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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Hi damienair & (not) park runners and park runners,
No.1 Son & No.5 son both had soccer games this morning so sadly not enough time for me to do Park run. I did a quick 3k at my park run pace with our rat terrier & just made it back to the park run finish line to cheer on our front pack runners. No.2 son got another PB at 20:38 and was retching at the finish line. Hubby came in at 24:55 so we managed to get the other boys there in time (just) 😫
Happy park running everyone ❤️🏃♀️🏃🏻♂️
Waiting for no.2 son. Our rat terrier loves him ❤️
Wow that is a very active and very busy house. Huge congratulations again to son no.2, fantastic effort and of course well done too on Hubbys sub 25 minute 5K parkrun. Well done to you on your 3K with your very athletic looking terrier.
This morning I volunteered as a Marshal at my local parkrun. It was a beautiful morning and I was joined by my 6 month old Cocker Spaniel Ruby. I went early so as to allow Ruby to run off some energy. She was great and very well behaved. It was volunteering day number 23 for me. Ruby unfortunately doesn’t get a volunteer credit.
Well, I’ve had better parkruns… my first DNF…ever! I was just getting into my stride a third into my first lap and went a over t on a tree root I have run over hundreds of times. Forehead, knee and hands all scuffs up, that was the end of that 🙄. Still, if you’re going to have a accident on a run, there is no better place than parkrun as my fellow runners and the marshals were just fabulous., just big apologies to the RDs for the paperwork involved afterwards. Funnily enough we’d just been trialling first aid bumbags for the more distant marshal points - guess who was the first recipient of them?! They get a big thumbs up from me!
All patched up and back at home now. Might have to go out for a pint of pain killer later though 🍻
Oh yes, I did the First Timers Welcome’ brief for the first time, hated it but I’ve done it. I really don’t do speaking to large groups, it’s not my thing but at least I did it! I know it’s a really popular volunteer post but I’m not suited to it.
Have a great runny week everybody, just beware of the tree roots, they’re out to get you! 😬🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️
Tree roots combined with a dusting of friable soil are a deadly mix on dry weather….those roots lift up to get you! Glad all is ok and there are no pulls or twists!
Yeah, BC, thinking about it now, that is probably why my head went down, it was a bit slippy and my New Balance shoes don’t have the grip that my Brooks have. First time I’ve worn them for parkrun, may have to be my last. I’ll just reserve them for my long, slow runs. Only really damaged bits are my pride and my sunglasses.
I can’t believe that you and UpTheStanley suffered the same fate on the same day! Is there some telepathy going on here? I hope the grazes soon heal TC, and that a pint takes away the pain. 🤗
Sorry about your fall at this mornings Parkrun TailChaser, I am sure you will recover quickly from it, just take things easy until you are fully recovered.
PS TailChaser and Dexy5, if you wish to see me running this morning at Dunfermline parkrun, I have just looked at Dunfermline parkrun facebook page, you can't miss me in those photos, I am the guy with the beard and the only runner running in The London Vitality Virtual 10,000 orange T Shirt 👚
Thanks Damien (sorry I’m so late replying!). All healing up ok. I can highly recommend hydro colloidal dressings for grazes, they really speeded up the process and got the nasties out.
Good morning everyone! Market Rasen for me again today and a fairly standard 32.01 official time. As Shake-and-run and I are going to the Midlands Air Festival on Friday, next week’s parkrun will be at Stratford with her, TailChaser and Katnap 🥳🥳 Have a great weekend!
Good afternoon Damien, this morning was my 45th parkrun, my time at Dunfermline parkrun was 33.47, weather bright and cool, now counting the weeks up to parkrun No. 50, strangely enough I didn't, or so far didn't get a personal email telling me my result and had to look at the main Dunfermline parkrun website.
Indeed it is BC66, I want my 50th parkrun to coincide with Dunfermline parkrun's 7th birthday and 3 years since my first parkrun at Dunfermline which was their 4th birthday, I remember getting a piece of cake after my 1st parkrun there in July 2019.
PS BC66, at 11.50am I looked at the Dunfermline Parkrun Website page to see if my result from my run this morning was there as I hadn't got the personal email I usually get, it was, I have just received my personal email at 13.40, I assume that there was a tech issue due to the delay.
Thanks Dexy, my 50th parkrun is due on Saturday 9th July at Dunfermline, today was No. 45, next week No. 46 at Drumpellier Parkrun where its a flat course, for parkruns No. 47 and 48, back to Dunfermline, No. 49 I intend to run at Springburn parkrun, that's the one I was at two weeks ago for their 8th birthday and had that Eurovison theme with the RD dressed as Abba, so no missed weeks until Saturday 2nd July, then the following week No. 50.
