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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I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ last night by inviting a couple of my neighbours over for dinner. The night continued into the early hours and was great fun. But I was regretting the festivities 🥳 this morning at parkrun. Let’s just say that I turned up. That was already a win. I ran for 3 K, walked for 500 meters and then ran the rest. My Garmin time was 33:50, parkrun results are not out yet. I’m just happy I went to parkrun, I never regret that decision. Happy running everyone.
I can imagine that you weren’t the only one suffering at your parkrun this morning damienair . You’ve got to celebrate paddy’s day. I’m sure there were many more that stayed in bed this morning. ☘️ 🇮🇪
I thought of you yesterday damienair . We were at a pub north of Perth with tons of people celebrating St Patrick’s day. Hubby ordered a pint of Guinness which I thought was quite cruel as I gave up alcohol last year
Back to running - We’re two weeks out from our HM so my goal today was to not go all out at park run after another 30mile week. Hubby & no. 2 son ran a 10 miler yesterday so were also going to take it easy. No.son came in at 19:26, hubby got 26:22 & I came in at a very sensible 30:45. No.2 son jogged back to meet me and to “encourage“ me to get a move on. I did do a little final sprint which was probably not that sensible but it is ParkRun 🤣
I had my pre-run water in a Guiness glass this morning! I rarely drink beer out of them (and if I do it's non-alcoholic). The size of these glasses is just perfect...
I’d already decided not to run this week. I’m bored of saying why, and I’m hoping amongst hope I can start up again soon. 🙄
However, I suggested to Jenny that if she wanted to run at Eastville, I could accompany her and do parkwalk with Flossie. No, she wasn’t ready and couldn’t get out of the house in time! So we ended up going to Clevedon Salthouse Fields - fine by me, but as it’s not a dog friendly PR, I mooched around in the park and just watched for a while. A massive turnout, thanks to Portishead Running Club’s huge C25K graduation contingent. Great to see. 🥰
Jenny ‘beat’ her arch rival (who works with Mr Cheeky), but only because he bailed at 2 miles due to overindulgence at the Cheltenham Festival this week! 😅 She was pleased with 28:32 (28:23 Garmin). Her lurgy has almost gone, so there’s hope for me yet. 🙏🏻
It does doesn’t it Sandie? 🥺 And there was me being extra careful by not running at all after it first started (unlike last time when I did loads of races when I probably shouldn’t have). You can no doubt guess how unamused I am. 😡
It’s because the A course usually incorporates the swimming lake grounds, and dogs aren’t allowed down there Damien. Can’t take them to Severn Bridge either, but most others round here welcome doggies. ❤️
Happy belated St. Patrick's Day to you Damien, I hope you enjoyed last night with your neighbours over dinner This morning I ran my 74th parkrun at nearby Palacerigg Country Parkrun, (No. 7 there) its a trail course with uphill for the last 1500 metres, just happy to get a sub 35 minutes time, this morning I ran it in a time of 34:25, only 31 taking part, quite a contrast to last week at Dunfermline parkrun when 294 took part
Thanks JP, I hope to get to 💯 parkruns sometime this year, I have a rota of 4 parkruns I go to then 1 week off, even doing it that way I should get to No.💯 perhaps sometime in the Autumn. 😊 🏃🏾
Another tourist trip today for me but only 10 miles up the road to Great Yarmouth. I was in pursuit of my NENDY and Fibonacci no.89! This is the course voted hardest in the UK and boy they weren’t wrong! It’s entirely on sand and sand which the council decided to freshly plough yesterday so it was extra light and fluffy! 🤦🏻♀️ My trainers disappeared to ankles in places! It’s most definitely not a PB course which is just as well, as I’m getting over a cold and all the walking sections gave me time to blow my nose and at one point, even stop to empty the sand out of my trainers! 😂 It was still lots of fun and one where you just have to laugh to get you round.
There was more sand inside my trainers than on the outside!
Well done you for getting round. I hate sand in my shoes and you find it for weeks after too, I think I would be tempted to try barefoot for that one. Would love to try it though just for a laugh.
It is quite stoney in places so I’m not sure I’d fancy bare feet! I’d definitely recommend it though, just for the experience (and bragging rights! 😂).
