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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Sorry I am late posting this morning. I did my 99th parkrun this morning in Avon Dale forest. I was staying over at my sisters house. It was a beautiful 2 lap course through a mountain forest. It was hard, hilly, but very nice. I finished in a time of 33:48. Hope you all had a lovely run.
Oh wow! 99th Damien! So nearly there! Are you going to have a big celebration next week? Sounds a beautiful run today, you seem to have some gorgeous parkruns to choose from.
Congratulations to you Damien on completing your 99th parkrun at Avon Dale forest, next week the big No. 100, just by sheer coincidence next Wednesday when I run a (NOT) parkrun it will be Number 100.
Thanks BC66, the run through the woods on a good part of that parkrun is very nice, along the side of the loch on the right side, turn left into the woods, the birds chirping as if to encourage the runners, lol, it's a parkrun that tourists love, although not my home parkrun it's the parkrun I have had my PB's, 30.09 ran last Autumn.
Nearly all of my runs border woodland. I keep a sharp lookout for circling buzzards when I am on a long run just in case they are sensing a possible easy meal!🙂
Good morning Damien and all. Back running at home this week. Feels like it’s been a while again.I’m supposed to be easing up now in the run up to the start of my marathon plan but I wanted to see what I could do after getting a PB at the Vitality 10k on Monday (just an excuse to put that in really 🤣).
It’s a beautiful day here today so I let my legs decide on the pace. I probably should have been more controlled but, hey, I’ve got loads of controlled runs coming up so I went with the flow. Happy with 27:35 (unofficial) as that’s my fastest in a while.
Bit hayfevery and ankle having a moan as usual but at least it lets me get on with it. And it’s time to get used to those warm runs again 🥵
All the best everyone and have a great runny week 💪💪👏👏
You’re right, that’s a good way to look at it. I bet you do. I was running beside an MK marathoner for a bit. No surprise, he looked a bit uncomfortable.
Hello damienair and everyone, today we went to our Nearest Not Yet Done, which is our newly opened 3rd parkrun in Portsmouth . It is a 3 lap course (that feels far longer than 5k) running on grass, packed soil and stony paths. None of us Portsmouth residents even knew this country haven existed in our city. There was Mr and Mrs Coddfish , JonathanP , Oldgirlruns and me and UpTheStanley . Just 77 parkrunners and I was 63rd. Really enjoyed the course but I struggled a bit with still having Monday’s 10k race in my legs, and had to take some walking breaks. Coffee and cake followed at Costa.
That pic was before running cheeky! For any one who wants an intro to a bit of cross country, it’s lovely. Although I did find a few rabbit holes which could have been disastrous. It’s great that all our parkruns are completely different too.
That answers my T-shirt question! A sea of apricot! Running on anything other than paths always feels longer. Well done on your placing. Is it going to be a new regular run Dexy?
Two vitality tangerine, 2 old style parkrun tourist and 2 new apricots. This was 3 laps and I could easily have finished after one!
It won’t be a regular event for us but it’s good for practicing trails. I am trying to get to one new parkrun a month to get UTS away from feelings of responsibility at the home run. 🤣🤣. I’m sure you can relate to that.
Good idea for trail practice!Yes, that definitely rings true with us. We need to go elsewhere occasionally to give someone else a go at token sorting if nothing else 😁
I’m sure they feel longer if you don’t know the course. Watermead 2 weeks ago seemed endless! Nice to have a choice and that’s a very happy looking photo 😃
It was a lovely time to do the course with the late spring flora and fauna in evidence. A brief interlude between the course being wet and soggy, and it turning into the savannah. So nice to go to a small parkrun too.
