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.
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damienair
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I took a look at the weather forecast and went back to bed this morning. In the event, the rain and snow didn't arrive until about 9.45am, so I could have (just about) done parkrun this morning before the weather changed.
I'm hoping to get out to do a run later this afternoon once the snow has melted.
I was in bed at 7:30 this morning texting my friend Petula, we were trying to decide what to do, I would have happily stayed in bed but we decided to go. Glad we did, I really enjoyed the run but the weather was miserable 😩
Sorry for late posting. I had a crazy morning. No parkrun for me today. I ran instead at a 5K in the Phoenix Park in Dublin with 5,000 other people called Operation Transformation. Heavy rain, shuttle buses, and more heavy rain. It was a lovely 5K event despite the awful cold and wet conditions. I finished in a time of 30:45, I’m happy with that. I went with my 12 year old Son Oisin and friend Petula. We were like drowned rats at the end so just went straight home. Feel good now after my shower. Coffee next.
Good morning Damien, 34.34. was the result of my 36th parkrun, No. 22 at Dunfermline parkrun, I am pleased about that time as I had to run "slow and steady " for the first two laps because of a little ice on the course, on the first lap I said to one of the volunteers that this run for me would be a PW, personal worst, actually it was at Dunfermline, but I am pleased to say that I got a sub 35 minute 5K considering the ice on parts of the course, apart from the ice which melted about halfway through the run the weather was nice and sunny. 😊 🏃🏾 👍
Well done AlMorr . Yes take it easy if icy not worth it. Got caught in a blizzard Friday morning on my early morning morning and soaked with a grittier, disappeared by lunchtime. 🙂
It was snowing where I live in Central Scotland on Friday morning between 6 and 9 o'clock, when it went off I only went a 10 minutes walk to the shops, the rest of the day I was on the couch, made up for a lazy Friday by running at parkrun on Saturday morning and taking Holly the dog a 2K walk in the afternoon. Sorry about you getting soaked by the gritter.
It’s still very hot here so thankfully the first four weeks of my plan have been much less mileage than I normally run. It’s going to get tough if it doesn’t cool down soon 😳
Hi damienair , I’m new to the bridge to 10k forum. 😊 local park runs were cancelled where I live due to the wind. But that didn’t impact me too much as I don’t think I’m yet brave enough to do one anyway. I set out for my first consolidation 5K today instead, and it was frankly horrible. Really hard, everything was slow and heavy, no spring in my step, couldn’t find rhythm. Walked a lot of it. Very disheartened Pleased your run went ok despite the weather!
At my local parkrun venue many participants do run/walk intervals. You won't be alone.
I overdid things on my first two parkruns last summer, tagged behind a much faster runner, and needed to walk a good chunk of both of them.
Just looking at today's finishing times at my local one. First over the line did it in 23 minutes. The last group did it in 62 minutes, and the previous one before that 49 minutes.
Unusually the tail group contained three runners (from the same running club) who were doing the course for the first time. Looking at their times at other venues, it looks like an hour or so is normal for them.
parkrun caters for all abilities. If you have to walk the whole thing, you'll not be left behind.
Thanks Nowster. I’m not quite sure what todays problem was. I ran a 5K the other day in 28 minutes, and was reaching 5K all through week 9 in the C25K programme. I’m hoping today was just one of those days. It’s the idea of running with people that gets me - would I overthink it and let nerves get the better of me
I know you're a "returner" dreamrun , even so, 5k in 28 minutes is far from shabby!
Running with others isn't for me. I've done it precisely twice, both times for events. The first time I went off far too fast in an effort to keep up with everyone else, which was stupid of me. The second was much more sociable, but I found myself worrying that my pace was wrong for the people with whom I was running.
I'm a weirdo though, the vast majority of runners seem to love Parkrun, so why not give it a go?
(Oh, and before anyone suggests I practise what I preach, my nearest Parkrun is 3.5 hours' drive from here. Then 3.5 hours back again. So nah, won't be happening!)
You did it though dreamrun. Those horrible ones are necessary to make the good ones great! And the fact that you still did it goes to show how committed you are 👏👏👏 And when you do get to do a parkrun you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it earlier, I think we’ve all been there. Fantastic 😀👍👍💪
I was very anxious at my first parkrun last September and didn't sleep the night before. I had only finished c25k the month before and had done a few 5k runs since then, so I thought I'd give it a go.
I stayed in the car until the very last minute because I was so nervous. But I thankfully plucked up the courage and went out there.
I didn't really make eye contact our talk to anyone, I'd be a kind of quiet awkward speaking person anyway and would be even worse at this moment.
But then it all went off in a flash. The course director gave a few words in the magaphone and ended it with GO!
