K is for… Keswick Conquered!
Another venue chalked off, another morning on the move. This one took us to Keswick, where the parkrun is blessedly flat—an old railway line rather than a calf-burner. I’d briefly toyed with heading up to Whinlatter, but after a week of stomping over Lake District mountains, more climbing felt like punishment. A nice flat one on tarmac? I can manage that, can’t I?
It also ticked off my 51st different parkrun venue and my third K. Not that I’m obsessed with the alphabet or anything… well, maybe just a bit.
Setting Off
We were on the move early. Bags in the boot, flat vacated, and up at the old station for a bit of parkrun action.
We toyed with doing a couple more mountains after parkrun, but to be honest my legs felt like they’d had enough and anyway the weather looked suspect, to say the least. So instead, we packed normal day clothes instead of walking ones.
parkrun O’Clock
Keswick’s course was a relief after all the mountain miles. An old railway line made for a gentle out-and-back. Well, you’d think it was all flat, but a mile in there’s a slope which seemed way too steep for trains. At least it was tarmaced all the way. The view wasn’t great either, as it’s mainly surrounded by trees. Maybe you get a better view in the winter. Anyway, it was pleasant enough. Nothing too dramatic, but a decent setting for stretching the legs before the drive south.
Ami decided to walk the course with the tail walker, which I didn’t know until I passed her on my way back.
I was expecting to be quite slow. And indeed I was. I took 35 minutes, so a good 5 mionutes slower than I’ve been doing recently. I did manage to get round without stopping for a walk though, which I was quite impressed with. To be honest, the legs were heavy at the start but I loosened up a bit after half a mile.
Aftermath
We wrapped things up with breakfast in a café back in town. Coffee and cake for me, and just a hot chocolate for Ami. And then just time for a last glance at Keswick’s market square before pointing the car homewards.
As we weren’t doing any walking I offered to take Ami all the way back to Milton Keynes, which she gladly accepted. I wouldn’t have done that if we’d been in the Lakes at 4pm, but seeing as we were driving out at 11:30 I was happy to take her home before turning back and driving back up to Measham.
Enough
So there we are. One more K in the bag, venue fifty-one notched, and a send-off from the Lakes that was mercifully flat after all the Wainwrighting. Sometimes the simplest runs are the ones that stick.