Yes I was quite shocked, having lived in Pompey for nearly 50 years, that there was such a big expanse of green that I'd never visited. A small and very friendly parkrun which was fun to run but that last lap did feel endless! Was hoping for my usual sub-30 but had to settle for 30.27 - 2nd in my age group though (not surprising with only 77 runners! )
Hi damienair & park runners, and (not) park runners,
I was back at Park run this week with no. 2 son. Hubby was juggling the other boys soccer games 😇
Goal for me today was to beat the 30minute pacer which I managed (just) at 28:56. Park run took me to 50k for the week so happy with that. Another PB for no.2 son at 21:19
Thanks TailChaser He is on a promise of a new pair of trainers from his Dad if he gets sub 20. Park run was hard work today for me. Hope your marathon training is going well 😍
Good idea! A bit of incentive - I’m sure he’ll do it 👍The Plan hasn’t started yet RW but I’m sort of doing prep now, so training of sorts: the Vitality 10k gave me a good experience of a busy central London race and persuaded me that booking the night after the marathon might be a really good idea rather than dragging myself onto a train to get home in a rush.
Unfortunately not but it has a bed and I have a large bottle of massage oil. I hate to think how much a hotel room in London would be with a bath. I am looking forward to stuffing my face in Brick Lane in the evening 😂
It’s my new base mileage. Last year I struggled at a weekly 30miles although I did it occasionally. This year it has been easier although park run is still as hard as ever 🤣
Good morning Damien. I meant to go to Dunfermline Parkrun today but instead decided to go to Drumpellier, a good day for running, the loch at Drumpellier was calm, I think the term is like a millpond, there were 131 runners, I came in at 91st place in a time of 32.10 with an age grade of 58.91%, just a little slower than recent parkrun times at Drumpellier, I wore last years London Vitality 10,000 T-Shirt after running this year's virtual version on Wednesday, I have NEVER seen anyone else at all the parkruns I have attended wearing a London 10,000 T-Shirt, perhaps it's because London is too far away and they have never heard of the virtual version, anyway next week I am going to run at a park in Glasgow about 12 miles away from where I live, it's their birthday so who knows I might get a piece of cake.
It sounds as though you have a good choice of parkruns in your area Al! I like wearing my tee shirt from last year’s virtual 10k. - makes me feel like a ‘real’ runner!
Of course you are a real runner Oldgirlruns, I do have a choice of several parkruns but as I don't drive I keep to around 3 although I could go to more but they are a bit hilly 😢sadly as my friend Keith died in January it does limit me to about 4 or 5, the 3 I intend to go to aren't too difficult to get to.
I hope so Damien, a few weeks ago on a Friday I walked around that parkrun course, not flat, it reminds me of the park near to where I live, a small hill, then a flat part, however, the difference is whereas the park near to where I live is smaller, a 5K takes 4 laps, the 5K parkrun course is 2 and a half laps.
Hello from the M6 southbound everyone (don’t worry, Mr Cheeky is driving!)
Just on our way home from a wonderful visit with friends in Manchester, and fortunately there was a parkrun involved! 🙏🏻
Fletcher Moss is a beautiful course, fairly undulating in places, but it felt extremely comfortable trotting along chatting the whole way - something I couldn’t have considered even as recently as a year ago with any success! It was joyous. 🥰
My friend was very kind and let me sprint in a second ahead of her (she’s a seasoned runner and could have eaten me for breakfast!) and my time was 36:43 official, 36:28 Garmin).
I love running!
Just had to edit to add that we all went out for a late morning brunch after and I had a delightful Bloody Mary with my Full English. Oh yes. 😋
Congratulations CC on running at Fletcher Moss parkrun today, nice that your friend let you beat her on that sprint at the end, I think we all love running 🏃🏾 👍.
Your love affair with running has been well and truly rekindled after a short shaky period. The company and pre and post run entertainment have clearly helped ! 🙂
You’re right BC. I was disappointed and grumpy after the Bath Half derailed and it was also so windy and horrible, and I didn’t enjoy my runs at all for a short spell. All’s back to normal again now I’m relieved to say. 🙏🏻
A Bloody Mary sounds like an excellent way to end a lovely trip away cheeky! Hope you got home ok and didn’t get snarled up in holiday traffic at your end of the mortorway!
