I’ve had some great running adventures over the years with my sister Mandy. Last year, after the Loch Ness marathon, we decided we try something less difficult and signed up for the Lakeland Trails Coniston half marathon. What a great decision!
We visited our big sister Liz in Yorkshire on the way, and did Northallerton parkrun with our niece Georgie and her husband Peter which was fun. We checked out the race village by Coniston Lake on the Saturday afternoon, treating ourselves to ultra vests, and stayed overnight in nearby Grizebeck.
We had both signed up for the Challenge event, rather than the race, which just means you have more time to complete the distance and it’s less pressured. At the first hill, a few people kept running but most of us walked up and then started running again at the top. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the scenery was stunning. The route does a loop round Tarn Hows, and has over 1200 feet of elevation. It was well marked and marshalled, so there was no worry about getting lost.
I did the half in just over 2 and a half hours, and at the finish walked straight into the lake to cool down. It was a fantastic event, really well organised and with a wonderful community feel to it. I’d love to do more races like this.
Run for your life 