Morning Damien. Another “not” park run 5k for me. 32:49 this morning, which is the best for a while. I had to slow down for a small dog which seemed to be taking an interest in my ankles, but that is all part of running in the woods on a weekend. Last week it was horses, so the problem is reducing in scale 🙂. I felt a bit underdressed on the walk home; the wind is pretty chilly up here…so I ran up the hill from the trail back to the housing estate to avoid frost bite. I think I might do that after every run…all part of the quest for a return to a fitter me!
It's been a busy week so far. I have neglected to write up Thursday's 5km run as I've been stupidly busy. Thursday evening and all of Friday was setting up a church hall for a concert we did on Friday evening (with a repeat performance this evening). Highlights include finding a microphone adaptor (mini XLR to full size XLR plug) had broken wires inside and getting home after the set up and accidentally deleting my compere script and having to retype it in from a printout of the draft. (That was 45 minutes that I could have otherwise used to relax in the bath.) Anyway, everything went OK on the night, minor niggles notwithstanding, and I was up bright and early for this morning's parkrun.
I arrived about 8.50am and noticed there were a dozen or more folks all with the same Sale Dragons tee shirts. We had a bunch of parkrun tourists from the other side of Manchester. There were a few regulars there but some familiar faces were missing.
It was a bright morning with the chill still in the air. The usual spiel from the Run Director with a note that he hoped people would next weekend with a red, white and blue theme, hinting at prizes. And there'd be something special for whoever finished in 70th place too next Saturday.
And we're off. I do my usual trick of holding back at the start. I get chatting with one of the Sale group warning him about the sneakiness of the course. And then people gradually start to spread out as they encounter the long slope up along the river.
My first encounter with the S-shaped climb has me overtaking about four or five other runners. By the final lap I wouldn't be able to do that.
Unusually, I get lapped half way round the second lap (of four). I involuntarily go "Wow" and the runner thanks me as he zooms off into the distance.
During the third lap I again move up the field, passing other runners and walkers, bidding them a good morning, and reassuring some that this is indeed a hard course. Near the end a lad wearing just shorts and no top zooms past, cutting the corner across some grass. I go "Tut tut" and a lady nearby says, "I saw that too!"
The final lap is harder as usual. A young lady who usually comes in a few places ahead of me has dropped into a walk. Getting up the S bend climb is indeed harder this time, but there's nobody around to overtake. I try to pick up a little speed on the finishing straight but the tank is almost empty.
As I'm getting my barcodes scanned I find out that there's probably been a new course record set (by a second, 17:47), and the guy who finished first was a running coach... and he's coming back to try again next week. The record had stood since April 2016.
The lad with no top? He finished second but didn't have a barcode.
Behind me, a lad sprinted through to the finish, grabbed his position barcode, then flopped onto the grass, exhausted.
The sun had come out, so some of us hung around with the barcode scanners in the sunshine whilst the timekeepers were in the chill under the shade of a tree.
I hung around until all the runners had finished. There was still a group of four walkers (plus the pair of tail walkers) but they wouldn't finish for another fifteen minutes.
Parkrun 32. Position 32 of 88. Official time 28:34.
Probably Pwllheli again next week. Got to keep my "Local Legend" status there. 🤣
The whole family (10 + dog) had a few days in Cornwall earlier this week. We had a wonderful time, but over half of us came back with colds. Mine wasn’t particularly severe with just a scratchy throat and general body aches, but I could definitely feel I wasn’t 100% today at PR.
Jenny and I had planned on doing Severn Bridge, but she bailed (that cold). I went anyway as it was a beautiful morning. ☀️☀️
I felt comfortable running along, but I had nothing extra to give today. At the turn there was a refreshing breeze in my face, but I certainly didn’t need a headwind! Consequently my time was underwhelming for this course at 36:26 (official) 36:10 (Garmin). I did manage a good sprint finish but I was sweating up a storm (TMI, sorry!) which isn’t like me. Still PR no. 85 in the bag. 🙏🏻
Tomorrow I’ll be cheering Mr Cheeky on at Monmouth regatta. He’s a rowing in an 8, which is fun to watch. 💥
Thanks Al. It was a lovely run. Mr C enjoyed the regatta today, and he’s especially looking forward to going back and rowing in the 8 tomorrow. Flossie and I will be on the river bank cheering him on. 😀
Sorry to hear about your lurgy cheeky, I hope you’re all feeling better soon! Underwhelming time for you maybe, but you did it! Good luck to Mr Cheeky tomorrow!