Thanks OGR, no, we got home in record time bizarrely. Took yonks to get up there though. 🙄🙄 Yes, the Bloody Mary was absolutely delicious. One of my favourite beverages - nice and spicy! 😋
If you'd told me you were going there (on any other weekend) I'd have tried to join you. Didsbury area is well within my "will travel" distance. As it was, I went to the Pwllheli one as I'm there for my mum's birthday.
Great running Cheeky and what a post parkrun breakfast! Washing down a full English with a Bloody Mary, now that is living. Well done too on your tourist parkrun.
A nice and easy Parkrun for me today, my tenth. Deliberately took it easy after my knee problems.It was a bit of an odd run today. I'm always at the back with runners of a similar fitness level to me and some fast walkers. I'll overtake a few of them and some of them will overtake me. Today all the runners took off together and after a couple of hundred meters there was a huge gap between me and them, with another huge gap behind me where the slower people were. I didn't catch up or overtake anyone and effectively did the whole Parkrun alone. The only people to overtake me were the very fast guys lapping me as they approached the end while I was about to go round a second time.
I finished in just under 40 minutes (39'50"). Quite happy with this Husband didn't push himself either, 31'45", so our age gradings were very similar.
The runner before me was 2 1/2 minutes quicker, the runner after me was nearly 10 minutes slower. Like you say, there's obviously people missing. I hope they come back too.
I’m very familiar with that gap that opens up soon after the start YLG! But, hey, we know it doesn’t matter! Well done on your sub 40 mins, was that a parkrun PB? Always a nice way to start the weekend!
Thanks OGR, I'm quite happy running by myself (just as well). I'd downloaded a Sophie Ellis-Bextor Kitchen Disco podcast and was in a little world of my own. Not a PB but quite a respectable time for an old biddy like me especially as I wanted to take it easy.
Hello to everyone out and about this morning, a beautiful day for putting one foot in front of the other. Lots of visitors at Stratford upon Avon parkrun. I found my run hard as legs still tired from Monday, but my time was not too shabby (around my normal time) so I’m happy. Busy weekend ahead with visitors and theatre visits.
Another fast time at York. Came up here especially for the flat course around the knavesmire. Strava says 0 metres elevation on it!
Lordy me. Found a cake place in he center of York just now! Caaaake!
Where was I...
OK yes york parkrun. It's always super busy here. People come long distances to get fast times. 534 folks out today and the fastest was a snippy 16:16!
New pb for me in 19:21 for 14th place. Knocked 8 seconds off last week at monsal trail.
Next week I plan to do my nendy which the 5k app tells me is hyde.
Hi everyone,A very muggy morning at Lowestoft today. It was a pacer day and typically there appeared to be no 35 min pacer for me to try and keep in my sights (35.45 is my PB). Needless to say the 34 pacer disappeared into the distance! The 36 pacer was behind me for the first 3km but then the heat got to me and the wheels came off a bit! 🤪
The sea mist came in for the final km and was quite welcome on my glowing face! 🥵 I crossed the line in 36.38. Considering how rough the last couple of kms felt, I’ll take a sub 37 time!
Parkrun #15 this week for me and I'm back in the Midlands. A bright and sunny day and in my very limited experience probably the warmest parkrun for me. I'm certainly going to have to think what to do in the height of summer. My goal for the future is to figure out what to do to improve my speed even more. Perhaps the obvious answer is to do some speed work. I can maintain a steady pace over 5K but turning it up a notch will be challenging. The people who know what they are doing have such enormous stride lengths but I can't easily copy without falling into the dangerous territory of a foot strike in front of me and then possibly getting injured. Anyone with tips? I finished in 20:57 which I was really pleased with.
The thought of going faster than 20 mins is alien to me, but just bear in mind that 80% of your running should be at an easy pace. Slow longer distance runs can help speed up parkrun and also shorter interval runs. Good luck.
Thanks for the advice. My longer runs are at much slower pace! The challenge is that to run a sub 20 min 5K you need to maintain an average pace of less than 4min/km. At the moment I've not hit 4min/km ever let alone maintained it over distance.
Extend your weekly long run each time you do one. The thing that's stopping you reaching a higher top speed is your aerobic engine endurance is not at the required level yet.
