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.
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damienair
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Good morning Damien, no parkrun for me today as I have to collect my new glasses at 10am, however, I did manage to run a short 3K before I collect my specs.I began the run at exactly 8.45 and ended it at 09.06 and 32 seconds, so a 3K in 21:32.
So I am now about to leave my home to collect my new glasses, have a lovely day, the weather forecast for where I am is rather cold but sunny.
Hi Floss, just come back from the opticians,"I Can See Clearly Now" to quote the song by Jimmy Cliff, so at next weeks parkrun I won't bump into any other runner.
A good short spurt of a run for you this morning Al! New glasses are great aren’t they - if for no other reason than they’re clean and you suddenly realise how dirty the old ones actually were ! Enjoy your weekend!
I really hope so Floss. I need to pin down dates very, very soon as I need to work around my London training plan 😱 I’ll let you know as soon as I know 🤞xxx
Hi damienair & (not) park runners and park runners,
No park run again for me. I’ve paused my marathon training but I’m conscious that I’m still getting used to my new base mileage.
I was tempted to run ParkRun, as it’s my 2nd running anniversary, from graduating C25K tomorrow. Instead, I ran for 30 minutes at an easy conversational pace to celebrate. I was certainly not doing that 2yrs ago even though I should have been🙊
Hubby and no. 2 son ran park run. Hubby did it in 25:31 for his birthday & no.2 son ran it in 22:57 which is a PB for him 🔥
The park runs have finally started here again. I did not go for it this morning as I am still deciding which parkrun to register with. And tbh I do feel slightly intimidated. I intend to start it from next saturday 🤞
So true..the first run I did at Plas Heli, I ran with the tail runner..it was a hard run. He let me finish ahead of him...turned out, he was,a Masters Runner, running in competition world wide...he usually finishes that PR in 20 mins or less...🤣We've been virtual friends ever since!
I always wondered why I was never lapped at Drumpellier Parkrun, unlike Dunfermline, Drumpellier is a 2 lap course, flatter as well, I have only seen one runner passing me at Drumpellier just as I was about to run my second lap, when I looked at the results, the man who passed me ran it in 16 minutes?, so I now understand why I rarely see any runner lapping me a Drumpellier Parkrun where most of my PB's have been run.
Although you can run anywhere, when you register you do say which parkrun is to be your home parkrun Me_time . It’s usually the one you think you’ll run at most. It could be the easiest rather than the nearest.
Oh I see, thx . I absolutely love one park, its my favourite. Its not too far from my place but a bit out of the way if my sister decides to run as well. The second one is a bit midway. If we can run at any park then I will probably go to my fav when she isnt running.
No need to be intimated Me_time, there really isn’t, but I can understand why you feel like this. I felt the same before I started as I knew a lot of the local running club used it but I didn’t realise how many ‘normal’ people both ran and walked it. Why don’t you go down there and just watch, maybe have a chat with a volunteer? That might help ease your fears?
My first one was the first after lockdown. It came across as very cliquey as all the regulars who hadn't seen each other in 15 months were very pally. It was also very busy with about 250 runners.
My closest venue hadn't opened that week (it took another week before the local council gave permission). That place rarely gets more than a hundred and has a very friendly atmosphere.
The one thing that's missing at most places nowadays is the post-run café meet-up -- a casualty of the pandemic.
Hello Me_time , honestly don’t be intimidated. parkrun is just a 5K run, walk or jog in the park. It is for everyone, you’ll be fine, you can walk it all if you want to for your first one. Today was my first run in 2 weeks after having had Covid, I found it really hard going so I ran, walked and jogged my way around. Plus it is a lovely way to meet people and a nice way to kick off a Saturday morning.
I felt anxious first time now I've done 26! I chose my nearest pr but it's x country and muddy so I've only managed it twice and fell in the big puddle last time! So I stick to the other flatter pr nearby and I can see my progress better. Good luck with giving it a go!
Run Directing today but that’s ok as I have a long training run tomorrow. Cold first thing (have to get there at 7.30 to start setting up), so remembered my flask of coffee. Someone made some lovely biscuits which were perfect with it.
Thankfully fairly uneventful and the results were easy to process. Got them out on time despite doing a bit of shopping on the way home. The whole Kat family volunteered today with Katnap doing the course check, eldest kitten back from uni to timekeep and youngest kitten came from his paper round to bar code scan. Katnap also had his first run since the Manchester Marathon, helping his C25k group with their graduation run. It’s lovely to be able to get the whole family involved again. Youngest kitten is stopping his round soon so will be able to run it again 🥳🥳
So I’m still stuck on 99 runs but next week is the week 🤞🤞🤞
It was great cheeky, Kat family takeover! Keeping everything crossed now for next weekend, it’s taken so long to get there and this is now the nearest I’ve got! 🙏🙏🙏 Thank you 😍
Best of luck for next weekend, enjoy the celebrations with your family and friends. I did no. 95 this morning. Well done too to you all for volunteering today.