I did my (non)parkrun this morning in glorious spring weather! Flowers and trees are starting to bloom in full force and the birds are having concerts. I managed to be more consisted with running closer to my 8-minute per km goal, so I am happy about this. And trying really hard to ward off the ego blow for "being so slow" (slower than last week! 😱). After all, I know from reading tons of expert advice that slow is the way to go!
Fittingly, I had selected a Nike Run Club run that walked me through connecting my head with my body (it's in the German NRC version as "5 km für den Kopf"). Through the questions, I realized that I was running the way I am going through life: Driving myself instead of just enjoying the journey! At about kilometer 4, I noticed that I seemed to have left behind that inner driver (at least for now). It felt so much better!
Just like needing practice to stop driving myself, I need practice taking photos while running 🤣. So for now, I am just going to share the run data instead of the sights...
The data chart - 5 km run at average speed of 08:12 for a total of 41 minutes.
As I decided to also unofficially participate in a fundraising run for the earthquake victims in Turkey & Syria, I just donated to Doctors without Borders. 😎
Happy post St Patrick’s Day Damien. Today was never going to be a PB for you!
Another steady 5k for me. VO2 max didn’t kick me in the teeth, and the conditions were wonderful. A beautiful warm one shirt morning, barely any wind and the little there was was warm. Perfect really. I was aiming for a bit better than 7min/k, so 6:56 was about right. I think that the infection is finally on the way out, with peak flow getting back to normal levels. Flat white and brownie to finish, consumed al fresco as it was far too warm to sit in the cafe. A feel good bimble really ! 🙂
The best kind of run BC. Finally feeling like you’re on top of things again, and rewarding yourself accordingly. 😀 It certainly was the perfect morning for it. 😍
Very well done on your parkrun and lovely that the weather was great. I love spring time. Post parkrun treat sounds perfect too. A perfect parkrun morning.
I’m back from skiing but have got a niggly knee as a result which is a bit annoying . So this morning I marshalled along the route, shaking my jingle bells, and got lots of thank yous from the runners. It was a bit grey and drizzly at the start , but brightened up around 20 minutes in.
Afterwards, a group of RDs and volunteers went to a presentation by an Ambulance charity volunteer about what to do in cases of heart attack or cardiac arrest. We have funded a AED at our start point and our tailwalkers carry a portable one, so it was good to see how it all works before an emergency. Of course, we hope they will never be needed.
Well done for marshalling, I sometimes do it but prefer handing out finish tokens, not so sore on the hands! Love the crash course, would love to do a refresher on resuscitation as my last instruction on it was nearly 40 years ago and I’m fairly sure it’s changed a lot since then. Hope the knee settles down quickly.
I missed parkrun as I took my daughter to football but I popped out when we got home to do a 5k.
I’d done a 8k earlier in the week so just wanted to tick off a nice 5k..
My faster park runs and longer runs have sort of messed with my steady plod so I’m running faster but definitely feel sort of uneven if that makes sense?
But I trotted round feeling like I was probably doing ok.. when I knew I was close to 5 I looked at my phone to see if I was anywhere near the impossible sub-30min that I am always hoping to get. I had about .5k to go with just over 28 mins on the clock- not a chance… but I pushed as hard as I could and finished in 30:38.
Totally knackered but maybe it’s not impossible? Managed my fastest pace and a few sub-6min splits which is a big improvement for me. ☺️
Hi damienair and running friends! There was no Parkrun at my normal venue (Bognor Regis) this morning due to drainage works. No trains either as they’re on strike, so I threw myself on the mercy of Stagecoach buses to Littlehampton Prom instead. The bus was about 15 mins late, so I got to the start with about 5 mins to spare.😳
Maybe that inspired me though, as I finished in 30:50 in light rain and a slight breeze. There were lots of runners from Bognor including running club friends, so we stopped for a natter at the excellent cafe afterwards.
The marshals were great and the support from other runners was very welcome. I’m sure I’ll go back again. Hopefully the bus will be on time next time and I can get under 30 mins! 🤔🤞
Hello Damien and fellow runners! Over the past week we have arrived in Cascais in Portugal via Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville and Evora and we have just topped 2000 miles since we set off on 6th March. I still haven’t been for a run since my last parkrun 2 weeks ago, but we are staying put now for the next week (great view from the site) so the seafront route planning is starting. Mind you, we haven’t exactly been slacking, as I have averaged 14,800 steps a day over the last 7!