Imagine your speed is a pyramid. The higher you want to build it the wider the base has to be.
Try to keep the effort at a bear minimum over the whole run. Like 2-3 out of 10. It is helpful to have short walking breaks (1 minute max) if you find yourself pushing too hard.
A good indicator but not always reliable is to keep heart rate down if you have a watch or device that measures it. I keep mine under 130 and it usually means I'm right about the effort level I need for proper effective long runs.
It will take time when it comes down to shaving off seconds of your k pace. There are no shortcuts but that's what I spent the winter doing and have finally managed to get the sub 4 minute k pace I was aiming for and making it sustainable at least for the 5k distance for now. Will require a lot more work to be able to sustain it over 10k though.
Congratulations on your 99th parkrun damienair . We’ll look forward to next week’s report! I was back at Market Rasen today for my 51st parkrun. It was a large turnout for us of 182, compared with around 120 usually (no idea why 🤷♀️) so a little congested at the start. We had pacers for the first time and I managed to keep the 30 min pacer just within reach until he left me behind at around 3.5k 😢 Official time though was 31.47, my fastest PR time this year and I just managed to squeeze back over an age grading of 60%, so quite pleased. There were 3 people Tailwalking, all of whom had completed over 500 parkruns, the most being 550 😳😳 Next week is Market Rasen’s 100th run, so there will be mountains of cake.
Nice run Sandie! I’m willing to bet you’ll be back sub 30 minutes before too long! Like you, my legs have felt fine all week. I’m itching for my next race!
Hi Damien. A nice little 5k trail trot which I managed to finish in one piece. I was a bit concerned that I had overdone the pace at 33:32, but no, my cadence was identical to my previous 5k, the lower time was down to a slight increase (0.3m) in stride length. Where would we be without our running watches! VO2 max went up so I sneaked back into the “excellent” category….you have to laugh! Feet feel great, cocooned in my recovery shoes. Flat white and celebration triple chocolate brownie for après-run …..seems like a normal Saturday morning from months gone by. Planning a longer slow run for Monday …as in 6-7 k 🙂. Looking forward to reading your 100 report.
Hi Damien, Dexy5 has already posted that the Southsea motley crew were out on tour again this morning at Portsmouth’s newest parkrun event, Great Salterns. In all the time I’ve lived here I never knew there was such a big green space slap bang in the middle of the city! So different from our normal parkrun as it was on a mixture of grass and stony paths, through trees, along little tracks and out into wide grassy areas. I don’t know what’s going on with me at the moment because when I go out along the seafront on my own I can trot along quite happily but as soon as I get to parkrun I can barely run 100 yards! Today was another epic, mainly walking and with the occasional running bit - grr! Trouble is, I know I can walk it in a respectable time - today it was 47:35, so why run when you can walk! Anyway, as of next week yours truly will be starting a programme to extend my running and who knows, I might actually run parkrun again before too long! Having said all that, Coddfish wasn’t up to running her normal pace today so she ran slowly while I walked and I have to say we had a very pleasant chatty outing! Until she sprint finished at the end and left me standing (well, walking)! I was 69 out of 77, my smallest parkrun to date and very enjoyable despite the lack of running - the Costa coffee and blueberry muffin afterwards wasn’t bad either! Happy weekending folks!
Number Checker today. Got a bit crazy in the middle period when people started queuing before the Finish Line! No wonder, with 627 participants. I did a leisurely 8K afterwards.
I'm in Wales this weekend to visit my parents as it's my mum's birthday.
I'd done a very long day in a polling station on Thursday (getting up at 5am and not getting to bed until after midnight) and yesterday evening had a three hour drive, not getting to sleep until nearly 2am. And then up again at 7.30am to get ready for parkrun in Pwllheli. It's a half hour drive.
I arrive about 8.50am. There are a few already here and others are arriving. I change shoes to my trail shoes, take off my jacket and put on sunglasses and cap.
I walk down to the start. There are new boards on the path onto the beach and a large area of matting that wasn't there in March. That makes things easier.