My experience was that it is very different than running on your my and found that I was running quite a bit faster and the heart rate was racing a lot faster as well. I was absolutely wrecked after it and felt I could hardly breathe, but that goes away after a minute.
It's such an experience and can become quite addictive and will make you want to do more hopefully.
Good post from you Itchiscritchi, I did sleep normally the night before my first parkrun BUT the night before I was due to run, run 3 of week 5 of C25K I was very nervous and only slept for about two hours, but like you with your first parkrun everything went OK with my remaining runs of C25K, of course I was also a little nervous before run 3 of week 9 but I slept normally the night before my graduation run. 😊 🏃🏾
Thanks Almorr, I suffer quite a bit from anxiety and rarely sleep if anything is on my mind. So my reply was an attempt to say if I can do it anyone can.
I'm still like that before any run like that to be honest. But still do it and enjoy it.
I still get nervous about taking part in Parkrun but it passes once you get going. I did my 11th yesterday and I’ve also volunteered during that time. Have you been to watch your local one? I found that helped before I tried it for the first time. Volunteering is also a great way to get involved and to know the regulars. You can log your 5k runs on the parkrun website as (not) parkruns. You’ll get to see how your results compare to others locally. Best of luck!
Chalk that down as a practice run. Don’t worry about it. Also don’t worry about going to a parkrun, it is just a group event in a park and everyone is really friendly and supportive. You don’t even have to run. You can walk it all so it is perfect for anyone and it becomes very addictive. Try it, just register and pop along, walk it, jog it and run. And you’ll never be last.
Absolutely freezing. Then I got totally soaked! Brrrr….. Just warmed up in the shower. Spending an hour timekeeping whilst it’s blowing a cold hooley behind you and you’re trying not to shake in case you double click your timer…not my idea of fun! I’d much rather run…but that’s for tomorrow. Thankfully these days I’m used to knowing how my body behaves and what I need to wear, so thick socks, walking boots and lots of layers just about worked. It was so good to see the tail walkers come in though, we nearly hugged them!
It was our 6th birthday today and there was lots of standing around as the awards were handed out and our special guest, Dave Moorcroft (former 5k world record holder), gave his speech. Katnap, as co-RD, was looking after him. They came over to us timekeepers for a photo, and I hinted that I needed a warming hug but neither of them obliged, so a big coffee and bigger cake was consumed afterwards to make up for it!
RDing again next week so the 100 is delayed again but after that it’s the big push as I think, after this week, I’ve got enough Brownie points to go for it! Got to survive tomorrow’s run first though…
How great that your 6th birthday was able to go ahead today TC. It would have been sad if Eunice put the spoilers on! Well done for volunteering - we all know how important it is. 😇
Ah well done TC for volunteering in those conditions and very well done on your 10K series, great running, I seen it on Strava earlier. Enjoy your journey to your Black 100 parkrun milestone T-Shirt. I’m at 90 now and 21 volunteering days.
Thank you 👍 and that’s great Damien, nearly at the v25 too? I’m determined to just go for the shirt after next week’s RDing. I’ll still volunteer but it’s just too close now.
Parkrun #5 for me. It was a bit cold to start with in the morning but thankfully the parkrun was over before the rain and sleet started. As usual loads of people there including some very eager dogs who seemed to want to run much faster than their owners. Its great to see so many people involved of a range of abilities. The person with the fastest time finished in an absolutely insane 15:53. I was a respectable 23:03 and even managed a little sprint just before the finish.
Hello damienair, and parkrunners. UpTheStanley was RD at Southsea this morning so the alarm went off at 6.30 to give time to consider whether it should it be on or off with the inclement weather we’ve had. Our Event Director did a recce and confirmed that the council had removed all the pebbles from the promenade and although cold and extremely windy, it was considered safe to run in. I was quite glad to be volunteering in winter clothes instead of putting on the running gear today. I was number checker, Coddfish timekeeper, Mr Coddfish funnel manager and Oldgirlruns barcode scanning. Such great support from our friends. Only 276 runners today, and everything went well.
I’ve done 96 runs and 45 volunteers now so am edging towards those 2 new T-shirts.
Well done to you and UTS, Dexy! There were a lot of parkruns cancelled today so I’m surprised the ones that were on didn’t get more runners. We only had 298. I know the weather was 🩲 but there’s usually plenty enough parkrun 🥜 to make up the numbers.You’re one ahead of me on the runs, shame we can’t do it together but I think our EDs will want us at our home parkruns (mine enjoys embarrassing me!).
No PR today. Ours was cancelle, as were a few other local ones. I did a slow 5K at 11.30 qnd got caught in a horrible rainstorm after 20 minutes. Warm shower was required.
