Rising Sun Country Park 5K, 10K & Half Marathon brings three running challenges to North Tyneside on Sunday 1 November, but the landscape beneath runners' feet has a story of its own.

Today Rising Sun Country Park is a green oasis of around 160 hectares, incorporating woodland, grassland, ponds, a nature reserve and working farm. Its past looks very different. The land was once associated with coal mining and an isolation hospital, making its transformation into an extensive recreational and wildlife space particularly striking.

That modern landscape provides the setting for Up and Running Events' three distances, giving runners the choice of 5K, 10K or Half Marathon. It means the same event can accommodate someone taking on an organised 5K as well as more experienced runners looking for a longer challenge through the country park.

The surroundings should be as much a part of the experience as the distance. Rising Sun is a Green Flag Award winning country park, with an extensive network of paths through its varied habitats and Swallow Pond among its best known features. Despite being surrounded by the communities of North Tyneside, it offers runners a distinctly greener environment away from the neighbouring urban landscape.

Up and Running Events also includes chip timing, a finisher's medal, post race goodies, free race photographs, hydration stations, first aid and fully marked and marshalled routes as part of its race day package.

From an industrial landscape to a country park filled with runners, Rising Sun has undergone quite a transformation. On 1 November, there will be three different ways to explore it.

Entries are available now via the runABC race hub here.

Image AI generated.