Keswick parkrun with a dog! Running in the Lake District. Tunnels, Bridges & Railways! 

We decided to have a few days away as a family wild camping in the Lake District but not everything always goes to plan. We achieved Poppy's goal of being the highest person in England by summiting Scafell Pike but we also had a visit to Keswick Hospital after Al sliced his hand open. We dealt with the emergency and Al was okay but it meant that wild camping was no longer an option. I somehow managed to find a hotel, on a Friday night, in the summer holiday, in the Lake District which was not easy and definitely not cheap!
It meant that our parkrunday wasn't what we'd planned but Blue and I made it work and headed off to parkrun, leaving Al and Poppy to rest at the hotel. It was my first ever parkrun with a dog and so it was fitting that it was at a parkrun in the Lake District where dogs are pretty much welcome everywhere! Blue is a great running companion but is used to running off voice commands in the wilderness and so running on a lead in a crowd was us out of our comfort zone. I was anxious not to trip anyone up so we set off running at the very back and then made our way through the field. Running on an out-and-back course with a dog added the challenge of trying to convince the dogs not to say hello to each other as they passed. There were also lots of running breaks to sniff things, drink from puddles or to say hello to people... I've no idea how people run fast times with a dog?!
Despite it feeling like a more complicated run than usual I really enjoyed running this parkrun. Keswick parkrun is ridiculously beautiful with the surrounding mountains and numerous bridges over the River Greta. Not to mention the Bobbin Mill Tunnel which is definitely a unique feature f Keswick parkrun... and really fun to run through! There was a high proportion of parkrun tourists as you'd expect in such a stunning area in the summer holidays. I'd highly recommend a visit to Keswick parkrun, especially if you can go when the weather is good and you can enjoy the surrounding area.
An absolutely stunning parkrun, well worth a weekend away for!
Happy running, Nicola :)