Hello everyone, sorry I am late posting, we had friends over last night and had a busy morning. Happy weekend. For any of you new graduates whom have started running during COVID-19 world you may or may not have heard of a thing called parkrun. parkrun is a free 5K which takes place every Saturday morning all around the world. It is for everyone, slow, fast, able, disabled, big, small and everyone in between. Oh and don't forget about the super Mum's and Dad's who push their babies in buggies. You can walk, jog, run, run/walk, it's not a race, just a run in the park and loads of us here on Bridge to 10K did it religiously every Saturday morning.
parkrun is back thankfully in Northern Ireland, England and Scotland today as well as some other Countries around the world.
Wales and The Republic of Ireland are still awaiting a parkrun return, but wales is just a week away now. So until parkrun returns some of us take part on our own in a Virtual parkrun every Saturday morning. We post after our run and let everyone know how we got on. The little run report can be done over a post actual parkrun coffee and treat/cake. (parkrun is all about the after run coffee and cake, and meeting friends old and new). It can be run/walked on any route close to you which is 5K. Does not have to be done in a park, you can even do it on a treadmill.
If you are a new graduate and would like to start, all you have to do is run, walk or jog at an actual parkrun or a 5K run/jog/walk anytime today or tomorrow and write a little run report under this post. It's like a little community and it is good fun, sets you up nicely for the weekend. If you want to you can register on the parkrun website and you can log your 5K (not)parkrun. In fact you can log any 5K done during the week as a (not)parkrun on the website. I only log Saturday runs, when I remember.
For anyone whom has not done a real parkrun yet and if it is available to you, give it a try. It is the most wonderful community event. Saturday mornings will never be the same again.
Looking forward to my run today although it is wet, with drizzle rain, and also looking forward to hearing from all of you who ran in real proper parkruns and (not)parkruns. Happy running and have a lovely weekend.
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I feel slightly ashamed to admit I do see Park run as a race ( only against myself ) so didn’t run Park run today as I’m having an easy week of running. There is no way I have enough self control to not race it. My (not) Park run time today was 34.19 which was part of a zone 2 10k run. It was encouraging to see that back in January that was a flat out high heart rate run for me so progress is being made or is it Winter…. Happy running everyone ❤️🏃♀️🏃🏻♂️
Very well done. I used to sometimes just go out for a nice gentle parkrun when I could, it was nice just jogging and being relaxed. Unfortunately I've lost so much fitness now that I wouldn't be able to do that, I'm a full 10 minutes slower for a 5K. Running a nice gentle 10K will help you massively for 5K endurance. Happy running.
Overcast and a little drizzly here too which was upsetting the man running the mini golf and cafe this morning as he wasn’t getting too many customers. We did partake of his bargain tea and brownies this week though and we will be back 😋
So we had eldest kitten today and as my ankle was feeling particularly sore I ran/walked with him for the first lap which made a change. He hasn’t run since June but has been walking a lot with his summer job. I couldn’t stay with him though as I just couldn’t slow down anymore - it was making my ankle worse - so I left him to it and made up some time. Got in at 32:19 so turned into one of my steady 5k times in the end even though the humid air left me gasping.
I think it’s more muscular now as the tendonitis has gone down. Need to book that sports massage but we’re off on holiday so it will have to wait - Fellfoot parkrun next week all being well, at the base of Lake Windermere, very much looking forward to that.
Oh yes, I got a shout out for my 50th volunteering even though my email insists I’ve done 49. Well the RD and me both think I’ve done 50! 🤔
Welcome back Scotland! Looking forward to Al’s post 😀
Thanks RW, looking forward to it. The ankle will get there eventually. I would rest it but I mentally can’t so it’s going to take a while. Sorry if I keep whingeing about it week in week out. I think it’s going to put pay to my going for a 10k PB at the Big10k next month which is really annoying 😩 Hopefully a good pummel will help.
