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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No park run for me today as my HM plan had no 5k’s on it this week & I’m sticking to the plan. I was happy though as I made it to the finish line of our park run to watch no.2 son come in 2nd PB for him with a time of 19:12. He jogged back to meet his Dad who made it in 26:28.
oh wow. Huge congratulations to Son No.2 on his second place finish and sub 20 minute 5K parkrun. Amazing running. Best of luck with your training. Well done to hubby too.
Think he just had one of those runs. All of our faster regular runners thought that he would drop back but didn’t. One of them wanted a drug test for him 🤣
Plan is going ok although I’m not a huge fan of being on a plan. Back up to 10 miles next week so that’s good 👍🏻
He is in a running club & does sprint training, and a social run with them once a week. He also is training for a HM with us so did 10k with his Dad this week. All of his teachers also watch his park run times & he has been told he needs to win cross country this year. No pressure 🤣
Hi Damienair hope your day's going well. I've had an eventful 24 hours. Called back from away by my general hospital yesterday to have a heart monitor implanted in my chest under local anaesthetic so still a bit sore this morning. But it also meant that MrsChinkoflight had to finish her Couch to 5k back at home not away as planned. So I persuaded her to register with PR and she came out today to complete week9/3 and do her first Parkrun too. I was happy as I didn't want to go round as normal and risk any bleeds from the insert. So all good and the hospital will have some interesting data too! And she raised her game by running sub 9min Kms for the running bit. She went through a doubting phase and hurdle in the Couch25K but after jeffing a few weeks at her own pace came back to complete it. It was great to hear that enthusiasm and disbelief at her achievement shared by so many of us when we set out on this journey. And a few stories too about other failed efforts to run I was unaware of. All at a conversational pace!
MrsChinkoflights first Parkrun and #chinkoflights first run with an implant heart monitor!
Very well done to Mrs Chinkoflight on her C25K journey. I hope all is ok with you and I hope your loop recorder works out well for you. They are getting smaller all the time.
Thank you, yep amazing, size of an AAA battery (bit smaller) and talks to a box and sends the data back and AI on the cloud will give a verdict, or not. Will work for 3-5 years.I think I enjoyed this morning's run more than Mrs CoL. I think for some the uncertainty of a first time at something and being successful can interfere with enjoying the moment.
Thank you. Up to now the heart and tubes are looking good and the running has helped significantly. Still looking for a cause for the stroke and the new implanted ECG device is very good at finding otherwise undetectable events. We'll see - it's in for 3-5 years, sending data to the cloud. Didn't interfere with my run so that was good.
I should probably update that as I was a bit at a low ebb when I wrote the profile. Finding the BHF link to Couch to 5K last April gave me back some control. My local stroke service are 'catching up' I was told yesterday and at last I am getting proper monitoring for what was a serious unexplained event. 🤞 And my running has made me much stronger. Health unlocked proved a really good resource too.
sorry to hear your stay on the island was reduced Chinkoflight, but an NHS appointment is a precious thing. All the best to you and well done to Mrs Col.
Definitely one not to miss. The island will still be there although as ever shrinking, see photo at Chilton Chine this week, a new stack has formed but I doubt it will be there for long. The girl did really well and it was a great morning for a run.
I ran Bognor Regis Parkrun this morning in about 33 minutes (no official email with the time yet). If that’s right, it’s my fastest Parkrun of the year so far and is day 42 of my new year running streak so I’m pleased with that👍
Happily I can also report I’ve had no problems since last weekend’s London Winter Run and I was even complimented this morning on running confidently and strongly. Can’t ask for more than that, really.😊
Rrrrrrrr me Hearties, pirate 🏴☠️ challenge was completed this morning at Castleblaney parkrun. My 7th C, and I have a few R’s done already. It was a very tough parkrun, beautiful forest trail run around an island in a lake with some seriously long hilly climbs. I really wanted to run it all so forgot about pace, ignored my watch and just kept running at a comfortable pace. Thankfully I am getting a little fitter every week. So I was able to continue running and chugging along past people who were well ahead of me and walking up the hill.
One of the hills was 1.2K long , broken into two segments, one which was 400 meters long with a plateau followed by a steeper 800 meter and a steady climb. The downhill section was a lovely recovery but was pretty steep. Then there were many more ups and downs, and because it was a 2 lap course all had to be done again.
I was surprised when I saw 👀 the finish line and it gave me the push to finish by picking up the pace and stop the guy behind me from passing me out. I finished in a time of 31:45, official parkrun time and my Garmin Forerunner 35 matched as well at 31:45. I was happy with that considering over half the course seemed to be uphill.