Thanks OGR. It’s hard to avoid colds when the toddler brings them back from nursery! The run was lovely regardless, and I’d have been cross if I’d stayed home. 😀
This morning I was trying to work out how many Parkruns I've done. Was it number 13 today? Eventually I decided that last week was number 13 so put the thought to one side.It was bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze. As I set off I realised I was just about last, with only the tailwalkers some way behind. Never mind. I was actually a bit confused by this as I was running quite quickly (for me). Maybe I should have followed my husband's suggestion and started near the front (definitely not, way too competitive).
Coach Bennett was with me all the way, the NRC 5k run. I wasn't pushing too hard, no aspirations to a PB this week. Instead I thought about my form, concentrating on breathing and moving my arms back and forth instead of across my body.
As I neared the end I wasn't the last any more. I'd overtaken lots of those people who'd been so far ahead of me at the start, overtaking a few more as I finished. I sped up towards the end so it'd look like I'd been trying lol and also to make up for the walking I'd done earlier.
Time was 37:30, my second best to date, quite pleased with that. Husband did it in 30:10 which is pretty good too.
PS when I checked it actually was my thirteenth Parkrun. Glad I didn't realise
Nice run for you today Yesletsgo, you should never be confused regarding how many parkruns you have attended, when you get your results it tells you exactly how many parkruns you have ran and how many at the parkrun you ran that particular day..
Before I did my first Parkrun I looked at the times other people were managing and realised that if I ran at a reasonable (for me) pace I'd finish around 3/4 of the way down the list. Today I was 83rd out of 100, well content with that. I like it when the guys who come in at half my time run past me as I finish my first lap. It's an education to see how economically they move, inspiring I came second in my age group though (ssh, there were only 3 of us 😂). I'd thought that come next April I'll move from VW60-64 to VW65-69 so as long as the woman who always comes first is younger than me I might be able to come first in my age group for a couple of years. I just checked - the only VW65-69 has a PB of 25:38 and did the run in 29:17 today. I don't know whether to be encouraged or depressed!!
You made me giggle, I too look at my age group placing and true enough, when I moved age band I lost the faster woman and came first (and last) in my band. That’s the silver lining to getting older, I knew there must be one somewhere.😂
I missed one of my regular runs this week as we were looking after granddaughter no 3, while granddaughter no 4 made her appearance (mum and baby both doing well). We ended up doing the night feeds as they got back from the hospital so late on Thursday evening - took me right back!
Anyway (this is supposed to be a running forum, isn't it?😜) - consequently I was more than satisfied with an uneventful 30.01 at Portsmouth Lakeside this morning. Happy parkrunning everyone!
Oh wow, 4 little girls! ❤️ How wonderful Jonathan! Our eldest daughter is done with having babies (2 boys), so I’m hoping my younger daughter and/or son will produce a granddaughter for us one day! Enjoy your new little bundle. ❤️
Congratulations on granddaughter no. 4. We stopped at three daughters. Now daughter one has one son and one daughter, so I get to experience the son with the added bonus of getting my nights sleep too. Your Parkrun name sounds idyllic mine is an urban football fields course, but it is close enough to walk to, or run to if I’m feeling strong.
Hello damienair and running buddies . UpTheStanley and I took Fenton to Hogmoor Inclosure, Bordon, this morning, about 35 minutes drive away. This used to be a tank training area for the army and is now a beautiful community park, part of the Prince Philip Park. The reason it was good for driver training is the variety of terrain and undulations. It is a mixture of wooded paths and moorland with sand trails. Although it was dry, we were glad we had our trail shoes on.
Unfortunately UTS tripped and did a face plant (in sympathy with TailChaser?) . He cut his hand, and has a sore jaw but apart from a very dirty shirt, all is well. Another runner stayed with him until he got his breath back, and said she’d had 3 falls there. I took full advantage of the down hill bits but did a fair bit of walking on uphill sand. There were lots of wooden sculptures made from fallen trees , in the style of Anthony Gormley, which appeared to be watching over us. You had to run up a slope to the finish line but I did manage that thanks to the cheering runners. parkrun time 36:18, which I’m very happy with considering the terrain. We also got a volunteer tick as the RD asked us to write a run report.
It was a great trip out and definitely one to try again.
Glad you enjoyed your touristing today Dexy! Sorry to hear about UTS’ tumble, hope he’s feeling ok now- I’m sure a swift libation of some description this evening will help!
Looking forward to your more detailed write up of this, but feeling I was right to stay at Southsea with Oldgirlruns where we had a good shuffle round the course
A bit of red wine helped last evening 🍷. During the summer I am making sure we are doing at least 1, sometimes 2 tourist runs a month so UTS can enjoy the run without helping out his fellow RDs.
