Hello Everyone and happy weekend. Today is parkrun day, a free 5K event 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 do it religiously every Saturday morning.
parkrun is back thankfully in most Countries around the World. I am hoping for any Countries still struggling with COVID-19 that it returns to you soon.
Some of us may not be able to do a parkrun at the moment so until parkrun returns fully for everyone some of us will continue to take part on our own in a Virtual parkrun every Saturday morning called a (not)parkrun. Or if you are away on Holidays, prefer to run on your own, or do not have a parkrun close by you a (not)parkrun is perfect, please feel free to join in.
Please post a little run report after your parkrun or (not)parkrun and let everyone know how you got on. The little run report can be done over a post parkrun coffee and treat/cake. (parkrun is all about the after run coffee and cake, and meeting friends old and new).
If you are a new graduate and would like to start, all you have to do is run, walk or jog at a parkrun or a 5K run/jog/walk (not)parkrun 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.
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 hearing from all of you who ran in real proper parkruns and (not)parkruns. Happy running and have a lovely weekend.
Written by
damienair
Administrator
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Happy 17th Birthday parkrun. I will be running my 22nd different parkrun today and my NENDY ( Nearest Event Not Done Yet) and my 76th parkrun. What will I wear? Apricot or Red 50? Decisions decisions. Nice to have this issue.
Hi damienair , (not) park runners and park runners,
I had a meh ParkRun today. I’ve been conscious all week of a new knee niggle 😱
Obviously, that’s definitely not running related🤣so my run plan today was not to run an all out effort but do a good steady tempo run.
Well as it turns out that’s hard to do at our park run as unless you get away super quick it’s very stop, start at a slower pace. I was keeping my eye on the 30min pacer but with the westerly we had on the way back, it was harder work than it should have been to catch him. Final result according to Strava was 29.35 with a sky high heart rate and none of my usual ParkRun running buddies in sight 😢
Morning Damien and all our parkrun crew! Unfortunately no parkrun for me again this week as just about to leave for a family wedding delayed due to Covid. However I did do a (not) parkrun at 8. 00 - 30.34. Managed 29.42 on Thursday though so keeping sub-30 alive. Next run is planned to be 14k in the lead up to the Great South Run 2 weeks tomorrow! 😀
It’s cold, windy and wet but oh so much easier to run in. We were at Congleton today on the way to our niece’s birthday party. A 3 lapper around a pretty lake. The first timer’s briefing was like something out of a Reeves & Mortimer sketch, they were brilliant! And we had pacers from Congleton Harriers - not had a pacer in a long time, so I clung on to the 28 minute man.
Legs were feeling a bit tired from 15k on Thursday and also the end of a cold. But my hip is sooo much better since the sports massage and the Achilles lump is shrinking, so I’ve a lot to be thankful for this Saturday.
27:51 was the official time (thank you Mr Pacer!) and I was 3rd in my age category again 👍
Good morning parkrunners and (not) parkrunners! A return to my favourite parkrun course at Market Rasen racecourse this morning. I’ve run there 8 times and have 5 x 5k PBs there so it’s nice and speedy. Sadly not a PB today, but I managed 30.57 (Strava time 30.43), was 21st female out of 59 and 2nd in my age category. Dry, breezy and rather chilly, so the wind proof jacket came out for the first time. So much nicer for running though. Have a great weekend!
Hi everyone! I achieved a first today. Tailwalker! 👏👏 It was raining throughout, but it was wonderful to be following an injured dad with his young son. The little boy wasn’t 100% sure he wanted to be there, so dad was holding him by the hand and walking slowly for the first km circuit. I followed (with Flossie 🐕) and it was awesome to see the front runners haring past us when we weren’t even half way round the first loop! Such gazelles.
We passed the start line again and I heard dad and son having a conversation about maybe going in his buggy for the next bit. It’s then I was relieved the dad was injured, as it would have been embarrassing if he shot off running, leaving me for dust! We were quite some way behind the next person so it could have been awkward! 😂 As it was, his walk was quick enough for me to jog happily, and it remained that way for the next 3k. It was nice to see the park from a relaxed perspective. It’s so pretty for an inner city PR. 😍
Towards the end we passed a slower lady, so I slotted in behind her. She was walk/running - except for the finishing straight where she sprinted off! So much fun, and my Tailwalker time was 51:41.
My daughter ran too and got 31:45 today. She was practising nose breathing. Kudos. 👏👏👏
Well done on your tailwalking and tail wagging this morning cheeky. I bet Floss enjoyed being back out again after watching from the sidelines. Parkrun does need volunteers to operate and if everyone has a turn once every few months it gives everyone else a chance to run. It sounds like you had to be a tailrunner today though.
Tailrunner indeed Dexy. I wore running gear just in case so I was ok, but it’s a first for me to be jogging around in a Northface rain jacket! Lucky it wasn’t hot today.
