We are on an enforced visit to a caravan in West Wales. The reason being our 15 year old granddaughter evicted us so she can have a girlie night with her friends. No she doesn't live with us but her mother's not so gullible 😂I wanted to parkrun this weekend, it would be my 2nd one, so found the nearest one at 'Llanerchaeron parkrun'. A 35 minute drive away and an 8 minute walk from the car park, so the warm up is taken care of too; sounds reasonable.
Saturday morning arrives feeling quite rested despite my reservations of sleeping in a caravan.
Opening the caravan door I am greeted by a beautiful blue sky with the sun just rising and starting to remove the white frosting which carpeted the grass. Dressed in my dragon onesie I made the first footprints in it as I went to visit the little boys block.
As it was early I manage to weetabix and coffee myself, something I don't normally do before my early morning runs.
The time to leave finds me making my way through the lanes of West Wales to the run. After a few courteous driving manoeuvres I get the inevitable 'slow down you're not in a race' from the depth's of the passenger seat. I duly oblige and eventually pass the start of the run which points down a track into the woods. Trying not to mow down runners, some of whom are warming up at a speed I don't attain when I'm running, I proceed to the car park and leave Mrs OMR to her iPad with the words see you in about 50 minutes.
The 8 minute walk is true to its word but then the guaranteed hanging around because you're too early starts to make me cold but I don't want to wander too far away in case I miss the start.
There are 62 participants plus the organisers, volunteers and supporters so it has, to use a Welsh word, a cwtchy feel (a cwtch is a cuddle but better).
All announcements are made and the visitors welcomed and with out further adieu we're off.
I avoid the stampede and hang at the back. After a half km loop back to the start we then continue further down the track on a 4.5km out and back course on a track of varying surfaces. There are a few potholes and puddles to watch out for plus the leaves and mud.
A thought occurs to me as we butt up to the river that water runs down hill and we're headed for sea level.
This 'flat out and back run' as described by my 6'4" gazelle striding son-in-law is actually an incline all the way back to the finish. Which for my old legs is always a challenge 😂 and there are no bends so I can see far too much in the direction I'm heading.
To be fair it is a lovely run with pleasant scenery, lovely autumnal colours and the pleasant accompaniment of flowing water jingling along to the music of Bread.
Then I get to 3.5km and my brain decides to scupper my run by visually increasing the incline in front of me to a 10% gradient and because I am gullible I always listen to it.
To counteract this I slow the pace down and concentrate on trying to work out the size of the ladies shoes in front of me by staring as hard as I can at her soles.
After passing 4kms I got my brain back and did the gentlemanly thing of overtaking her.
It was still a struggle to the end.
I did improve my time on the parkrun timings but was 10 seconds slower on my Strava app. All probably due to the difference in the number of participants clicking through.
Not seeing my wife at the finish I grabbed a quick photo and cooled down on my walk back whilst chatting to some nice runners and supporters.
My wife greeted me with
"You didn't want me to see you finish then?"
My reply, "I showed you where the start was."
Zoe, "But you didn't show me the finish."
Me, "Sorry I thought you realised they were in the same place!"
All in all a very pleasant morning. I have shown her my photo 😁
I thanked the oblivious kind lady who helped me through my crisis then immediately felt guilty as she'd lost one of her new gloves which I'd seen whilst concentrating on her sole.
My one question, why does my brain hijack my thoughts when I am most gullible? It was a gentle incline you idiot.
I finished 36th and 2nd in my category. 1st was a long way in front of me 😂 and there was more than two of us 😁
Hopefully I'll be back one day 😁
The First (not) Parkrun
Keswick Parkrun Magic
Parkrun #5