In the 3rd week of my chemo cycle, when my energy levels should be at their highest. Managed parkrun at a steady and consistent jog, 2 or 3 minutes slower than I was managing just before the wide area excision but obviously a lot better than I could achieve before my hip replacement. Will be volunteering next week as I will be back into week 1 of the cycle when I think my realistic choices are walk or volunteer. Unfortunately the hair has now started shedding so I will have to think about how best to avoid a sunburned bonce.
Hi everyone, I’m normally a creature of habit and stick to my home Parkrun but I decided to travel up the coast a bit today and went to the Gorleston Cliffs. The clouds seemed to descend the moment I pulled up in the car! I left it quite late to get out the car and go to loo as it was pretty chilly and I had bare arms and legs! It was a fairly uneventful race. Strong headwind for half of it which sucked the life out of me a bit. A rather slow 38:39 but it’s good to go somewhere different occasionally (I’ll be back home next week! 😁)
Clouds that went on for miles! You can see the finishing funnel if you squint!
It is good to try new parkruns, but they always seem much longer than our home run. I guess it’s because you haven’t got the relevant markers in your mind. Oh yes, anything with cliffs in the name would have been windy yesterday. 😂
Hi Damien, a bit of a late report today from me. I had run 45 minutes non stop a few days ago which I haven’t done for ages so was looking forward to seeing how I got on today. I decided to start with a warm up 5 minute walk, during which Coddfish ran with me . And that’s how we continued - she ran and I did a mixture of running and walking. Again. But Mr Garmin gave me a PB and my official parkrun time was 46:08 which I was happy with as I trotted in a couple of seconds behind Coddfish. And I had said that if I wanted to get a shift on I’d break into a walk, which obviously worked! The only niggle is that I seem to have developed a bit of a shin splint, or someone kicked me in the shin when I was having breakfast with Coddfish and Mr C! Curses! Enjoy the rest of your weekend folks! Pic is of the ship delivering rocks as part of the sea defence work currently being done along our bit of coast; it was moored just off the beach near our parkrun start.
Parkrun completed, I carried on for another 11.1K. Yes I did my first 10 miles. Oddly, last week's 9 miles was fine. But today, 13K to 15K was soooo hard. The last K (and a bit) was less hard as I knew I was at the end. Sorry for mixing Imperial and Metric!
Still feeling guilty. I tried being a pacer this week. Goal time 35mins. Two people ran with me wanting the 35min time, there may have been others a bit further back too. All seemed to be going well, then at the last km I looked at my watch and thought it said I was 45 secs too slow. Well panic set in and I increased pace, to be fair my two runners came with me. Final time 34:05, with the last 1km run at nearly a 6min pace. I should have trusted myself more and just kept with the pace I was at. Oh well, the two with me were pleased, but I will try to do better next time. Other than that it was a lovely sunny day, but not too hot. Ideal running weather.
Very well done on your parkrun and volunteering as a pacer. I’m sure the people following you were delighted to get in quicker than they had planned. If you have a running watch select average pace, it will be great for helping you with pacing. You can gauge much easier if you are ahead or behind your target time.
Hello..I had to fit in a, Not really a, Not Park run again this week. Friday saw mine done... using an NRC run to help me along...A poor night's sleep , a hugely busy weekend ahead, so out I went...the whole of Nature has the power to lift and lighten... and it did.., incorporated a little bit of elevation too.. only 39 m... but I was relaxed and happy on reaching home.
34.36.
Well done everyone. Hoping maybe for a Park Run on the actual day at Hafan Pwllheli next Saturday! That is unless nowster is there... he would show me up by his speediness!!!
I was thinking of volunteering, but I see they've already got a Tail Walker. 🤪🤣
It's all relative. Whatever time I do, if he runs, your friend Steve will be at least five minutes ahead of me. I've not yet got my head around how to tackle Hafan Pwllheli. I still have to walk bits of it. The flatness fools me into going faster but the texture totally tires me out.
Whatever happens, I hope you'll join us for a coffee at Caffi Largo afterwards.
I'm training for a 50k in October, 2 weeks into using "Run with Hal" and have nominated Saturday as my long run day. I was supposed to do 16k at about 8m/km. I chose Cassiobury parkrun about 10km from home but which I hadn't visited before. I managed to keep my average pace down to about 7.6m/km on the way there (helped by walking up a hill). It was a beautiful day and there were lots of runners in the lovely Cassiobury Park, including someone from my running club. 3-2-1-go and I couldn't resist it, I finished in 28:14 cheered on by some very friendly marshalls. A 1km walk to the station for the journey home saw me achieve an overall average of 7:15m/km for the 16k. Hal's guidance says it's OK to pick up the pace for the last 30 minutes of a long run, so I think my approach is OK, and the app gave me a well done.
So now I just need to find a parkrun 20k away for next Saturday's 26k long run. Have a feeling that won't be a sub 30min parkrun.
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