Good afternoon Damien, don't worry about being a little late although if you hadn't posted by one o'clock I was thinking of hosting it if you had been delayed for some reason or another.
This morning I ran my 61st (not) parkrun in a time of 34.07 which is 3 seconds faster than last week, you are correct in saying that parkruns resumed in Scotland today, however, I am holding back for a couple of weeks before I run my first parkrun after 17 months, I notice looking at the numbers of people running at one of my parkruns that many are doing the same thing, at one of the parkruns I ran in 2019 there were 240 running, today I noticed on the results page that today there were around 170 people who were taking part in that parkrun, I am sure over the next few weeks more people will be taking part in their Saturday morning parkrun.
Looking forward to it when you do get to a parkrun again Al. I can understand your reticence. Ours is till a good 100+ down on its average attendance 3 weeks in. Well done getting that time down 👍
Thanks TailChaser, well done on your 32.19 parkrun time.In two weeks time I am hoping to run my first parkrun for a while at Dunfermline, remember that I told you about the man in my Thursday morning walking group who graduated recently from C25K, I ran that run with him, he is very interested in participating in parkrun, so perhaps he can come with me to run or as least as a spectator as I did, 2 weeks before my very first Parkrun.
PS I can't wait, I have the running parkrun bug, I have just been reading reports from the first official parkrun that I attend, they say the course has changed a little and is a bit flatter, so it will be this coming Saturday, 21st August, not 28th as I had intended that I will run my first official parkrun since 14th March 2020.
Update TailChaser, surprisingly at my home parkrun at Dunfermline which usually averages about 200, the results had a slight problem and were a little late, I notice that 246 ran, amazingly there were 54 "unknowns" which seems very high out of 246 runners, maybe with the long break some had forgotten their barcode.
Probably that is what happened, no RUN for me today, however, I have just come back from a 25K BIKE ride, this afternoon I am visiting my daughter, 2 grand children and my son in law, I have been asked to wear my London Vitality Virtual 10,000 T Shirt and show them my medal 🥉 as well Later in September she is 🚶 walking a late night 10K on behalf of a Cancer Charity
Well done Al. I'm sure all should be OK with attending a parkrun in a couple of weeks. Great to have it back anyway. Well done on your 34.07 finish time.
I did my nearest parkrun venue for the second time. I placed 44 out of 97 with an official time of 30'31". Not a PB, not even for this course. However, I paced myself much better and didn't have to stop and walk at all this time.
It was lovely to have my younger daughter accompany me to PR this morning. She hasn’t run recently, so we decided on a flat course (not many round here!), and Burnham and Highbridge fit the bill. She commandeered my spare running gear - lucky girl having a mum with a spare Garmin and wireless headphones! I also lent her a pair of running socks. 👍
She doesn’t have the same urgency as me to be on time, so we rocked up at 8:55 (😳) to find the car park full! Deep breath on my behalf and we found a space on a side road. No harm done.
There were about 410 runners, so the narrow bottleneck at the start was super slow, but when it opened up I got into a nice stride and could see her a few people ahead, taking it easy (like I suggested - and she listened!). It was very warm and sunny, but we both enjoyed the run immensely. My Garmin time was 35:30, PR time 35:51. She finished 20 seconds faster and we drove home comparing notes! She’s run sub 30 before, but is happy to have a benchmark to work on. 😀
She’ll run at Eastville next weekend. I’m barcode scanning.
Came home and did a tiny dog walk with Mr Cheeky who’s improving slowly day by day. 🙏🏻
How lovely to have youngest daughter to run at parkrun again cheeky. I will be your barcode scanning twin next weekend so will be thinking of you. Don’t forget to down load the app - so much better than those old scanners.
Great to hear that Mr C is able to walk with the dog again now.
