Gypsy Hack

I used to live in Edinburgh not so long ago, where we had the Cameo and Filmhouse not far from each other. Complemented each other very well. No reason why it shouldn't survive alongside the Showroom, but given the prices and reported lack of decent beer I'm picking the Showroom for Birdman this evening. Also, the membership prices seem a bit steep. £50 for a couple of free films and 15% off the rest means you need to be visiting pretty regular to get value out of it. They seem to be relying on curiosity and word of mouth rather than introductory offers to entice people in. Which is fine, as long as word of mouth says it's worth going.

Got a PB but had it difficult and missed out on my main target. That wind was brutal, had very little to give in the second half of the race. Brilliantly organised again though, and a great atmosphere. I love the contraflow of runners, being cheered on by people from the club was a huge help.

Is this meant to be on the Sheffield HM thread? I think it's Sheephill Road > Hathersage Road > Cross Lane > Causewayhead Rd, then down Rushley Rd and Limb Lane on to Eccy Rd Sth.

No, I don't. The last km has a bit of climb, but the bulk of the second half goes down from Low Bradfield to the edge of the resevoir. There's only 50ft or so of total elevation in it, but the start is definitely below Low Bradfield.

I did the full course as part of my long Sunday run (out and back bits) and I think it'll be fast. The road surface is mostly excellent, and there is a slight decline over the second half of the race (and if there's any wind, that'll probably be behind you on the way back too). Not too many puddles either

The group you saw may have been the Steel City Striders - they have a new club run on Wednesdays going from Hillsborough. http://www.steelcitystriders.co.uk/wednesday-evening-hillsborough/ They're a good club and you'd be made to feel welcome. I'd recommend it if you're looking for something in S6 and are comfortable with running 7 miles. Otherwise if you don't mind traveling to EIS in Attercliffe, my club does club runs for all abilities on Tuesdays and interval sessions on Thursdays, again for all abilities. See here: http://sheffieldrunningclub.org.uk/training-sessions/faq/

A mate mapped it at short of 1000ft of total elevation. I don't think it's going to be as bad as people think though. Stiff climb in the early-middle miles but 6 miles of constant downhill / flat to finish. Not a PB course but nothing like Eyam.

It's the same day as Percy Pud which might be tricky for some (me included). I can't run it, but as long as time allows I'll turn up with a soundsystem blaring out the Benny Hill theme tune to accompany a load of Santas being chased through the city centre by a large group of coppers.

The only instance of cheating I've seen at a parkrun was a few months back at Hillsborough. I was just doing it as a HMish pace tempo run, but a guy who had started off behind me at a slower pace was obviously 'racing' for position and had decided he didn't like the corners very much. So he started cutting every single one by greater and greater amounts. He eventually caught up with me at the end of the second lap and was 15 yards or so in front by the playground, despite us running at almost the same pace. He finished in 3rd but having only run about 4.5km, strutted around for a bit looking unfathomably pleased with himself, then ran off. I've never seen him since, I don't think he was a local runner. ---------- Post added 17-11-2014 at 11:51 ---------- Will have to do this one day - it's just down the road from my mum's family in Fitzwilliam.

Hi Kirsten, It's the Steel City Striders. They are one of a few local running clubs (the area has a very lively club scene). I found info on their Hillsborough training run here. The first one is tomorrow. I'm sure you will be able to just turn up. I know Andrew Davies who is down as leader, and the Striders are a good club and will make you feel welcome. If you fancy more of a travel, my own club - Sheffield Running Club - offer training runs for all abilities on Tuesdays and Thursdays from the English Institute of Sport. Easily reachable from Hillsborough via tram, and you would be very welcome to join us. Our coach also runs a weekly hill training session in the woods out in Oughtibridge which might be good for you if you like running on trails. More info here - http://sheffieldrunningclub.org.uk/training-sessions/faq/ or feel free to PM me if you want more info. Happy running!

Good to hear - I'll be sure to not overindulge too much over the new year.

I was trying to include in and around South Yorkshire. I tried to include races within 30 minutes or so drive from Sheffield. Sheffield itself may be short but I think it's true of most cities outside of London (I have a mate who travels to London regularly and seems to do a different 10k every week down there). I think it's looking up for us though, as you say be good to have a proper half marathon here (I've pre-registered already, you get a discount if you have a number for this year). I get what you mean about the NW though. Fylde Road Runners seem to organise quite a bit down Lancashire way. My girlfriend did the Blackpool Hilton HM a few weeks ago which was very well organised and I'm planning on doing the Central Lancs HM (starting from Preston, incidentally) on Jan 4th next year - both are Fylde races.