Have a great weekend everyone
Castleblaney parkrun- there was a bridge over to the island 🏝
Congratulations to you Damien on that 31:45 time at Castleblaney parkrun, considering all those hills that is a excellent time, you have taken a lovely photo of where you run this morning, enjoy the rest of the weekend 👍.
You’re certainly getting fitter if you managed a hilly PR in a time like that Damien! Brilliant! 👏👏👏 I can chug up hills too, but my times are never like that (nor on the flat for that matter 😅)
Good afternoon Damien, this morning I got the train to Springburn Glasgow, I live 13 miles from the centre of Glasgow, Springburn park is two miles from Glasgow City centre and has had a parkrun now for almost 9 years.The train takes 20 minutes to get to Springburn Station, it takes me 20 minutes walking from the station to the start of the parkrun.
This morning I ran my 71st parkrun and No.9 at Springburn parkrun, my time was 31:04, pace:-6.12/km with a +60% age grading of 62.07%, the weather was mild and dry with a temperature of +10C, all in all a good run for me today.
PS, although it wasn't the parkruns birthday, at the end of the run there was a choice of a piece of cake, sweets or a donut for the runners to eat, I chose to eat a delicious donut, I think one of the volunteers provided that buffet.
Aell done AlMorr great time. Is the parkrun near to you not open yet? I thought I read one of your neighbours was going to give u a lift on his weekend o ff. enjoy your walk tomorrow and with Holly.
The parkrun nearest to where I live is now open, it was their 23rd parkrun this morning, I intend to run there in 2 weeks time, I didn't make an arrangement with my neighbour to run there this morning, that's why I ran at Springburn parkrun which is around 13 miles away, this afternoon at 2 o'clock I will be taking Holly another walk.
Hi Doris8, for my Sunday morning walk tomorrow I'm leaving the house a bit later than my usual time of around 8.30am, I'll be leaving the house at about 10.15 am, this is because the 10K walk is on the same route on very quiet country roads that a 12.5k running race is taking place on part of my walking route so it will be nice to cheer the runners on their way, the race starts at 11 o'clock, I won't be at the start but should see the runners at around 2 or 3 kilometers into the race. I have cycled the whole route and walked many times on some of it through the years, I know its a very hilly route.
Thanks BC66, the apres run buffet was because there were some fantastic milestones reached today at Springburn parkrun, according to the parkruns facebook page, one lady ran her 25th run, another runner had a 200th run and his 50th volunteer too with his son running his 25th parkrun, I think that was the reason there was cake etc at the end of the run.
Thanks TailChaser, I always like a +60% age grading, I remember a younger lady some time ago reporting on this forum that she was envious of her mother who was about 25 years older consistantly getting a higher age grading at parkrun than her although she ran quicker times, her mother usually ran at parkrun around 34 minutes, the daughter usually a sub 30 minute 5k but the age grading of her mother was higher, although I was 62. 07% age grading today there is a man at that parkrun in the 75/79 age grading who has ran in a time of around 23 minutes and got a age grading of about 80%, although he didn't run this morning.
It’s one of the pluses of getting older Al (there has to be something!), I think we deserve it as we’re still getting out there doing it. There is a lady in the same age grade as me who regularly gets over 100% but she is extremely fast and gives most of the younger men a run for their money.
I met a lady runner who could also be called a machine at one of the hardest parkruns I go to, a bad run for her is +20 minutes, that parkrun is her favourite because in her own words "nice trails, hard finish and hard effort" the parkrun opened last August, she ran there today and last week, was first both times with a sub 20 minute finishing time, she scanned my barcode the second time she ran at Palacerigg on 24th December last year after another sub 20 minutes run, she came first in 4 different parkruns in 2021 while pushing a buggy and I understand that she ran a sub 20 minutes 5K a few years ago before Covid when she was 6 months pregnant with her now 3 years old daughter.
Thanks CC, I am pleased with my time at Springburn parkrun on Saturday, the lady I mentioned who runs all parkruns sub 20 minutes said on her Facebook page that she was unhappy with her result at Palacerigg park run yesterday, last week she ran there in a time of 19:22 but yesterday her time was 19:27 which she is a little disappointed with, in both cases she did come first, last week beating the nearest man by 63 seconds and yesterday by 45 seconds, even the best runners can still be a bit disappointed at there results sometimes.
