Running the Flatts

Six intrepid GG Yorkie runsplorers set their alarms extra early on Saturday morning to go adventuring in the North Yorkshire Moors.

Our first stop was the ironically named Flatts Lane Parkrun in Middlesbrough, which is proud of its reputation for being one of the hardest courses in the UK. While some of us 'chose' to walk up the ridiculous hill in the first km (and again in the 4th km), it didn't slow Tim down. He ran an impressive 21:34, coming in as fourth finisher.

No barcode, no breakfast

With 5km under our belts, it was time to refuel. Becky, who had forgotten to bring her parkrun barcode, threatened to cry if we enforced the 'no barcode, no breakfast' rule so we let her join in with our breakfast buffet despite there being no evidence (by way of parkrun result) that she'd earned it. Over Yorkshire Puddings and some slightly more traditional breakfast foods, Tim managed to avoid being filmed whilst making outrageous claims about how far he'd be able to run in 14 hours, and how easy it would be to do a solo or paired run at the upcoming Endure 24 event.

Roseberry Topping: not a pudding

After breakfast, we drove over to the nearby Roseberry Topping. While that name might conjure up images of towering ice cream sundaes, it isn't actually a pudding: it's a big hill and the starting point for our 7ish mile trail run. The run started with a fair bit of walking as we tackled the steep route to the summit, climbing up what seemed like a million steps. Next we skipped and stumbled down the other side, towards Captain Cook's monument, taking in a nearly vertical climb through the woods on the way.

With the hard bit done, we ran back towards the cars via some slightly gentler undulating trails, pausing for a literal wall sit (rather than one of those exercise ones) on the way.

When Roseberry Topping came back into sight, we knew we were nearing the end of our trail. Lizzie was struggling with an injury so she and Egg (who was naveggating) decided to walk the final few km, sending us on ahead.

All paths from here lead to the car.

We followed a path to the right, as instructed. None of us thought it felt right. Roseberry topping was fading away into the distance behind us and we were sure that we'd parked right at the bottom of it... We paused at a gate and waited for Egg and Lizzie to catch up.

Except this path. This one doesn't lead to the car. (Egg)

Thankfully we hadn't gone too far off track. It wasn't long before we'd found our route again and got our only slightly muddy shoes a whole load more muddy whilst negotiating a bog in the last km.

Tim declared that he now had trails running through his veins (because some mud had got into a scratch on his leg).

11.5km of hills and trails complete, our muddy, happy troupe set off home for a nice, hot shower.