My Favourite Trail Running Routes in Newcastle and Gateshead

I will admit that I only really got into trail running when I got slightly bored of running the same 5k near my house that was pretty much just through the streets near my house. You can read a bit more about that over on my review about the ADIDAS WOMEN'S TERREX AGRAVIC BOOST GORE-TEX SHOE.

This blog post is going to tell you about 3 of my favourite trail running routes and 4 routes that I would love to try out soon. Some of the routes have set route that has become Park Runs or race routes and some of them are routes I found online or just created on my own. I will say that I am not a professional runner and these routes are just routes that I really enjoy doing. 

1.       Newburn to Wylam 10k Route (Here)

The Newburn to Wylam route is a beautiful route that was originally part of the wagon way up in the north east.  The route goes along the river and heads up to Wylam Bridge. When on the Newcastle side you want to make sure that you take the route that is further away from the river as this is the trail route not the pathed route. The route is flat and is very simple to co-ordinate around. The Wylam side of the route is along the river and is beautiful. The route works out at around 10K and is a very simple loop. You can go either way depending on how you feel. This route is not got any lighting so is definitely a day time route.

2.       Rising Sun Country Park (Here)

I recently did this route after taking part in the These Girls Can Park Run takeover. I have to say this is one of the most beautiful routes that I have done. The route is a 5k and like the Newburn to Wylam is a simple route. If you go along to the park run which is on every Saturday the route has Marshalls at a number of locations to keep you on route. Once you’ve done the route a few time you could definitely do this alone. The park is has not lighting so again like main trail running routes you would have to run it through the day or early morning.

3.       Benwell Dene/Denton Dene

This route I made on my own, the route starts on Scotswood road and leads up to Benwell Dene which is than a straight route up to Denton Dene which you can then follow up towards Broadway Primary School. This route is not all trails but I still thought it would be a good one to attach as the route if you do just 1 way is around 2.5 miles but there and back is 5 miles. The route is maybe not the most beautiful route and is unfortunately not all trails but for being in the middle of the city you can’t really go wrong plus if you’re new to trail running this is route could be a good route to try out.

I’m definitely on the look out for more trail runs to do in Newcastle and Gateshead

Bucket list of 10K I want to try in the North

Below I’ve listed a few other trails that I’m looking forward to trying out in the New Year when the days start to get a bit lighter. Even tho these trails are listed as races you could definitely do the route whenever you want.

Gibside 5K Park Run (Here)

Gateshead 10k Trail (Here) 

Kielder 10K (Here)

Derwent Park (still trying to find a route)

I hope you enjoyed this post and gives you a few ideas of where you could maybe go running and mix up you running routes. If you going to start trail running do take a look at my review on the Adidas women's terrex agravic boost gore-tex shoe that will be great for starting your trail running journey.

Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe*

I decided in the summer that I wanted to adventure more out of my comfort zone when it came to running. The first thing I thought was changing my location; I’ve ran the same maybe 3-mile route from my house for maybe the last year but without transport, I found it hard to find new and exciting routes. Then I got a car in June and decided that I wanted to go further a field and started trail running. 

I was a very lucky lady because Blacks the outdoor retailer offered me the opportunity to review a pair of the Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe. 

‘Same iconic Boost™ midsole, sleek new profile; the exclusive Agravic from Adidas is their next generation Boost running shoe which delivers uncompromised, endless energy on the trail’

As you can see from the description from their website these shoes sounded just what I needed for my transition into trail running.

When I received the trainers the first thing I noticed was the sole of the shoe. The Terrex trainers have a Continental Rubber sole which helps to deliver exceptional grip which is great for keeping your strides stable and controlled. The grips on the sole are deeper than your regular trainer which again gives you the stable stride and also is great in wet conditions. As we know a lot of trails have an uneven surface which is why people like going trail running but giving your feet a stable grip and platform is always  important, which is what you get with these shoes.

I knew that the trainers that I normally would run in weren't going to be good enough for running out on the trails as they didn't offer enough support around the ankle. I was pleased when I tried on the Terrex that they came up around the ankle just enough to give my ankles the support they needed but not to high.