Good afternoon everyone! I went back to Yarborough today for their 2nd run and my RED February day 11, just to see how runner numbers compared. Still 309 today (449 last week) so it looks like it’s going to be popular. My breathing is continuing to improve and I was able to run the whole course today, so was rather disappointed that my official time was 3 seconds slower than last week. Average pace 6.36, compared with 6.38 last week, whereas I felt I was going quicker. I also recorded 5.07km compared with 5.04km last week. Still, on a positive note, Garmin gave me 2 more VO2max points, up by 6 in the last 2 weeks and my fitness age has gone from 48 to 20 in the same time. I think I have finally put the lurgy behind me. Happy weekend!
Great news Sandie! I have been more careful about using my inhalers over the last few weeks and it does make a difference. You are getting into gear at just the right time to hit running season fighting fit. 👍
Well done Sandie. Great running and very well done. I’m always happy to be able to run the full 5K without having to take any walking breaks. Your doing great.
Katnap , Shake-and-run and I went to our first inaugural run today. The Wolford Woods run replaces the Fire Service College run which didn’t make it through Covid. I heard about it through our core team chat and I knew Shakes would be up for it as it’s from her neck of the woods, in the heart of the Cotswolds.
I’ve had a bit of a tough week as I had to get a tooth extracted on Thursday and last night I wasn’t sure if I would make it as I was in quite a lot of pain. Thankfully I had a good nights sleep last night and it was just grumbling so I decided I could give it a go. I would have been really annoyed if I’d have missed it but my runs earlier on in the week had all resulted in a lot of pain in my mouth so I was feeling a bit apprehensive.
I bought some new trail socks at the start of the week, before I knew about this run, on Cowladyrunning ’s recommendation. I’ve signed up to a 10k trail run in May and thought I’d give the Injinji 5 toed socks a go. This parkrun was the perfect opportunity to try them out.
I wasn’t going to push it and had said to Shakes I’d stick with her, but as usual I didn’t… I just can’t stop myself. My trail shoes did a brilliant job as the surface was very mixed - stony like a Welsh hillside in places, boggy like a…bog… in others, they coped with it all. The socks also did a great job as I usually get sore little toes on trails and they worked perfectly - thanks Cowlady!
In the end I came in as 19th lady and 1st in my age category, which I am so chuffed about! It wasn’t quick at 36:32 but considering the week I’ve had and the surface (I’m not a big trail fan), I will more than take that! It was also good practice for Katnap in his training for his trail marathon (how?!!).
Post run, we went to a bike shop/cafe that Shakes knew about from her regular bike rides in the area. Top brownies in there and very nice coffee. Had a quick drool over a £4.5k bike and a chat with the chap behind the desk then back home for a soft bagel with soft scrambled egg. Hopefully I’ll be back to the hard stuff again soon!
I bought them when I was having foot pain, including my little toes. I decided at the time that wearing them might complicate the picture for my physio by adding in another factor, so they stayed in a drawer. My foot recovered (it took a while) and in the meantime I forgot about the socks! Getting old!
Thanks for this TailChaser and for the scrummy coffee and cherry-shortbread. I have written a separate post as I had quite a lot to say. Please feel free everyone to read it and hear more about our wonderful morning.
Hope you’re not suffering for too long. Your inaugural run sounds a little more interesting than mine, but it sounds good. One for when I’m over your way again I think 😊
Ooo nice socks TailChaser ! Like little froggies. 😅 That sounds like a fun PR, but if it’s boggy in places after this dry spell, I’d imagine you’d need wellies in the depths of winter! 😳
Ouch, having a tooth extracted is never fun, but hopefully it’s done the trick. 🦷
Getting there cheeky, still sore but I’m probably not helping myself by running…ah well!!
I was wondering about the bogginess. It’s not terrible and it’s only for a short section but if the run becomes popular it will be very tricky once hundreds of feet go over it when the weather is at its worst. There is a summer route so it should get a rest for a few months a year.
Lovely run at Ganger Farm, Romsey for me today. My second time there. I’m getting over a stinker of a cold and was a bit slow, even for me 🐌 ! Loved it though. I’m not showing in the official results - it says ‘unknown’ in the position I finished in. I have emailed as I most definitely got my barcode scanned. Anyone know if this can be fixed post race? First parkrun in my new trail shoes which I managed to keep quite clean.
You were clearly running so lightly that your feet barely touched the ground! Hope fully your cold will clear up this week; doesn’t it know that you are a runner!!