No parkrun for me today Damien, just didn’t feel up to it but I did shift myself to take part in a training session on basic lifesaving and use of a defibrillator, which had been organised by one of our lovely RDs. Very interesting and I hope never to have to use one!
Good evening Damien. A later than usual report from me.
As mentioned above, I went to visit a friend for the first time in about 18 months yesterday evening. He had a shopping list of technical chores for me to do: fixing a device to connect to his changed WiFi, inspect a couple of failed USB memory sticks (probably fake capacity), put in a phone extension lead, confirm an old minidisc player was really dead (laser problems, not worth fixing), etc. etc.
I came back with a sinus headache, had a Lemsip, but didn't get to bed until after 1am. Not good when I'd already not had enough sleep the previous night. And then I had more disruption to sleep this morning.
So, with the watch telling me I should be feeling horrible, I kitted up expecting similar weather to Friday (thin long sleeved top with parkrun 50 milestone tee over it and trail shorts). This proved a good choice. The temperature was 12°C in the park.
I arrived five minutes ahead of the start at my usual park. I said hello to a few folks, including one lady who found out she would be doing two marathons in the same month. Somehow she's got a place in London. She was tail walking today.
I did my usual trick of starting off slowly, letting the hares burn themselves out and then catching them up and passing them. It was muddy in places this morning and the faster runners had splatters of mud up the back of their calves.
I plodded through it. No intention of pushing hard. The climbs became harder each lap, and I shortened my stride but kept the cadence the same. No sprint finish.
Afterwards it was so mild I was able to hang around in my kit and chat with various people until the tail walkers came in.
Official time: 29:16, my fastest time there this year. A quiet week with only 48 runners.
Our Parkrun was overrun with tourists this week as it was run 444 at our venue, who knew ticking off 111,222, etc was a thing. I bet they wish they hadn’t come as they ran their first lap of three, as our course could be a training ground for mudder races atm. At least the heavy rain held off for most of the run but even at my trundle speed I was covered in mud to the knees and my feet squelched all the way home. Time was needless to say slow at just over 34 mins but I was proud of myself just for going as I knew it would be awful.
My daughter’s birthday is the 17th, but we only met up for celebrations on the 18th so luckily I didn’t have to contend with the “night out the day before” problem!
Despite a 444 notation there were no cakes this week, shock horror, first time in ages and with the influx of tourists I was not the only runner in my ages grade, so came 3rd out of 4 for a change.
I dread our parkrun having a Nelson or Fibonacci run number Kat. With 450 runners on a normal Saturday, we’d probably run out of finish tokens with a challenge influx ! Your course sounds a bit squelchy
Luckily our average attendance is only 89, though lately we have been around the 100 mark, this week 148 despite the weather, the course and a larger than usual number of volunteers.
Our run was called off a few weeks ago because of the wet conditions, it is a constant problem, not sure if we’ll be running next week looking at the forecast and the state the course was in after this weeks mud bath. I might just be a volunteer rather than attempt the run again until it dries out a bit.
It did once to us. The Run Director had to write all the extra people with their place and athlete number down manually , and then add to the computer afterwards. It was a lot of work. We keep a book of raffle tickets in our box now so in case it happens again we would issue those and get their details in slower time.
Hi there, our local park run was so fun this Saturday due to the Irish Rovers providing plenty of entertainment with live music and dressing up.
There were 446 runners/walkers taking part and the atmosphere was amazing! I ran with a friend and her niece and we took our time and had a good old natter all the way. Lots of my running club turned up for this one too which was great.
Great photo. Looks like great fun and atmosphere. Lovely that you could run with your friend and her niece and have a nice catch up. Perfect Saturday morning.
Due to illness, it was my first run for 2 weeks on Thursday. I jeffed my PR yesterday and beat 45 minutes for the first time in ages (PR time was a lot more, due to error and me starting at the back of the 400 odd others going through the bottleneck at the start.) The token sorting was awkward with very wet tokens. Of course the sun appeared at about 10.30 whilst taking the PR kit back.
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