Storm Eunice had done its worst at Portsmouth Lakeside today - no trees down, thank goodness, but plenty of branches and twigs, and those puddles were back with a vengeance! I wore my trail shoes just to be safe and it was no time to aim for a PBSTR (personal best since the restart).
The outcome was 30.10, but I was very surprised to be told by Mr Garmin that I hadn't gone above Heart Rate Zone 3 - and get a 3 point increase in my VO2 max! I'm not sure I believe that!
Congratulations to all "The Southsea Crew" on their various volunteering duties at Southsea Parkrun, well done, if it had been yesterday with wind gusts of over 100mph I doubt if Southsea Parkrun would have taken place, I was watching the news last night, there were pictures of very rough seas at Brighton along the coast, I very much doubt if anyone ran along the promenade at Brighton yesterday.
Thanks Al. You are right, the seafront was a no go area yesterday for sensible people. Our garden and the pavement outside were not much safer when 2 ridge tiles blew off our roof. Fortunately no one was close at the time.
Good news that your PR was runnable today Jonathan, and a great result for you in the dubious conditions! Love your stats too. Excellent news all round. 👏👏👏
Littlehampton Prom was lovely this morning - warm(ish) and sunny, and hardly windier than usual. For my third parkrun I decided to go at my own, comfortable pace, rather than trying to keep up with Winnie (my Yorkie). We even went for post-parkrun coffee this time, and watched the windsurfers (and people think we’re crazy?). Well done to everyone out this morning. X
No PR for me this week damienair . The choir I belong to was doing a relaunch push and a few of us were on live local radio this morning 🎶 One of the rare occasions I’m happy to miss Parkrun!
Next weekend is my special little buddy’s 10th birthday and we’re Barkcode scanning together at Eastville! 🐕❤️
Haha thanks JonathanP , it was a lot of fun. The reporter couldn’t get a signal in the building we’d been rehearsing in, so we had to sing outside with a backing band of buses and cars! 🙄😅
So the plan was to go over to macclesfield as I had convinced my brother to register and come along. Night before they did a course inspection after the storm for any big tree bits and confirmed that what little branches there were could be cleared and they could put the event on as planned. Come 8am and they did another inspection to find that all the rain that had fallen had frozen hard and so they would have to cancel. Cue me messaging brother to pass on the unfortunate news and frantically search for an event that was close enough to me that I could get there under half an hour. Glossop signalled they were going ahead but I'd done that 5 weeks ago and I don't like to do the same ones too close together. Same for woodbank as that was 2 weeks since. Only other options pretty close were marple bramhall and wilmslow. Dismissed marple as it would probably have been absolutely horrible on that field and bramhall was probably not much less on the bog-o-meter. Wilmslow got the nod as it's on hard paths so can only get so muddy. Had a little check myself of the route to sus out the main puddles I'd have to prep for and about 5 to 9 just started spitting. Rain stayed fairly light at least during the event but the bigger puddles were still unavoidable so we all ended up throuroughly soaked. Glad to get another one ticked off at least (that's 30 now) but I didn't like the last minute change. Didn't feel quite myself not knowing where I was going even as I was going out to the car but I know if I'd packed it in and not gone out I'd have been really horrible all day. Will try again next week for macclesfield.
I like hills. We have lots of them in the high peak! Took it pretty steady yesterday so finished over 100 out of about 200 total but at least didn't get lapped by the front runners. I'm trying to keep my heart rate down until the weather improves.
Morning everyone and sorry for being late! I didn’t do (not) parkrun yesterday because we were invited round for a get together with some of the other British motorhomers on our site near Marbella on Friday night, so was a little sluggish 😂😂 However, this morning it is quite cloudy and a bit cooler than recent days (14c) so I went off to explore. Alongside the main road out of the campsite then turned off along a trail up into the hills, back down to the road, over the footbridge, through a housing development, a short stretch on the beach and finishing on the boardwalk across the dunes. Very varied terrain and a time of just over 35 minutes. Enjoyed that 😃
Sorry late post for me! I ran my 11th Parkrun yesterday at Lowestoft seafront. It was beautifully sunny but also very cold and windy. Half the course was running into a biting head wind but it was delightful to turn around and have the wind behind your back! It’s a shame the finishing straight was into the wind. Took the sails out of my attempt at a sprint finish! 37.19 for me. Happy with that given the conditions. Well done everyone!
Mine wasn’t exactly a parkrun or not, but the last run of the HM plan I’ve been doing. Wasn’t the best running weather - you may have seen this picture on the marathon page…. It only got worse!
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Pleased your run went ok despite the weather!
week 2 begins! 
