Pints & Parkruns: South Shields

Fancy completing the Great North Run without the stress of the preceding 13 miles? South Shields parkrun could be the place for you. The final mile of the course follows the climax of Tyneside’s half marathon, bringing you back along the coast road towards the town centre. There’s no iconic crossing of the Tyne Bridge, but also no long slog along a dual carriageway.

But don’t assume Shields offers an easy route. The course description mentions ‘cliffs’ a bit too often for comfort, and the first half is a steady climb from shoreline to the Leas. Later, skirting some roadworks, there’s a (hopefully temporary) bit of spongy matting over longish grass before stepping into some knee-tickling green stuff for the last five metres in front of the finish.

If you’ve a mind to watch out for them, there are some spectacular views. Tynemouth Priory provides a distant backdrop to the final mile or so, while earlier it’s all about the North Sea, looking towards Souter Lighthouse and Marsden Grotto; we’re a few miles north of Cotsford Fields, one of the wildest coastal runs in the region, and Shields makes a similar impression as one of my favourite northeast events.

This is all memorable stuff, good enough to take your mind off the steady climb from sea level to cliff top. Nonetheless, if you don’t enjoy hills, you might find your performance drops off a proverbial cliff when confronted with a steep ascent about a kilometre in.

Actually, that short, sharp shock isn’t so bad. It’s more the slight but draining incline on much of the course that really hurts. Almost imperceptible to the eye, it takes all too clear a toll on the thigh. In other words, this is a proper test: tough enough to feel like an achievement, but not so ridiculously, aggressively challenging that you never want to come back.

There are other attractions. South Shields is a rare point-to-point route. Knowing how many runners dislike running laps, that’s a real selling point. The only downside is the lack of a down: since we don’t return to the start, what goes up doesn’t, this time, have to come back down. On a first visit I was confidently awaiting a gentle descent, only to find that there was just a sea breeze in my face for the final, flat stretch.

You’ll have guessed from the above that Shields isn’t anyone’s idea of a PB course. It might start on a promenade, but it’s not a traditional seaside out-and-back in the Hartlepool or Arbroath fashion. On the other hand, while it draws a big crowd (turn out is usually around 200) for a substantially trail course, it never feels crowded: the initial stretch along the prom is wide and fast, meaning most have settled into a comfortable pace before there’s any danger of congestion.

Practicalities: there’s plenty of parking nearby, with large paid carparks for visitors to the towns sandy beaches and amusements. There’s also on-street parking free of charge on the coast road, close to the finish funnel. Because of the point-to-point route, there isn’t really anywhere to leave bags, coats etc, so parkrunners are asked to arrive in their running gear. That’s not an issue on a sunny summer morning, but might mean an uncomfortably cold and soggy trot to and from the metro station in bad weather. Similarly, after a dry spell,

The Pint

The closest microbrewery to South Shields is just down the coast in Cleadon. The Lazy Lizard Brewing Company is based in the Stables bar, which is not surprisingly the best place to sample its output. That said, beer production is seasonal – the brewery itself is a small-scale operation – so it takes some luck with your timing to sample of pint of their stuff. That said, the bar is a nice spot with an interesting range of guest beers, and Cleadon is an attractive village to grab some lunch before or after a walk around the coast.

First visit: June 2024. PB: 27:46

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