Can’t beat a cafe BC. I agree. But today we just walked part way up the common and back, then went home so I could start preparing Saturday (as opposed to Sunday) roast as all the kids were at home. 😀
We had our eldest and his partner for a couple of days. They are moving back north and wanted to do some house hunting. First time we have seen them since May 2019!
How lovely BC! Bet it was wonderful to see them. Hope they’re successful finding a house. 🤞
We were all together throughout lockdown, but our younger daughter was away in Barcelona for 6 weeks recently and our son has moved back out. It was lovely to have them all back here today, especially after Mr Cheeky’s recent incident. ❤️
Wonderful to have the whole family together. We managed it for the wedding of our youngest in May 2019, but no chance now. Our daughter lives in Canada; we won’t be seeing her anytime soon. Thank goodness for Skype/ Zoom.
My third parkrun of the year, and my slowest! I am no longer used to running on grass.
It was warmer than expected, the rain didn't start until we got home after a leisurely 2nd breakfast (or in my case, main meal of the day! Avocado smash, bacon and 2 poached eggs with a salsa type salad, on a brioche bun. It was lovely)
Good afternoon everyone! Set off to do my (not) parkrun at 8.00 this morning when it was already 22c in la belle France (and now hitting about 35 🥵🥵) Although I had only done a gentle 5k on Wednesday to rest my right thigh/hip, I had to pull up at 2k because it was hurting. More rest and more massage I think as well as a bit more splashing in our pool and I’ll see how it goes.
Hello damienair and fellow runners, it was very light breeze and sunshine in Southsea today. What a difference a week makes! I am pleased to say my time is improving each week, although still a couple of minutes off my PB time. I was 302 out of 407 runners and 5th out of 8 in my age group. Time 33.04. Mr Garmin said 32.48 from the start line so I am happy with that. I’m loving being back at parkrun and it’s great to hear that Scotland returned today and the other home nations will be back soon. Fingers crossed that Eire will be following closely Damienair.
I’ve signed up to volunteer again next week. The draw of that lilac shirt is too great. Coddfish completed her 25th today, so we celebrated with brekkie of course. Her email from parkrun says she has joined the queue for a T-shirt. Already? Only 4 weeks in.
I can see the lilac shirt attraction Dexy! I’m still a way off (no 20 next week), but I’ll slot in a few Junior PR volunteers once things settle a bit here. 😀
More like the running targets in front of me BC, especially when you get close to the finish line. My friendly running rival passed me in the last 100 metres and I was after him. I didn’t catch him but I overtook someone else in the process. Me? Competitive? I didn’t think so before I started parkrun. 🤣
I don’t try to beat people; I am only interested in my time. That said, I owe Tasha99 an overtaking on the line job…she and her mate crept up on me on the line in a park run..,,,I haven’t forgotten!!
I think there’s a lot of people catching up Dexy and I suppose there’s material shortages like everything else. Must have been lovely to have that light breeze for once. You’ll get that PB I’ve no doubt 👍
First run for 10 days. I don't count 500m test jogs (calf strain again). I came last amongst male runners . Under 48 minutes but Garmin was a minute quicker. It was in Bishops Stortford and there was a lot of grass especially the beginning and end - a nice change but hard. Next week I hope to be back to normal and back to Tooting ( after a brief foray to Devon and them there hills for a one off run.)
Did my first real park run today... 32:15... I was a bit nervous beforehand, because looking at previous park runs in my local town it was mostly men and fast!!! But in the end I didn't finish last, amazingly, and got a PB... And it actually felt nice to run with other real live human beings for the first time 🤣
I know someone who was last in an event race, her time was 28.30 but all the other runners finished that race sub 25 minutes, she didn't realise that all the other runners were from athletic clubs, that situation is unlikely to happen at a parkrun.
No parkrun for me today ☹️. Its been a super busy week and I have been on a course which has sapped all the life out of me 🤯 and have only managed one run this week.
I had all good intentions of running our very local parkrun which I have yet to do, although I know the rough course as it was part of my graduation run / Santa dash. Shall do this one another time.