Hi Mudita, yes it can be fixed, they just re-process the results. As there is a placeholder for you it won’t change anyone else’s position so they should be happy to do it.
Very well done on your parkrun and I hope your result was processed ok. Happened to me once and I just emailed the parkrun team. They were able to sort it out very quickly.
Hello All, it was grey but nice and mild at Southsea this morning. We had the pleasure of JonathanP ’s company to help celebrate UpTheStanley ’s 100th volunteer. UTS chose to tail walk today as that is what he did for his first volunteer stint (except they called it tail running then). I attached the obligatory sign on his front so everyone could cheer him on.
Before my run, I performed the first timers welcome, and we had a brand new Run Director who did a brilliant job.
I was pretty pleased with my progress until I got a very painful muscle spasm in my back at 20 minutes in. Ooch, it was like having a stitch in my back so I had to walk to let it subside. Never had that on a run before! 3-4 mins later I was able to run again and JP was there to cheer me on.
Coddfish and Oldgirlruns ran/walked in next and then UTS came in at 56:42. The motley crew headed to the cafe for breakfast and UTS was presented with his V100 Pin badge.
Sorry about your muscle spasm Dexy5 during your run today, however, I am glad that it eased and you were able to continue with your run, a big congratulations to UpTheStanley on the occasion of his 100th Volunteering at parkrun.
It was great to be back at Southsea today after quite a while but I didn't want to miss celebrating UTS' milestone with the rest of the motley crew!
Unfortunately it had to be a flying visit as my granddaughter's birthday meal was calling! My feet must have known, because I came in on 29.39, my fastest parkrun this year😀
Fantastic and very well done all of you. My friend Petula joined UTS in getting their 100th parkrun volunteering stint today. Well done Dexy on your first timer briefing and parkrun.
Oh no Dexy5 , a back spasm? 😩 I’m glad it subsided. Mr Cheeky gets those sometimes, but his sport is very back-based (rowing and lifting boats in and out of the water), and they’re mighty painful. Hope yours doesn’t return. 🤞
Well done to legendary UTS! Amazing achievement getting that v100 under his belt. 👏👏👏
Hi Damien. Today was a CB long slow run on my woodland trail converted into not PR.
The woods were pretty busy thanks to an unseasonably warm and bright morning. Everyone was friendly though and the crowd disappeared about 1.5k into my run, so no problems. I went really slowly for the first 1k (as instructed) speeded up a bit too much on the second lap, and then pulled it back to complete the last three laps in negative splits. 33:53 was ok for what was supposed to be a slow run. A nice finish too; sitting at a table outside with flat white and triple chocolate brownie (the brownie supply issue has clearly been solved!). 12.5k scheduled for Monday. That is the longest distance I have attempted since the GSR in October. Sensible head required!
Congratulations to you BC66 on that 33.53 (not) parkrun time and especially those last 3 kilometers in negative splits, you thourghly deserved that triple chocolate brownie, that is almost the same time as my 139th (not) parkrun during the week, last Wednesday I ran it in a time of 33.54 and also had a few negative splits, when I got home, I didn't have a brownie but my usual chocolate ice cream swirl like I had this morning when I returned from my 71st parkrun
My (non)parkrun was fun, though, uneventful. I did enjoy getting to hear some songs I had forgotten about (the beauty of playing songs randomly...).
Then on my cool-down walk I listened to an interview with a Wisconsin State Supreme Court justice. She got sworn in at mile 35 on a 100 mile run! Wow! What an inspiration!
I am still trying to figure out exactly why she did that - other than that she's a runner... womensrunning.com/culture/n...
(The interview is here, though be warned that it contains descriptions of physical and emotional violence... It also only very briefly touches on her running as the podcast looks at the judiciary in the U.S., not at running... slate.com/podcasts/amicus/2... )
That article also has an answer - basically she did it because that's what she wanted to do: "Because her term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court begins August 1, her dream is to be sworn into office midway through her race.
“It would be so cool to be sworn in at the 50-mile mark,” she said. “Obviously, I’ll dress up and have a proper swearing-in ceremony later. But I’d like to be in running clothes the first time.” "
Me too. I’m soon going to go out with my Cocker Spaniel Ruby for a nice gentle longer run. Aiming for 8K but if I’m feeling up to it I might give 10K a go.
i did Clapham Common today with some friends. Did it in just under 40mins which I wasn’t too thrilled about, but considering it’s been my only run in 2 weeks, I’m ok with it.
