Well not really despair, but it sounds dramatic - Blackpool's equaliser definitely spoiled Saturday afternoon 
, but nothing could spoil the morning after Dexy5 and I successfully rendezvoused with BaddieThePirate 
and Mr and Mrs lexi6 in Wilmslow. Though 7 seconds less on the watch would have given me another tourist run in my 25 minutes benchmark time …...
Wilmslow is an interesting run in beautiful surroundings, which for a while I thought I could really enjoy. The first 200m is on a narrow path leading to a bridge over the river Bollin. The bridge is about 3 parkrunners wide, but at the far end there are a pair of anti-cyclist barriers which mean only 2 people can exit at once, quite a surprise to an innocent tourist who only spots the barriers 2m before arriving at them. This backs up the field to the extent that from a reasonable position at the start, and a few overtaking bursts down the outside notwithstanding, those 200m took 1'15", where I might hope for no more than a minute. And when the path continued to be narrow the other side of the bridge, I thought a gentle pootle drinking in the scenery might be the order of the day …..
But then things cleared up a bit, and I found my stride, and 1k came up in 5'12", so things became competitive again, dammit . After the bridge, the course runs downstream beside the river for just under a k. Now rivers run in valleys, don't they, and you now turn your back on the river and climb up the side of the valley for about 150m to a turning cone, then back down to the river and back the way you came, upstream. This is the long and easy (really?) climb. When you get back to the bridge, you don't cross it, you turn your back on the river again and climb up the valley side for about 80m to another turning cone - this is the short steep climb , and now you know why the other one was easy . Back down to the bridge, and you're halfway. Downstream again, up and down the long and easy, upstream again, up and down the short and steep (!) and now you cross the bridge and run the last 200m home. 25'07" watch time, 25'14" parkrun time, 86th out of 260 and 1st of 7 in my age group - happy days!
The course layout means you can pass your fellow runners anything up to 4 times in the course of the run, depending on relative speeds, so 3 high fives with Dexy this week. The first cross in particular is very crowded, but everyone was very well behaved, and the normal 
human beings (that's normal as opposed to running humans) using the park all seemed very happy to keep clear of the path to let us have our fun. The various turning points and junctions were all well marshalled by very encouraging volunteers, and the RD and finish team were all very welcoming to their guests, including pointing us in the direction of a cracking breakfast. They also had a visitors' book, which I think is a particularly nice touch.
So that's 7 venues ticked off in 89 parkruns, as well as Baddie's pirate ship. Back home in Southsea next week, I think. Onwards and upwards!!
Back in the valley. Unfinished business
Muddy wet gremlins?? Pah!! 👿🔨
