I suspect it's not the actual running we're missing; since many of us can just go out and run when the mood takes us so long as we are fortunate with our health and the COVID-19 restrictions in our particular part of the world allow us to do so. It's possibly not even being able to run in a group; since as much as I enjoy the social side, I tend to be a solitary runner.
For me, what I actually miss is being able to have something to judge my performance against. Not my overall position on the weekly email (although that has its own value), but the arcane calculation that is the age adjusted performance and how it varies from run to run.
Then I discovered that Running Heroes has a weekly 5k challenge ( uk.runningheroes.com/en/cha... ). OK, so it's on a Sunday rather than a Saturday, but it gives you a leader board and age tables and all of those little things that turn a run into a "non-competitive" competition. It's not really the same, but it is nice to feel that you are part of group, doing something we all "enjoy" and providing something a little more than just comparing our own performance run after run.
If that kind of thing appeals, it might be worth checking it out while we're all waiting for the real thing to start again. If it's not your thing, then just keep getting out there and running anyway.
Stay safe.
Written by
sTrongFuse
Graduate10
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
I'm doing that as well, but as there are only about a dozen people on my home (not)parkrun, the "competition" is a bit limited. Especially since 5 of them are from one family and are neighbours of mine.
The "real" version attracts about 150-200 runners, but the "not" version is very limited in its participation. My other local one, which generally only has around 40-50 runners each week would probably only have 2 or 3 of the "hardcore" group signed up to the "not" version.
It is a great idea, but for the really small parkruns (like a couple near me), I suspect participation is sparse.
Yes we only have around 30 at ours out of up to 500. I guess some people don’t get the emails and some think “what’s the point?” But it’s been really good for us as 5-6 of us run it to end at the same point at the same time So we go for breakfast afterwards, just like the real thing.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.