The briefing is as simple as: run that way until you get to a lady with a cone then come back, and if you want the full 5km on Strava you need to run at the top of the beach rather than at the water's edge.
This is my second time here, so I try to start out slower. I'm at the back of the pack for the first minute or so, then people start dropping behind me as they gradually realise how hard it is to run on sand.
My mission today is to find the firmer ground and just plod through it. It's still hard running. Big gaps open up between runners but nobody seems to be zooming off into the sunset like last time.
I gradually catch up with and overtake a man in red shorts. I eventually can see the half way marker. As I go round the cone, I joke, "Do we have to go back now?"
I'd formulated a little plan. I walked for about two minutes to let my heart rate go down. The man in the red shorts went past. I started running again.
Again it was hard going. I caught up with and overtook red shorts. About the three quarters point I could hear footfalls behind me. A different guy in a black tee shirt with his name on the back went past me. A dark horse indeed!
I plodded on to the end, with the last 100m being very difficult as the closer I got to the funnel the softer the sand became.
A slower time than my previous attempt, but I didn't feel quite as knackered.
I chatted with the volunteers afterwards and found that some folks were going back to a cafe on the other side of the harbour.
The last folks took their time and walked to the finish at almost 65 minutes.
I went back to the car, changed my shoes and top, protected the seat with a towel and drove to the cafe. I got a coffee and then chatted with the Run Director and her husband and their dog (who wanted lots of tickles). A few others had come too but were on other tables.
It turns out the RD is an active member of the local running scene and did ultramarathons (50 mile and over).
Our coffees drunk we split up, me to Lidl and her to get the results processed. On the table behind the couple (he came 4th) with a young kid were being served with their cooked breakfasts.
I came in 8th out of 19 with a time of 29'37" (compared with my previous 28'15"). Not bad considering how little sleep I'd got the last three days.
Home parkrun again. Three laps, grass with a wee slope, that feels like a mountain by the last lap. No pacers this week, but cake at end due to someone having run 250 parkruns, there seems to be cake most weeks nowadays! I came in first in my age grade with a more relaxed time of 33:30. PS I was also last in my age grade too😂
I took my 24 yr old nephew to his first PR and he loved it and got a good time. He had a bad week being laid off so it really lifted his spirits. I got a PB as well but only done that course twice. It's a bit hilly! I'm off to Germany and planning to do the PR next week nearby.
Hi Damien and others! A brilliant late Saturday afternoon run with friend and dog took us on lanes and across fields and through Bluebell laden woods. The birds were as free spirited as we were as they chirped away and celebrated our run, (at least that's what we said!). The ground is still very hard and knarled in NW Kent, but that allowed us to use little tracks that are often too boggy.It was a slow, steady pace with brief stops to climb stiles and cross cattle grids, but to make up for it we went over 5k, coming out at 6.1k, in a tad over 60 mins. I even managed a short sprint to finish, while the German shepherd jumped in the stream for a paddle - an exhilarating run indeed. With any luck, I'll be repeating the run on Monday, building up my 5k legs!! Have a good week with ' lovely day' runs if you can.
Hi Damien, I decided to be sensible and volunteer this week. Thursday long run ended in problems with the balls of both feet, absolute agony and only just a bit better now. Still wanted to be part of Parkrun and support it, so earned another volunteer badge 😃🏃♀️
Ooh and how exciting, your 100th Parkrun next week!!!
Ran down to Pomphrey Hill for my 10th ParkRun yesterday! Whey hey! DOUBLE FIGURES! I suppose that’s not really a lot compared to most park runners but it’s taken me a while!
Tried using a slow run technique to get up the hill which seemed to work quite nicely.
I did my 2nd park run this Saturday. I found it quite tough. I think it is because it is 3 laps of our local park and therefore I know how far I still have to run. I need to try and change my mindset so that it's positive thoughts rather than negative thoughts after the first lap me thinks. I love the vibe of the run though.
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Husband didn't push himself either, 31'45", so our age gradings were very similar. 
