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.
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 .
Unfortunately no parkrun for me today. Having successfully managed to dodge COVID for 2 years I got a positive test on Monday. So I am in my second last day of isolation. I'll be back to parkrun next week. My symptoms were mild. Looking forward to getting back to running again. Have a lovely parkrun everyone.
Hope your feeling better soon. My wife Nicola picked up a positive test yesterday. It has hit her much harder than it hit me. Secretly though I think she is enjoying an excuse to spend a Saturday in bed.
Glad you’re on the mend Damien, and I bet you can’t wait to get back to 🏃♂️
Eastville sent out their regular pleading email asking for more volunteers yesterday, so I answered the call. I haven’t felt great this week (tested negative every day), so I thought an extra day off wouldn’t go amiss.
A gorgeous running morning in the park, chilly and sunny, and I had a slight FOMO pang, as you do!
Flossie and I were Barkcode scanning so it was nice to stand and watch the runners gliding round the first lap before the front runners disappear off round the lake. It’s always fun to clap the buggies (kudos with our hills!) and the dogs. Not so many dogs as usual I’m sure, and today was the first weekend with the new lead rules in place. One dog was on a waist lead though, despite its owner being asked this week and last to make sure it was hand held. 😳
I’ve just realised I’m volunteering again next week. Jenny and I are marshalling. I’m stuck on 80 for a while longer! 😅
Volunteering is a great way of getting an energy boost, especially when Flossie attracts so much love. We also had low volunteer numbers this week but I managed to get the first timers brief slot so I could still run. If all runners just volunteer once or twice a year it would make such a difference.
I ended up doing a (not)parkrun walk in the end. Our Cocker Spaniel puppy was driving us insane this morning. So I went for a walk with her up a country lane knowing that I wouldn't bump into anyone. All I met was a Tractor, 2 donkeys and 4 miniature ponies. At the top of this lane is a dead end. I started my watch to record the walk up at the top of the dead end and recorded my return walk. It ended up being just over 5K. I don't normally take Ruby on walks that long yet, but she needed it this morning. So I'll count that as a (not)parkrun with a time of just over 1 hour. In my defense there was a lot of sniffing and greeting donkeys and miniature horses.
Good that you could get out for a solitary (not)parkrun with your dog damienair. My sister has found the weariness and blocked sinuses have carried on since her negative tests and was glad to be on short days in her return to work.
I’m sorry to announce that Fenton the Southsea Bear is not going to Dublin, but to Cork next weekend.
Parkrun 36 saw me at bramhall for the 3rd time with 313 others. Always busy here and like it much better when it's nice and dry. Took it pretty steady as yesterday I bagged 4 ethels during a 15 mile walk in the afternoon as well as the 9 mile run in the morning! Yesterday's step total was over 52000.
Not Park Run for me... although I am hopeful I may attempt the Saharan, Plas Heli again next Saturday!I ran a NON-park run as my Week 6 Run 2, this week. Up my hill and round and about
Glorious sunshine, but quite a chill on the air and frost on the grass as I got a tad higher.
Clear skies and views that please. I am determined to let my runs progress gently and not over try. But... just a tad taken off my last 5K time, without trying ... so that is pleasing
Good morning Damien and all! Glad to hear you are on the mend Damien 👍
My 100th was postponed as we had a major incident last week at SuA when someone suffered a cardiac arrest. Thankfully, the chap was in the best possible place as we have defibs galore and many medics running so he’s had the best possible outcome. The team, volunteers and many of the runners that day however are quite traumatised, so it was all hands on deck today to make it go as smoothly as we could hope.
The weather was cold but glorious and I wrapped up to marshal at the final pinch point (which had been made worse by the recent installation of a big bollard). Thankfully the dog runners were sensible and stuck to the new rules and the run seems to have gone without incident 🤞
Next week I’m co-RDing and Katnap’s latest C25k group are graduating, so hopefully I’ll get to do my 100th on Easter Saturday. I have big plans for small hot cross buns 😋 if anyone is in the area! Today just wasn’t the day for it,
Well done and thanks for volunteering. Great to hear that there was a good outcome following the incident from last week. That’s fantastic. Your 100th parkrun at Easter will be perfect 👍
Very well done to all your team TC. Nothing can prepare you for that situation when it occurs out of the blue, and you all helped save his life. That could have happened on a solo run and the story would have been very different. So pats on the back for each one of you.
We did think about joining you at Easter but a bank holiday weekend is not a good time for travel or accommodation so we shall support you from afar. What’s 2 weeks delay after the pandemic wait?
Nothing to do with us, we were touristing, so we’re doing what we can to support our team, they did an incredible job.
Yep, you’re right Dexy both with the wait and the bank holiday, especially if by some miracle the weather is nice! Thank you 😊 hopefully I can put smiles back on faces again.
I’ve finally got round to registering for parkrun and had scoped out one to try. There was a small issue with setting the alarm and woke up at 9.30am. Hopefully next week will be my debut.
Good morning Damien, so glad that your symptoms for Covid were mild and you hope to be back running soon.
