Gibside Fruitbowl 7

The Gibside National Trust run estate in autumn must be one of the most beautiful venues for any race in the country – but it comes with a sting in the tale!  Any course that has a colour code route map with down sections, up sections and then very up sections gives a clue to how hard a test faces the runners over the 5.9 mile course.  2 Ponteland Runners lined up this year – myself and Dave Legg, and we finished 72nd (43:33) and 143rd (47:32) respectively.  The winning time was an unbelievable 35:41 given the hilly nature of the course whilst last of the 413 finishers took 78:32 to finish.  Congratulations must go to Blackhill Bounders club for organising such a fabulous race.  Any members who fancy a really challenging but rewarding race should definitely include this one in their list of must do races next year.