Disagree that the area doesn't have a lot of great races though. I've done lots of races in and near South Yorkshire this year that have been brilliantly organised. Eyam half marathon, Askern's three races, the Round Sheffield Run - plus the Doncaster 5k and Chesterfield marathon / HM which I didn't do but seemed to be great successes and were enjoyed by my friends who did them. Even the Sheffield Half was great craic this year, despite the shambles. Never done Percy Pud but it has a great reputation with my club and I'm looking forward to it this year. Admittedly it's tricky to find PB potential courses in Sheffield, but the Askern 10k is dead flat and it isn't far to go somewhere like Leeds for the Abbey Dash, or Manchester for Trafford, if you want a real speedster's race. On another note, a friend also missed out on Percy Pud and is looking for a place if anyone has one available.

That'll be a course record then...

Yup, that will have been me! If we spoke on the course, hello again! Shoulder will be fine thanks :-) Some great pics there, cheers for the link.

Haha, that will make my girlfriend feel a bit better - she told me she lost her shoe on that exact spot. Personally I took a spill twice, once on the soft mud at the start of the Ecclesall Woods stage and one significantly more painful landing on the slippery wooden bridge at the end of stage 8 which left my shoulder looking like it had gone 12 rounds with Luis Suarez. Well worth it though, great event and will definitely be back next year.

I did this in a pair with my mate - awesome event, brilliantly organised and will definitely do it again next year.

Did Guildford last Saturday while in the city visiting some southern family. Very nice event with separate briefing for newcomers, t-shirt ceremony before the start etc. Unfortunately got lost on the course - at one point you cross a field and it wasn't marked out exactly where you were meant to run so I took a significant detour round the edge on the first lap! That and the previous night's festivities made it a bit of a slog (toughish course too, probably a bit hillier than Hillsborough), but would definitely do it again if I'm ever back.

Good luck for that, looks like a great race. Think my mate is racing that one too. Didn't do a parkrun at the weekend, got my long run in instead as couldn't do it Sunday. This Saturday I'll be in Guildford so I'm hoping to be able to do the parkrun there, described as 'undulating' so I'll see what that means to people from Surrey!

Yeah that's the system across all Parkruns. I wouldn't worry too much about the guy they put in front of you though. It's just a run in the park at the end of the day - if it was a 'race' it would be a different matter

Could be anything - heat, fatigue, lots of racing in a short space of time. I had a real drop in performances lasting through the last month up until Edinburgh HM where I returned to something like my usual self. My answer was to rest and to decide to have fun as much as possible rather than get caught up in targets and competition. I jogged a Trunce race and clowned my way around the Eyam course and by the time I got to Edinburgh I was relaxed and happy with running again. Sometimes its good to rediscover why you started running in the first place. I'm fairly new to running so I'm sure you know all this better than me though! Good luck at Humber Bridge!

If that was Eyam I wouldn't worry too much about it! I have a friend who did a recent half in under 1:50 and did Eyam in 2:12. I took it easy but even so was way off my Edinburgh time which I ran steady until the second half of the race.

So who braved the wet this weekend then? Was lucky enough to be sat in my girlfriend's car when the downpour hit - for once driving down to a parkrun rather than running as we had things to pick up afterwards. So managed to stay out the rain until it eased off and thus avoid getting drenched on my first run out at Endcliffe. Enjoyed it, though it was a bit slippy with the rain, slower than normal and at least one lad took a nasty fall. The warning about watching out for the young'uns getting in your way didn't quite hold either, seeing as one of them did 17:31! Star of the future. Gf did a huge PB and I got a more modest one so we were both happy and will be back there at some point. Different scale to Hillsborough, though I like both.

It's not illegal to drive scooters on the road as long as they are properly kitted out. They are not cars and the same rules do not apply to them regarding speed and progress. In fact they need to be limited to a max speed of 8mph to be legal on the roads. It's also allowed to drive them on dual carriageways, though official government advice is to avoid this practice for obvious reasons. You need to have a flashing amber warning light if you do use dual carriageways though.

Knock the kids in the duck pond, gotcha yeah I'll start near the front row then, chase the speedsters round! I'm not sure exactly, it probably depends on grass conditions but I reckon I might be as much as a minute slower on firm grass compared to tarmac over 5k. Part of it may be just not being accustomed to running quick on grass though!