This morning I ran my 40th. Parkrun, No. 24 at Dunfermline, the weather was rather cold but dry, time for me today was 33.56, two minutes quicker than 4 weeks ago when I had a sore ankle.
Thanks Damien and HeavyFoot, I enjoyed my 40th parkrun this morning, by the way last Wednesday I ran my 21st 10K, my 5K split time was 36.44 which was my 94th (not) parkrun.
I always remember my very first Parkrun Floss, you e-mailed me about 15 minutes before I left the house, after the run I privately emailed you to be the first person I told about my time which was 34.16, thank you ✅👍🏃🏾
I have noticed today that there are an awful lot of "unknown's" at various parkruns, the number one rule is'no barcode, no time result,' So far for me in all the 40 parkruns I have run I have never forgotten my barcode, on a Saturday morning I immediately put my watch on after breakfast and next to it my new purple ultraband barcode, much better than the old paper barcode, so no danger on me forgetting it.
Yey hey, ran my eighth ParkRun today! At this rate, I could be into double figures by the end of the year!
Today's was a new one for me (Cheadle Hulme). I chose it because I wanted something flattish.
With about fifty runners, that's the smallest one that I've run in. Think it's also my highest placing for a ParkRun (although, to be honest, I'd have achieved that even if I'd been tail walker).
For goodness sake SkiMonday I am sure you will get to double figures well before the year ends, you only need to run two more to get to the double figure of 10, could even be in two weeks, congratulations on completing your 8th parkrun today at Cheadle Hulme.
Well, maybe! Having done eight ParkRuns over the course of three years, that’s an average of just under three a year so it’s possible that I won’t make double figures by the end of the year!
That said, I tend to do a ParkRun the day before a longer event and I have two more such events booked for this year so I might get there!
Well done. I once did a parkrun in a lovely park in a residential area in Dublin where I was one of less than 20 runners and walkers. That was my best finish, a top 10 placing. Imagine, right on the doorstep of thousands of people. It couldn't keep going with those numbers and unfortunately is no more.
None for me this week again, Damien. I’m caught between two stools (to mess up a metaphor). My nearest run is only 20 minutes drive away but has extortionate parking rates and the last steep km makes it a misery.
The next nearest is easier, but is 35 miles away,and that’s a lot of fuel.
So for now I take myself off for a 6km starting from home.
I didn’t want to go this morning but dragged myself down there and aired my new running shirt (I’m doing the Vitality 10,000 for Charity and they sent me a shirt). I found it tough and thought that as I had done a few miles on the bike this week that I might be a bit fatigued, but the data suggests I was running a bit quicker than normal so may that had something to do with it!! Hope those if you laid up with the lergy are back out running again soon.
We were short of volunteers again this week so I put myself down for first time briefing before my run. Scotland won the tourist distance.
It was sunny in Southsea this morning and thankfully the north easterly was only 13 mph, compared to 30 during the week. I’d put a long sleeve top on under my new 100 shirt as it was 3C, but I probably could have run without it as it turned out to be quite warm in the sunshine.
I was chatting to one of our regulars during the first km, and that slowed me down, but it probably helped me overall as I came in with the best time this season and no walking. I’d also run an 8k with UpTheStanley on Monday which helps my endurance. Parkrun time 33.04, Garmin 32.30 and 2nd in my age group. As the first came in at 26.14 she does not have to worry about me 😂. Numbers were lower today as lots of people are running 10 miles in Salisbury tomorrow. I think I only saw 1 dog, and 2 buggies too.
Congratulations on that 5K best time for this season at Southsea Parkrun Dexy5, so you gave the first time briefing, well done, that was very quick in getting your 100 T Shirt considering it was two weeks ago.
The winner at our PR got the second fastest ever PR time at Tooting today. I was able to observe his running style closely as he lapped me twice on my first lap! Not many plodders out today so I came last out if all the runners. I think it was the frost this morning that put them off. But it had disappeared well before 9am and I was sweating under the "blazing" South London sun when I was running my extra 3.5K afterwards. 10k is looming in a few weeks time - my first since December (and Covid). Wishing damienair and all Covid stricken runners a speedy recovery.
I am feeling much better now and hopefully will be back running again on Tuesday. Pity there was no parkrun 25 years ago when I used to visit my sister in Tooting Broadway. Wishing you a lovely 10k.
For the first time I actually arrived late at parkrun this morning after a slight contretemps with the car. We had also had an issue with lack of volunteers - I had offered to do first timers briefing for the first time(!), but somebody beat me to it in the end. Good job, because as I parked the first runners were already setting off and I started about 2 minutes behind. No stretching either - naughty, naughty!
It was an interesting experience starting from the back and overtaking quite a few, rather than being overtaken - only 166 runners today. Although Garmin tells me it was only 3°, it felt much warmer and a base layer and t-shirt was all I needed. So although my Garmin time was 29.48, my official time was 31.50.
Ooh what a panic for you Jonathan. But very well done for getting to it just in time. I think parkrun HQ say that you can’t cross the start line after the tailwalkers. But we say that if you get to the end before the tailwalkers it all counts. Wasn’t it a lovely day?
