front with the fast lads like we did – my chip was only seven seconds after the gun today 😐) so it took a mile or so to settle, but after that it was very enjoyable. I’ve been doing this route most years for a decade now and I know it really well, so it goes quickly. The surprising speed of the km markers ticking over is one of the bonuses of running in miles!
I kept a decent effort up and only really felt myself properly tiring in the last mile or so, at which point I was able to tell myself to keep it up because I was nearly done. I crossed the line in 52:50, which is a little slower than last year’s 10k results but respectable for where I am at the moment.
I had my t-shirt from 2016 ready to change into after the race to go with my 2026 medal! (Sunderland sell t-shirts separately to the race entry nowadays and as I have too many t-shirts already I don’t bother getting them, but it was nice to bookend my souvenirs today.)
Fuelling bonus: my caffeine gel (Kendal Mint citrus) didn’t make me feel sick today. I still wouldn’t trust it as a start line gel for a longer race, but for a 10k it’s good.
That’s the end of my recovery fortnight and tomorrow a new eight-week block begins for my next half (although it’ll just be a streak saver mile and a gentle walk on day 1!). Looking forward to getting into some decent training.
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #261
Volunteering this morning due to another race tomorrow! I was timekeeping, which is my favourite volunteer role. It was a lovely sunny morning (though still a bit cold – hurry up summer!) and we had over 300 finishers.
Back to running next week (probably in the same place).
parkrunday: Jesmond Dene #260
I was a bit apprehensive about getting up for parkrun last weekend, as I was only three days back from Canada and still very jetlagged (alarms had been soundly ignored by my body clock for the previous couple of days). Nevertheless, parkrunday vibe always does the job, so I was at Jesmond Dene in plenty of time on a fairly damp morning.
It was a classic ‘I’ll just take it easy’ run round Jesmond Dene – slow mile up the hills, steady mile on the flat, faster mile down the hill once you’ve decided to pretend it was always meant to be a progression. Lovely morning out.
Same place tomorrow but volunteering.