Parkrun #12

[Dave58]

Weather forecast was crap but never mind skin is waterproof yeah. So having checked that it was on (run director inspection at 8am 👍) I was going. What to wear was the hardest desicion but I went for shorts, base layer and long sleeve top. Started my strava app on my phone and my stopwatch and off we go. Despite the weather there were still about 300 people lined up at the start. I've set my phone to give me audible live time checks at every 0.5k but for some reason they didn't seem to be accurate. I've done this parkrun now 12 times so I know where the kilometre marks are and strava didn't seem to match the times at the checkpoints I thought? I knew I was going at a fast pace cos I could feel it! I was shocked though when I stopped my watch at the finish in a time of 24.03 and the official parkrun time has just come out as 24.06 which is 50 secs quicker than my previous PB! WOW Wasn't expecting that.

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Congratulations on a PB at this mornings Parkrun, sub 25 minutes, fantastic. 😊 🏃

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Couldn't believe I got a PB in this weather. So unexpected

[molly1973]

Wow! In this weather, too! Great job 👍

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to molly1973]

It's raining here now but it was dry this morning but it was very windy

[molly1973 in reply to Dave58]

I’m in Leeds and it’s been awful today. Putting today’s run off until tomorrow!

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to molly1973]

Hope you have a good run tomorrow.

[molly1973 in reply to Dave58]

Thank you: I did!

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to molly1973]

Awesome. I went for a jog with the wife this morning. Much nicer weather. She's on c25k wk8.3

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Oh wow! That is a very special time for a 5k - you must be feeling pretty chuffed! Well done!🙂👍

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

Absolutely chuffed thanks. So unexpected too.

[Sandraj39 Graduate10 in reply to Dave58]

...and setting the bar high for yourself now!😉

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

Always nice to pb 😊

[over61andstilltrying Graduate10]

Well done to you!

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to over61andstilltrying]

Thanks. It was hard in this wind but satisfying all the same

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Well done Dave! I’m liking your time very much. And in this wind! 👊💨 🏃‍♂️

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thanks. Yeah it was so unexpected too

[JonathanP Graduate10]

Congratulations - excellent time particularly given the wind! I managed to equal my PB (28.26) this morning which was a bit of a surprise too!

[Bridget007]

Wow 😲 you really are speedy! Well done 👍🏻

[ArthurJG Graduate10]

Well done. Yes Strava uses GPS which people think must be really accurate because it’s electronic but actually the mechanical methods they use for official course measurement are more reliable. Just not so practical to carry round the course with you GOS is usually pretty good to be fair but there are issues that can arise: for example it assumes you have run in a straight line since the last time it saw you, which if it’s sampling every second is a good approximation but if say there is a blind spot where you run round a bend the GPS will assume you went in a straight line not a curve so it will underestimate the distance. And because it’s watching you from a height of over 20,000 miles (!) atmospheric conditions can affect the signal too. I think it’s fair to say atmospheric conditions were out in force yesterday.

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to ArthurJG]

Thanks for the insight into how GPS works. Our parkrun course is an out and back one with a big loop at the turn. The error yesterday was it shortened the loop which affected my split times but obviously the official parkrun time is completely accurate and that's what matters

[ArthurJG Graduate10 in reply to Dave58]

That sounds about right. At least it didn’t have you running across the North Sea as it had me doing earlier in the week. On a route I’ve done many times before, which it normally logs accurately.

[Dave58 Graduate10 in reply to ArthurJG]

It actually did have me running across the sea as it happens. As you say it's normally quite accurate but it was very wet and windy yesterday although I was lucky I didn't get wet as the rain seemed to miss us until after we finished