 What I have found when I’ve been running in these trainers is that they do weigh more than my regular trainers, they weigh around 285g and because the trainers have GORE-TEX membrane which provides complete waterproof protection but still keeps that shoes breathable. You can't expect something with all this waterproof technology to be light as a feather.  The waterproof technology like I said encourages breathability which helps to keep the feet cool and dry which I find great when you’re out running in the rain which living in the north happens a lot you can get wet a lot.

I did find at first it very hard to run with these shoes on because of the weight of them. My regular trainers are Nike Frees so are basically the total opposite of the Adidas Women's Terrex Agravic Boost GORE-TEX Shoe. I found after a couple of short runs my legs started to get used to the weight of the shoes and now find them very comfortable to run in. The shoes are very well made as they can deal with all weathers with the shoes still looking in very good condition even after the amount of running I have done over the past 5/6 months.

I would definitely recommend this type of shoe if you are looking to invest in some shoes that are specially made for trail running. They are normally retail at £110 but at the moment are reduced to £88 which I think is a bargain.

These trainers would also be a great present for anyone that is interested in running trails or interested in walking in the countryside.  

To go along with this post I will be sharing my favourite trail route across Newcastle and Gateshead. Keep an eye out for that post coming next week. 

*hese trainers were gifted to me from Blacks but all view are my own and not influenced by anyone.

Newcastle MoRunning 2016 - We Did It!

Yes, you are reading that right we did it. If you read my last post about how I had signed up to do the Mo Running 10K  all in the name of the Movember Foundation. You will know more about what I'm going to talk about.

I thought as it was such a great day that I would tell you all about how it went. 

MIGHT HAVE BEEN A BIT EARLY

As there was quite a few of us doing the run (8 of us) we decided to get there early 2 hours early (or if you want to be really precise 1 hour and 45 minutes). Unfortunately for us, the weather had not been at its best. I think I saw more rainfall in the 2 hours I was waiting than I had in weeks. As we were early it did mean that we got to get our numbers and bags but in the tent already to go. We decided not to do fancy dress but we did go with colorful mustaches (mine lasted only around 15 minutes) and it was perfect opportunity to get some photos. 

Source - We made the highlights page! 

ITS TIME TO GET GOING!

The run was 10K and yes you read that right 10K. I was slightly nervous before the run as I hadn't done any training leading up I just wasn't feeling up for it and had never done a 10K run before. We all agreed that timing wasn't a massive thing (I still wanted to get under 1hr 10 minutes) but it was about having fun and doing something that some of us had never done before. 

So we got to the starting line as were ready to go. With our headphones in, are Runkeeper app all ready to go and then we were off. 

THE ROUTE

If you've done any run or race on the Town Moor you will know the route. It was a pretty simple flat route of Newcastle Town Moor and we did it twice. The route itself I've done a few times but never as a 10K. The first 5k I found to be really easy I even did my best 5k pace but then I got to 6K and my knee started to play up I decided to take it slowly but still kept going. 

When we got to around 7K that was when my right leg really started to play up. I walked for a small period of time but decided to try and power through. I made it to around 9K til I had to stop again. I decided to walk fast and check my app to see what I was doing I saw that I was very close to the 1hr mark and that was when I decided that I really needed to push through the pain and just make it to the end. Which I did and I was really proud when I saw I had done it in 1hr and 58 seconds. Not only did I crush the time I wanted but I showed myself that I could run further than 5K.

CONGRATULATIONS TO US!

How cute is the medal!

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

Photos taken by @mjteasdale

After finishing the race I met up with the people who had already finished and we waited for the rest of our friends to finish the race. We all finished under 1hr and 15 minutes which is great. We took lots of great photos with our medals and decided that the PUB was the next place to go. We ended up in the Wylam Brewery which is located within exhibition park and becoming one of my favorite places to go (it has a photo booth why wouldn't you love it). 