Not as big of a clan as TailChaser and TeamKat volunteering today, but a mini Cheeky crew of 2 + dog volunteered at Eastville this morning. My 29th and Jenny’s first time. We also met up with SkiMonday who’d come to barcode scan. Nice to catch up with him. 😀
Jenny had a blast and loved being an enthusiastic marshal. She marveled at the speed of the lead runners and cheered on the rest. I did too, with the added bonus of dog support! Runners were thanking both me and Flossie!
I went for a walk around the lake after as a reward for her, and got thoroughly lost in a very very very old graveyard in the woods. The broken fence I went through should have given me the hint that it wasn’t part of the main park. 😱 👻 I’ll need to see if my watch and Strava give me any clues as to where I was, although the battery gave out at some point. Maybe I’ll never know! 😳
Oooh spooky graveyard walk 👻 🧟♀️ I bet that was quite exciting actually, I love old graveyards.Great you were able to meet up with SkiMonday, only a month late! #GrrrBathHalf Sounds like you had loads of fun 🥳😍
Exciting if I’d have been with someone, but I was alone with Flossie! Jen had to go. It was moderately terrifying and the graves were extremely old and unkempt. The one I looked at included an 8 month old infant …… 😱
Well done Flossie on another volunteering ✅, and your people too of course!Your spooky adventure afterwards sounds fun! You were very brave walking through the graveyard!
I didn’t realise it was a graveyard OGR! It was woodland as far as I was concerned, but there were ancient graves in the undergrowth - loads of them! 😱👻😱👻
I overlook a cemetery and love it - to me it’s just a big field with stones in it and some big trees but it is quite well looked after! But I can imagine if it were full of trees and very overgrown it might not have the same appeal! Glad you found your way out!
She really does Jonathan! She was quite apprehensive so I suggested a merely clapping and encouragement station for her (no directing people!) and she jumped right into the role. She can’t wait to do it again. 😀
Hi all, I was doing some tourism today in County Durham. I took my nephews with me to experience the joy of parkrun. they left me for dead at the start but did clap me over the line. Hamsterley Forest is very undulating and the terrain very rough so quite a challenge, but the weather stayed dry and it was nice to see a Gruffalo!
Hello damienair, I hope you are back to good health again. Me and UpTheStanley ran a tourist run 6 miles from home at Fareham for the first time. We had a great time and I have posted separately.
Lovely to read all the posts as I lie in bed about to get up for another day of skiing in Whistler (just gone 7.30am here). I’ll be back next Saturday for my 49th parkrun!
We’ve had everything! 75cm of snow on the first day, followed by loads of fluffy powder, then a 12c day, which led to some slush and now cold again so typical Spring skiing, ie icy morning and softening. Fab place and great to be back on skis!
Ran my fastest parkrun since returning to running after hip replacement and my second fastest 5k of the last 2 years (the fastest was a couple of weeks or so, ago, but not at parkrun). It has really wiped me out. I have had a couple of weeks away from running for other reasons and am quite surprised to be so drained this afternoon, I thought I had left that feeling behind a few months ago. It’s taking quite a while to rebuild my fitness and I don’t think I gave that much thought when thinking what it would be like to recover from hip surgery. The hardware itself is brilliant. One day at a time, one run at a time.
I am sure your stamina will keep improving Coddfish. You are certainly looking much better than pre-op and you are not getting the same stiffness afterwards. It can only get better, just give it time.
Very well done. I know what you mean. I’m finding it very difficult to build back up my fitness from pre-Covid time. I was getting somewhere until I finally got Covid two weeks ago. My return today wiped me out. It’s not easy. But your doing great, brilliant recovery.
Hi damienair, It was a lovely Southsea parkrun morning for 341 runners and walkers and a few of us mixing it up! Having finished C25K for the second time on Tuesday I thought I would do a 30 minute run and see how I felt for the rest. As it happened there was a bit of walking but I felt quite happy with my time of 46:59 and I came in at 334 which, considering I felt like a tub of lard for a lot of the time, I was quite happy with! (Note to self, drink more water!). As ever, a post-parkrun breakfast with Mr and Mrs Coddfish and another parkrun friend watching the boats out on the water, lovely! Happy runny weekend folks!
Well done on all fronts my friend - Oldgirlruns is back again. Nice to have lower numbers too. It’s Brighton marathon tomorrow so that probably helped.
Hi damienair and Parkrunners! After 3 days taking it seriously easy my foot felt fine and today was too inviting not to try and Parkrun. I decided I was going to take it very easy and aim for a time of 45 minutes. Told Mr Yes to just run on ahead of me while I listened to NRC's Next Long Run. It's 42 minutes so I'd carry on for a few minutes after it finished.So I set off, walking on the tarmac/paved bits and up the hills. Caught the occasional glimpse of Mr Yes way ahead of me. I felt slow but that felt good. It's nice not feeling the need to compete or keep up.
