Eighton Banks - Tanfield loop - Half Marathon Route

 Check out the route on Strava
- https://www.strava.com/routes/2709819145490124852

Park at the Engine Room pub at Eighton Banks NE9 7XR. The run follows the Bowes Railway paths to start off. A nice 100m+ descent to ease into the run (however - this does means that it's a horrible finish!). Once you run through a tunnel under the A1(M) then it is a long, long slog up the hill for 3.5km. At the top of the hill you get some nice views of Gateshead/Team Valley and before long you are at the Tanfield Railway - definitely worth going 'off piste' for 300m to get a view of the old railway station. Then it's down the road to the Causey Arch - again - definitely worth going down into the gorge to see the arch from underneath. There is a lovely path that follows the valley around and then a few nice little footpaths around the back of Beamish Hall. The final 6-7 km starts with a nice relaxing descent back to the A1(M) - then a tough, tough couple of km to get back to the start. Make sure you look left to see the Angel of the North!


Selected photos...
The tunnels you find under the A1 are sometimes amazing

Go back in time to the Tanfield Railway

The bridge with the widest stone arch *in-the-world* - Cause Arch

See the Angel of the North from a distance
Strava Segment of note:
- Greenfield to Birkland - 3km of pain

Useful links:
Tanfield Railway - the world's oldest working railway
https://tanfield-railway.co.uk/
Causey Arch - the world's widest stone arch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causey_Arch
Beamish Hall - a great day out
Angel of the North - the UK's most famous piece of public art
https://www.visitengland.com/experience/visit-angel-north

Series:
For a list of different half marathon routes around the North East of England see:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The day before the marathon

Image
Manchester Marathon tomorrow. My fourth marathon and have trained harder than ever before. Back in January I blogged what my plan was for the marathon training block . I've pretty much followed it. Only difference being instead of two runs on a Tuesday I just started the day with a double session. But in summary: Go into the training block doing 90km (55mi) a week. Take it up to 120km (75mi) a week. 12 weeks of increasing efforts, with a three week taper at the end. At the maximum do four weeks in a row with 36km (22mi) long runs on the Sunday. Long runs to be at decent pace with at least an 8km (5mi) mara pace section on tired legs. Run every day - alternating between efforts and recovery Tue - hard session (Typically 4x1mile efforts followed by 5k tempo) Thu - hard session (Typically three sets of 5km at mara pace with floats inbetween)  Weekly distances Not sure how much to read into the Strava Fitness and Freshness chart. But fitness went from +59 to +103 to +86. Form went from
Read more

Running goals for the year

Image
2023 was a good year. PBs in parkrun, 5k, 10k and Marathon. With the right conditions I feel I could have got 10mi and HM too - but cannot grumble. Particularly happy with parkrun as that is now eight years of incremental improvement through improved training and focus. Power of ten score card So what are the 2024 goals? It's a big year as I am 50 in July. Entering the V50 category gives me a real chance to pick some goals that weren't possible in recent years at the top end of the V45 category. So I'm intending on training harder than ever - and putting down some stretched goals that may not be possible - but are worth going for. Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon Goal 2  - Top 50 in the UK runbritain ranking for V50 at 5k distance Goal 3  - England masters vest for V50 Goal 1 - 2hr55 marathon With hindsight I think I should have done around 2hr55 at London last year but a few things didn't go to plan and I ended up with a 2hr58. This year I'll try and put things right and
Read more

Bamburgh - Half Marathon Route

Image
Check out the route on Strava: https://www.strava.com/segments/26248649 This route was actually part of a RunNation organised race. That means that the route below is a lap that needs to be done twice to get to the half marathon distances. The main carpark in Bamburgh is at the post code  NE69 7BJ  - but if you look around the side streets you can get parked for free somewhere. The run starts just before the castle, it then goes up through the beautiful village of Bamburgh before turning left onto some narrow back roads. The day of the race I did it was very windy, but the hedgerow gave some great cover from the cross wind. The road eventually winds around the coast with views of the Farne Islands. Then back to the village again. Keep looping around a second time until you hit the 21.1km mark! Selected photos... Bamburgh Castle Each lap started and finished near the historic castle The Farne Islands Strava Segment of note : Bamburgh HM - One lap - A great little 10k route Useful links
Read more