I hope you enjoyed reading all about my experience of doing my first 10K and ticking it off my bucket list, I definitely think I pick a good one to start my 10k bug, Thank you to all the supporters that were out on the day and to the lovely ladies that I was running with from the This Girl Can Civic Centre Running Group. 

*Disclaimer: I was given a free race place in return for a blog post.

Extreme Air - Newcastle Trampoline Park

I’ve always been someone that’s been pretty active, doing any sport that my mam would let me do. It turned out that trampolining would be my  main sport around 5 years you can read more about that below. So you can imagine my face when I heard that there was going to be a brand new trampoline park opening just up the road from me I knew I had to find out more. Newcastle Trampoline Park opened up in October 2016 and one of the main things that drew me to the centre was their new Extreme Air class.

So like I said before my main sport throughout school was trampolining that was because when I was in school I was asked to join a trampoline team and I think that was where the jumping bug started. After 4 years of competing for the school team and then for a club the jumping bug had to be stopped after falling off and injuring my knee quite badly. 6 years after not going back on I knew that my knee could handle doing it again. The only thing was that I had grown too old to join a club so didn’t know what to do.

That was when luck hit me and my local sport became the new Newcastle Trampoline Park. I’m not going to lie, I was very excited for this trampoline park to open but when I heard through the grape vines that they were thinking of doing trampoline fitness classes I knew this was meant to be. When the park officially opened they put a call out on their facebook for people to try out their Air Extreme class.

Myself and my friend Shane decided we couldn’t miss this opportunity. We had no idea what we were letting ourselves in for but we knew we just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to try it out.

Main Trampoline area in the park.

We arrived at the trampoline park all ready to go, the centre itself has had a refurbishment since being taken over by North Country Leisure, it looked nothing like its old self and the trampoline park itself was bright and light. We arrived at reception to be greeted by the reception staff and they were all lovely. When we had booked over the phone, we got told that we would have to buy some of the trampoline parks socks which were £2. When you think about a number of times you could wear these socks £2 is nothing.

The next thing we had to do was sign a form which was like the terms and conditions of the parks. Along with the form we had to watch a 3 minute which was a basic briefing of what you couldn’t do in the park, this included all the safety aspects of jumping (you have to watch this every time you go to the park). I will say the noise it makes for a broken bone puts me off every doing something you shouldn’t. We also got to met our lovely instructor for the class called Millie.

Me trying to get some height while trying to look cool.

After all the safety talks and watching the video it was time for the class. I had no idea what to expect but let’s say I was a little excited at getting onto the trampolines.

Me doing a tuck jump

The class is a mix of your traditional boot camp/fitness and a trampoline class. Trampolining can be one hell of a cardio workout. When we started off the class with cardio I knew we would be working hard. We started off with the simple warm up with us doing the 3 simple trampoline moves, these are tucks, pike, and straddles. The warm up was also the time for everyone to get used to the trampolines and get used to the surrounding.

Me doing a full turn

 Then the real workout started, in trampolining the higher you bounce the hard it is on both your legs and core. We did a simple HITT session to start with us working out for 30 seconds, 10 seconds rest, 20-second exercise, 10 seconds rest and then 10 seconds exercise, 10 seconds rest. We did this for all 4 of the basic trampoline moves and I will tell you that I was sweating and my legs were burning.

We then went on to do a leg and abs workout. You might be thinking this is the simple part but when you think about doing squats and keeping your balance on a normal floor it can be pretty hard, so now imagine doing that on a trampoline, your legs and core are working overload.

Me having too much fun. 

After all that it was time for a cool down. The class works out about 45 minutes long and its full body workout. You definitely come away from the class sweating and expecting to be in pain the next day.

If you are looking for a workout that is something new and different this is definitely the class for you. I would recommend this class to anyone that is up for a challenge. The class run on both a Monday night between 7pm-8pm (with Millie) and Tuesday night between 8pm-9pm (with Emma). If your not a member of the park the class is £5, but if you become a park member you can get it for £3 and even better if you become a member of the gym you get it for free as it is part of the gym membership.

If you fancy booking on (there are only 13 spaces for each class so you have to be quick) you can book here or you can call the centre to book on.