I am away next week and hoping to do the Poole Parkrun 🤞🏻
A 33:57 on Thursday for me; first sub 34 minutes for months. Average heart rate was 136, and Mr VO2 max put me up to 40. Sadly today’s steady 8k saw me drop back to 39…always said that it was unreliable! I awoke with bad cramp this morning and I felt it towards the end of the run. Calf sleeves tonight and loads of drinks; should settle down. 🤞
I do wonder if the locals have been sneaking over the bridge though, as usually there’s about 4 or 5 runners that post…but the last 2 weeks there’s only been me!
Hi Damien and fellow runners and well done to everyone who has posted, it's all so encouraging. I posted in your Week 2 B210k yesterday to say I was out with a friend yesterday in the park and going quite well. Unfortunately, my friend, who is a marathon runner, came over dizzy and felt unwell so we stopped at 4.1k. Fortunately, she's fine, may have been lack of food.
Anyway, just to say I'm still aiming for a proper Parkrun 5k and also B210k and will continue to keep my legs moving towards both.
Thanks for this. I actually ran my first Parkrun yesterday here in Warrington. It was great. I’ve volunteered here nearly 100 times, but only started running at the beginning of the first lockdown. I love volunteering - it was especially good on the first day back! I enjoyed it yesterday and it was my turn to shout “thank you, marshal!”. My intention is to alternate running and volunteering, so it’s back to handing out the tokens next Saturday. Oh and my official time was 30:10 and I came in 222nd.
Well done on all your volunteering Kipperun. Parkrun can’t survive without people like you. From September you can apply for a black 100 volunteer shirt. How great is that? I reckon you’ll be able to get sub 30 easily now.
My 3rd PR in just under 45 mins. Ran in good weather. No one around me for most of it so my pace was ok I didn't feel I had to keep up!
I did a bit of tourism yesterday and went to Hackney Marshes Parkrun. A _lot_ of people. The course is mostly on grass and not as scenic as they boast as a lot of it is round a playing field.
I'm so not used to running on grass now... found it a bit of a struggle.
No parkrun for me this week as we have taken the family away for the weekend - a great time is being had by all! I did an enjoyable 8k round a very hilly Longleat Center Parcs this morning - unfortunately I couldn't persuade anyone to come with me.😔
Did my (not) parkrun on Monday this week- a bit of a workout with a 29.36 intervals session.
Just in from my (not)parkrun. The time is not important. What is important is that I ran a full 5K without any walking breaks. I took it nice and easy and did it in a time of 35:15. I’m slowly building back up again.
Well done to you Damien on your 5K (not) parkrun, although you aren't bothering too much about the time I am sure you will get a sub 35 minute 5K next run. 🏃🏾 👍
Hi walked as usual my not parkrun 5km in 47.15 . Have done 57 not parkruns mixed up with running and now walking unfortunately. Enjoy the rest of your weekend 😊
I think it was my fault, not yours Doris8 with that time, that 47:15 :57 time looks like you "walked" that 5K in 57 hours, 15 minutes and 57 seconds which of course you didn't, snails pace, sorry for any inconvenience. 😊
Hello Damien. I ran yesterday at the Chichester Parkrun which will be my last time for a couple of weeks. I took it fairly easy and came in 98th/251 in a time of 27 minutes.
Next Parkrun will be on Hove seafront where I’m hoping for a course PB.
Well done Damien. I did my first PR since lockdown yesterday. It was so hard, it was the summer route so on grass which I don’t run on notmally, the grass was long as well and the sun was out 🥵. Anyway a combination of run walk and puff and made it round in 37 mins. On the bright side I’m back and it can only get better😂. A good motivator and hope yours is back soon
Excellent and very well done on your first return to parkrun. Absolutely you have to start somewhere. Each one will be better. Enjoy them and soak up the atmosphere.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
week 2 begins! 