To my surprise Coach B was still in full swing as I approached the finish. Sped up a bit, you know, there's an audience when you're one of the last runners. Carried on a little further so that the NRC app showed 5k (it always shows less than 5k for some reason) and also to allow Coach B to finish.
When I checked my time I'd completed it in 39:13. Mr Yes got a PB 31:16. Our age related scores were very similar, maybe I need to speed up a bit next time (yes, I know it's not a race but that's not the point).
Had mum join me at monsal trail for her second parkrun and 5 other people from our local running group. Decided today to have another crack at the sub 20 milestone and thought nice flat trail, should be possible!
Started pretty good 1st k on the out downhill leg but was seriously flagging by the turnaround and lost loads of time stopping at the cone and going round it. Fighting a losing battle coming back up the slope. Sitting at 4:04 average k after 3k and knew I'd never make that deficit back.
Still in with a decent chance of a new parkrun overall pb. Had set that 21:06 at congleton a few weeks ago so secondary target was to get that. Finished and time on watch said 21:06 so praying perhaps that I had just nipped under on the official result. Result came out with exactly 21:06 again!
We try again 30th April back at monsal and hopefully conditions will be dry enough to wear my plated racing shoes so will have that added boost to at last make the sub 20 official.
No run today as I'm resting up ahead of the 13.1k Edinburgh Kilomathon ( kilomathon.com ) tomorrow and hoping for slightly more spring like weather. I also had to take the cat to the vet for her annual check-up which would have clashed in any event. She's in fine fettle but currently not talking to me. Let's see what tomorrow brings on both the running and feline fronts...
I originally signed up to do this one in 2020 so glad to finally get it done after having to do it virtually, runni g in the woods around my village, for the past two years.
I traveled this morning to do some parkrun tourism with my friend Petula. Petula had ran a Half Marathon last weekend in Prague and was just taking it easy today. She managed a time of 27 minutes. I on the other hand was back for my first run in 2 weeks after having had Covid and wow did I struggle. After 2K my legs felt like someone had filled them with concrete. I did not enjoy it at all. But the park was beautiful, and the weather was dry, if very cold. I finished in a time of 33:19. I’m definitely going to go back and run at Corkagh parkrun again sometime. It would be a lovely run when I’m feeling fitter. I really struggled today.
That does seem to be the tale from those that have had Covid damienair. Just take it slowly because it will take several weeks. St least when you return there you have more chance of a PB.
Parkrun #11 for me this week. A bright sunny morning albeit a bit cool. Things warmed up rather quickly once we all got running. I noticed there were several runners there with Manchester finisher shirts on from the marathon last weekend. My legs had been feeling rather beaten up earlier in the week so I wasn't trying to press too hard. However, the competitive streak is hard to tame when you hear someone coming up from behind you. I finished in a respectable 22:21.
Busy day yesterday, hence late post -- it was my 67th birthday, which meant a day with the family, but starting off with parkrun!
It was a beautiful morning at Portsmouth Lakeside - a bit chilly but lovely sunshine. 188 runners and I came in at 29.41 for my 90th parkrun - definitely on the countdown to 💯 now!
No parkrun for the next 2 weeks as we are in Italy🤞, but there might be a (not) parkrun from the Tuscan hills!😀
Late to the party again! I did barcode scanning at Lowestoft yesterday. I’d dressed to be the tail walker but someone else did that role in the end so I was a little chilly stood about! 🥶 It a lovely morning with glorious sunshine. 326 across the finish line plus a few dogs and buggies.
I’ve done three 5km this week and actually managed a PB on Friday of 36.09. My PBs have always been during Parkrun before so I was pleasantly surprised to get one on my own. It’s all adding up nicely towards my target of 60km in April for Alzheimer’s Research. I’m planning on the second 8km in the magic plan tomorrow. I’ve got to drop the car at the garage for the dreaded MOT so I’ve planned a long, scenic route home. Must remember to drink well today! Well done everyone on your Parkruns this week. 😊
Good morning Damien, I did it! first full 5k running for ages, and so I ran a non parkrun and feeling flipping happy 😊 ran/walked with daughter yesterday, mostly walking but didn’t quite reach the 5k mark so went out again today Have a great Sunday
Fantastic running and very well done on your 5K. It’s great when you can run it all. I’m relaxing here cooking dinner. Roast Beef on the BBQ. Happy Sunday.
Did parkrun yesterday as part of a 9k. Very slow. Got cramp in the afternoon due to too much sitting nervously watching Everton actually win a footie game. Will stick to 5K next week at the PR near my mum's and aim for a 10K in 2 weeks time. After that it might be time for volunteering again!
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Thanks you !