Hi Damien, another parkrun/walk for me this morning which I did with Coddfish. She’s just restarting running following her chemo treatment so isn’t yet up to running the whole thing but we decided to go together and do a 5 min walk followed by 5 mins running at my slow pace. As usual, she had to reel me in as I walked too fast and I had to reel her in so that she didn’t get too worn out! We had a great natter and the weather was kind to us - all in all a lovely start to the day!
Hi everyone. Late and hasty today, that’s me. I haven’t read many of the posts yet, but I’ll do so this evening.
Jenny and I ran at Clevedon this morning. It needed to be close to home. A different course is in place now (presumably to protect the grass) and I must say I way preferred it. 3 laps, some ups, some downs and all of it scenic on the coast. Happy 37:21 for me (official 38:06 due to being stuck in a long bottle neck at the start). Jen was mid 27 mins Garmin and officially 28 something for the same reason.
Then home for a quick cuppa and to grab Flossie before going for a 14k walk with my choir friends. All in all a great active day which ended in a visit to the chippy. 😈
Yes, I did wonder if I should not do PR before the walk Jonathan, but then realised what a ridiculous notion that was, and went out! Can’t miss PR again - that happened on hols and once is plenty enough!
(Doh, just realised I didn’t register one of my holiday 5ks as a (not) PR - what a numpty) 🙄🙄🙄
It had to be long run day here. Ran half with the husband and the rest with Coach B. Not a bad deal! I suppose that’s the equivalent of three parkruns with a pretty quick time for me for the final 5k of 15km. Furthest I’ve been since October and felt good. I’ll take that!
Thanks! I was really pleased to get it done. Weirdly very nervous about it before. I’ve been building up slowly since new year and this one felt like a bit of a breakthrough. The Nike Run Club HM plan is great. Really good luck with your aim for 15km. I’m absolutely sure you’ll get there.
Thanks! I got myself in a right pickle before it about whether it was too far, and whether to carry water or not, and what to eat and whether to take snacks etc. Don’t know quite what kicked off all the stress. Up until 7.5km when I stopped briefly to say bye to my husband, I definitely wasn’t going to do the whole distance. The really tough uphill was a great distraction and suddenly it wasn’t that far to the finish. Long runs can be so tough mentally. Was really glad to get it done and surprised to enjoy so much of it! Nearly 250m of elevation gain and my legs are feeling like they’ve done something this morning!!!
Good afternoon, Damien. Late reporting as I was visiting a friend yesterday afternoon.
At my "home" venue this week. More normal numbers too (67 runners). I'm there with about three minutes to go, spot a few regulars and say "hi".
There's a small group with "Vegan runners" tops, one I recognise from previous weeks, and an older couple. I guess they're probably related.
I start out next to a runner who's doing this course for the first time and I warn him of the pitfalls. Later on I catch up with the guy who I used to call my nemesis. He's not been well. I run alongside and we chat a little. Then we get to the steep S-shaped bend up the hill and he bows out, deciding to walk it.
The next laps are uneventful, and I have a little joke with the marshals at the start/finish line as I pass them, "So glad you're still here!"
I surprise myself by passing a few people in my final lap who are by this point running out of steam. I know it's not going to be a fast week.
I try to speed up for the final straight. On finishing I get my barcodes scanned, then notice someone who's forgotten theirs. It was one of the "Vegan runners" group. Another was saying, "You finished just after me. You can get your time from that."
She had her number, just not the barcode. I have a barcode generation app on my phone. I put her "A" number into the app and selected CODE128, then offered that to the barcode scanner. It worked.
I then backtracked to take some photos of the emerging snowdrops in the "rose garden with no roses". It's further than I expected. One of the marshals was packing up the course markers.
I then decided to jog back to the finish, but using my phone to video the experience. At the very end of that someone asked if I was doing a victory lap.
I got to chat with Nemesis again (real name Peter). He was going for a stomach endoscopy that afternoon. I wished him well. I walked back to the car. Then to put some petrol in it, get home, a bacon buttie, and then wash the car (absolutely filthy from road salt).
So…my problem is that… 1) I’m not an early bird…2) my time keeping is atrocious…3) most of my first year of running was during Covid times…so although I’ve run 4 actual Park Runs…I do find it all a bit of a faff 😬🤷🏻♀️ However I’m happy to log #NotParkRuns…
So this was #72…I was running the NRC “Mindful Minutes”…so a recovery run…which most of mine are these days…happy to be a snail 😄🐌 Here’s a link to the full run…
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