Kelso urban event 16/11/24

Full results including splits are HERE

It was very encouraging to see such a good turn out for the only urban event in our Autumn series.  The work done by Lindsey Knox, Robin Sloan and Rob Cranston in particular to recruit some entrants from the Kelso parkrun bore fruit with a number of entrants on the Long/Light Green course. And from the conversations that I had, they appeared to enjoy this new challenge. I do hope they will return for more!

Having planned the big Kelso Urban event last year, I thought that a fresh start and finish would provide something a bit different for most competitors this time. My focus for the Light Green course was on providing as much route choice as possible for most of the legs. I therefore made use of the Roxburgh Street/Bowmont Street corridor in both directions which offered numerous lanes, closes and backyards and one sneaky wall corner which found quite a number on the wrong side of it. Those who chose the wrong side lost 2-3 minutes on leg 7-8.  I was particularly pleased to discover that there were at least 5 different routes used by competitors on the long leg 5-6. The longer routes provided more straightforward running but smart navigation could cut the length down to some extent.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words about the courses that I received at the finish. And thanks to one competitor for finding a narrow cut-through route within the town centre which has been hitherto unmapped.  That will be corrected very soon.

Andrew (Organiser/Planner)