Yes, we need more regular volunteers. Touch and go at Eastville this week. 🙄 I’m marshalling on the 16th, keeping my legs fresh for the GSR. 😀
Yes, I’ve noticed that too TC. I leapt at the chance when I saw today’s opening, even though I was already planning on volunteering in 2 weeks time ahead of the GSR. That’s ok, an extra step closer to that lilac teeshirt! 💜
Yes tail walking is popular because it counts as a run as well as a volunteer. But what I meant to portray is that often it is the same group of people who give up a run to volunteer, while there are many who could step up occasionally to help out.
Our local parkruns are all pleading for volunteers every week.
I think most Parkruns suffer from the same problem. In fact most activities that need volunteers do. As a former secretary of two school parents associations I speak from experience. Parkrun actually seems to do pretty well tbh.
Thanks Damien! I checked first, and they said it was fine for dogs on the main 5k PR, but not juniors. That’s totally understandable. It’s fun isn’t it? 😀
Hard work, running into a headwind on the return of each lap felt like running/walking through treacle, but managed to achieve PB on my 3rd park run. Onwards and upwards 4th in my age bracket. All in all satisfied even though I had to have breathers more often running into the wind.
Good morning damienair, I ran my 24th parkrun at Drumpellier Parkrun this morning, I thought that I wasn't going to run at all as my friend Keith who now takes me in his car slept in, I phoned him at five to nine and said "are you not going to parkrun this morning, we will not get to Stirling but there is time if you hurry to get to Drumpellier", I was waiting at the bus stop, he got there at ten past nine, got to Drumpellier with minutes to spare, I started the run at 9.30 and completed my 24th parkrun in a time of 30.50, as I say we were going to go to Stirling as we did last week but we wouldn't have got there on time, next week or at least my next parkrun will be my 25th, Keith will take me to my home parkrun of Dunfermline, he has promised not to sleep in again.
PS, I have just got a email from the Great Run Organiser apologising for saying that The Great South Run was at Plymouth, of course I knew that The Great South Run was at Portsmouth. 😊 🏃🏾
Well done Al for kicking your friend out of bed for parkrun. You did a great time too Alan, super running. After next week you’ll be half way towards getting your 50 T-Shirt. I ended up running my 75th parkrun in my red 50 T-Shirt today. I’ll be going for my 100 T-Shirt around the same time as you’ll be going for your 50.
I understand that you can now get a 25 T Shirt for running 25 Parkruns, up until recently you only got a 25 T Shirt if you volunteered at 25 Parkruns, congratulations to you Damien on completing your 75th parkrun.
PS, If he had come any later than ten past nine I had decided that he would have still run a 5K, it would have been around my local park, only a 3 minutes walk from where I live.
I'm not a parkrun tourist at the moment, unlike some others here. This was my seventh visit to my local venue on a very damp morning.
Near disaster! I put my watch on charge this morning when I was kitting up at home, but forgot to take it off charge and wear it. I had to use the Strava app on the phone to record the run. The phone has a better GPS unit than the watch and copes better with the tree cover and lots of corners that this course has.
We lined up (if you can call it a line up) half expecting it to pour down on us. The Run Director said some words above the murmuring and we were off.
I tried to keep it slow at the start, letting the bulk of folks zoom off ahead, but got caught up a little in the rush. I knew by the end of the first lap that I'd be paying for it by the end of the final lap.
Once again, I passed people on the S shaped climb. By the fourth lap I was definitely feeling a bit spent but soldiered on. It wouldn't have taken much for me to drop to a walk today.
It did lightly rain for a bit, but stopped by the end.
My km splits were 6'03", 5'35", 5'48", 5'56", and 5'55". The official time was 29'21", beating my previous PB for that course by 15 seconds.
Hello Damienair, and happy 17th birthday to parkrun. Having run 14k on Thursday I decided to do an easy parkrun this morning. So I ran with one of the ladies I usually say hello to each week and I said I would go at her speed. The wind was at 35-40 mph today, and changed from southerly to south westerly. So broad side on the way out and in your face on the way back.
She needed a couple of walking breaks in the final km, but still found the energy to sprint finish past a man who had overtaken us earlier. So we got in at 36.00 and it was lovely not to feel absolutely shattered and HR racing at the end. She did say she would have walked more if I wasn’t there, and I think she was grateful. 🤫
Had I come in at 36:01, 36:02 or 36:03 I could have ticked off another time on stopwatch bingo. Oh no .
Breakfast in the briny with Coddfish , UpTheStanley and Oldgirlruns who had volunteered and mr Coddfish who had also run.
It’s Southsea’s 8th birthday next week so we are invited to wear fancy dress- just love it.
Very well done Dexy and very well done too on your recent 14K run. It’s nice to just run at a nice easy pace. I did similar today, ran and walked. That’s my 76th parkrun done.