Nor were we, but it was discussed on the parkrun podcast one week. Vassos seems to make parkrun by the skin of his teeth , and often forgets his barcode! 🤣
It was my 2nd ever parkrun this morning, I did the Monsal Trail parkrun again. Had a bit of a stressful start as there was a huge queue to pay for parking! Got to 8:58 and we gave up and ran to the start and managed to join the end of the pack just as they passed the start line! Managed to beat my previous time from 3 weeks ago (which was also my first 5K after finishing C25K) by about a minute so I’m pleased to see all my training is paying off!
My first run in 5 days today. Awful weather got in the way OR I just wimped out…..take your pick. I just don’t do slippy conditions these days. My Monday run was a 5k at a steady 35:45. VO2 max docked me one point! In fairness I was gasping a bit towards the end.
Today, I felt that I had enough at 4K, so I just stopped running and walked home; what do you know, VO2 max gave me a point back! VO2max is clearly not value driven if it rewards cutting runs short…. but that is no surprise 😜. Clearly I need to build up fitness again more slowly. At least I am out there running. No snow is forecast over the next 4 days, so maybe I will make some more progress this week. Happy running folks 🙂
Well done. I deleted most of the smart features on my watch a few years ago. I just use pace, distance and time. That is all I need. I never want to look at anything else. I just run for how I feel. I won’t allow a piece of plastic dictate to me. It is just plastic.
I am much the same really Damien. I do check average heart rate post run when I am trying to build up fitness again, just to see whether things are going in the right direction . My relationship with VO2max is just a bit of fun really. 🙂
7:33/k yesterday JP. Really steady. I downloaded an NHS weight loss app on Friday; 3 pounds gone already and I haven’t really looked at it in detail yet; more tech magic 🙂
Better late than never with my post! I volunteered at Lowestoft today. Haven’t volunteered for 5 weeks and I’d missed it.I was on barcode scanning duties. 284 over the finish line today. Beautifully sunny but I must get some fingerless gloves for scanning and timekeeping as the hands get so cold and the fingers stop working properly!
Today was my first run in my Running down dementia challenge and week 5 in the magic plan which meant an 8km. I must admit I’ve been dreading it all week as I’ve not run that far before. It went much better than I thought and I was so chuffed when I’d finished. A large part of my run was the Parkrun course. There was a strong headwind going one way and quite strong sunshine going the other way. I wish I’d gone for a short sleeve top on reflection. Feeling motivated for the rest of the plan!
Very well done and thank you for volunteering. Well done too on your long runs. Hopefully we will have warmer weather soon and fingerless gloves will be for winter.
Sorry to hear re covid, it's sneaky isn't it, just when we think it's not coming our way, whack, it appears! I'm loving ParkRun, did my 30th one yesterday, and to think when I first joined up, I thought I'd go maybe once a month, little did I know, I'd be hooked from week 1!!
Thank you. I did not have too bad a dose of Covid thankfully and my symptoms were very mild other than a lingering headache. I am looking forward to making a return to running this evening.Yes me too, I was nervous turning up to parkrun first. I didn’t know anyone else and I was still doing the C25K plan. I ran, walked and jogged my way around the first few times and soon was addicted. I’ve met so many lovely people and made some good friends too. I’ll be doing my 95th parkrun on Saturday. Looking forward to it.
Did a (not) parkrun 5km time walking 46.01 which was part of my early morning crisp walk 8.25 km. good to go out in daylight. I don’t see a lot of walkers reporting here so hope this ok. Hope you and your family have a quick recovery as well from covid. 🙂
Of course, just as all walkers are very welcome at parkrun, walkers are very welcome here too. In fact I did a (not)parkrun walk last week with my doggie. I'm going to do my first run today after having Covid. I'm fine and looking forward to running again.
No parkrun for me this week, as we are finally back skiing again and in Whistler, Canada. Were up for 24 hours yesterday, as we are 8 hours behind the UK, but it did mean we were awake early and out before 9.00am 😳 Very snowy, very windy, poor visibility but not too cold and a joy to be here! Mr S and I were randomly selected for random PCR testing on arrival (why us 😩) but we’re in the clear thank goodness. It would have been heartbreaking to spend our first ski trip in over 2 years in quarantine!
Thank you 😊 52cm of snow in the last 24 hours so just mountains of fluffy powder, which has wrecked my legs, but amazing for so late in the season ❄️ ❄️❄️
I did my first park run on Saturday after thinking about it for a year. It was a large turnout and I did enjoy it lots. I love the stats you get back. I didn't do too badly considering I was last to set off due to faffing around trying to put my phone away and then at the end it took me a couple of minutes to get the barcode downloaded onto phone as I hadn't had time to print it off yet. I have decided to go the first Saturday of every month in future as I normally do an exercise class Saturday mornings.
Fantastic, very well done on you first parkrun and delighted that you enjoyed it, the first one is hard as you don't know what to expect. Enjoy your next one.
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.