I will have to delve into the fancy dress box cheeky and see what I come up with. I believe someone (😉) ran in an elephant onesie at their birthday parkrun but got a bit hot. I will choose carefully. It might have to be a slower time again. 🐌
I ran this morning with Oisin at a new parkrun which is about 13K from my home as the crow flies. It was their 4th event and it is known as Porch Field parkrun in Trim. There is a large Norman castle there which was used for the filming of Braveheart. It was a 2 lap course, I must admit I found it hard going today. My legs felt heavy and I needed to take a couple of walking breaks. I finished the last 600 meters chatting to a guy who was running his first parkrun. My finish time was 34:05 and Oisin finished in 27:51. I’m a long way away from a sun 30 minute 5K at the moment but I’ll get there again. At least I’ve left it easy to come back and beat that course PB.😂
It’s always nice to try a new parkrun, and we are hoping to have an additional one in Portsmouth in the new year. It will be trails, but will be good to ring the changes.
Your little fellow is flying now isn’t he?. Do say hello from us.
He is flying, he took it easy this morning. He actually mentioned you guys and Flossie this morning and is looking forward to seeing you again when we pop over to get our South for the Compass Challenge.
Can’t wait to see you again Damien and Oisin. I’ll bring Flossie if possible, but will need to run slowly with her as she’s out of practice running on a lead! She was fine today as I was just jogging along as tailwalker. 🐕
And well done you for trying a new course. It’s fun not knowing exactly what’s ahead isn’t it? There’s one that my daughter and I are going to try soon, but it needs to be dry as there’s a squelchy hill! 😅
PB today at Heslington ParkRun, pushed a bit harder after losing a few lbs in the week. A good boost as I have been pretty rubbish of late. Not liking the return of windy running days but got to be done!😃
I ran parkrun today on my home course of Stewart Park in Middlesbrough, it was my 2nd ever Parkrun event and I didn't feel to clever, very blocked nose and couldn't breathe properly. I also forgot my earbuds so had no music or time/distance prompts to drive me on. The run felt ok to start, set a new PB of 4:44 over 1km on either first or 2nd km (not checked 🤣) but after that it felt rough! Breathing was laboured and I felt tired and like I was going to have to stop. Pushed on however and finished in a respectable 25:57 (unofficial Garmin time). Pleased overall as don't think my body wanted to be out there one little bit 🤣🤣
Hi @damienair Hope you're well. I did my 10th parkrun today and got a PB! I have been consistently running 3 times a week (apart from this week when I only ran twice) since I graduated from C25K in July and I'm currently training for a 10k and have been increasing the duration of my long runs for the last 6 weeks on Ju Ju's magic plan and I think it is all beginning to pay off. Being consistent and increasing duration slowly I think is what has kept me injury free and helped me to get stronger. I seem to be shaving off a minute each month off my parkrun times so am really pleased. Oh and we managed to miss the rain today! 🤗
Well done Bladerunner. I understand Eastleigh is a bit tougher than ours as it's on grass. Southampton Common is a great nearby course and you can get 800 runners there. Yes I used to think it was too early, but you soon get into the routine of 9.00 every Saturday..
Erm 46 '29 (Garmin time - PR time was over a minute slower - I was quite rightly at the back of the 534 runners at the start line today.) I saw my ex neighbour who nearly got a sub 30 and a work colleague I haven't seen for 18 months who did (easily!) I carried on for a total of 12.5K and racked up 24.5K this week (a PB of sorts!) Those speed intervals are beckoning now. And no mowing today - it started to rain properly only after I finished my run. So just a flu jab and moving the CD and DVD cases to yet another room (friends say I should stick to digital!)
Thanks to all those who volunteered and had to wait for us snails.
You aren't a snail at 46 mins Rennur, we often have tailwalkers coming in at 1 hr 15 mins. It's great to see people you know, and you will also start recognising those in your speed zone.
Cheers. I am going to concentrate on pace next week and not do a long run. There are a few people I recognise in my speed zone, but I was well behind them today. I guess I was saving myself for the longer run after.
We snails are needed Rennur! I’d be v.happy with 46’29 - at the moment I couldn’t run 5k anyway and if I could it would take me longer than that! But never mind, we get there in the end don’t we! I had my flu jab today as well and am sitting with a slightly sore arm looking at a shelf full of CDs - so much better than digital!
Well done Rennur, another parkrun done. A fast walk and slow run burn the same amount of calories over 5K. And parkrun is such a lovely healthy way to kick off the weekend. The great thing about starting at the back is that as you get back to running faster you’ll see your improvement as you move up through the field of runners.
First time at Wolverhampton today and thoroughly enjoyed it. I had never done a multi lap parkrun before and really enjoyed the soft bouncy tarmac.
Great atmosphere and got round in 28:40 before the rains came.
Volunteering next week at my usual venue as I alternate between run and rest.
Hi I was followed by the tail walker and got a PB in around 41 mins. Not so many runners today due to some big events going on. The weather was fine and brightened up as I went on🙂
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.
