Hello Everyone. 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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On this cloudy morning, I decided to celebrate my 50th parkrun by finally tackling Grovelands parkrun. I’d been avoiding it for a while as I heard it was hilly. There is one slight incline, but it’s gradual, not a steep hill.
I managed to keep to my pace and finished feeling refreshed.
Now off to yoga to stretch and then cake to celebrate.
Well done DiogoC ! Gradual inclines are ok aren’t they? It’s the steep twisty ones which are (in my opinion) hideous! Definitely worth celebrating your 50th PR with something delicious ( 🍰). Congratulations!
Congratulations on your 50th parkrun. Fantastic. I celebrated my 50th year on this planet by wearing my well worn parkrun 50 milestone T-shirt this morning. 😁
Can’t wait. Black is my second favourite colour, after purple. I’ll be a bit torn on which t-shirt to wear now, either the lovely 25 purple or the new 50
You can alternate. I have the Volunteer V25 T-Shirt which I have not worn yet. I have only worn my Black 100 T-Shirt once at my 100th running at my home course. But my 50 T-Shirt is very well worn and the numbers on the back are nearly worn off. I might wear my Purple V25 T-shirt this weekend. I'm going back touring again.
No.2 son went riding & I opted for a longer run with a very early start. I finished up at park run which was a good incentive to get it done. It was so beautiful out there today.
Morning friends! I was due to run with friends at the Curly Wurly (Somerdale Pavilion) this morning, but one has been unwell and is also moving house, so she ran out of time. They’ve had to postpone.
It was ok though, as I’ve run a lot recently - pretty much every other day - and I have the Great Bristol 10k tomorrow . The perfect reason to volunteer with Flossie.
Nice turnout, close to 600 - and it was a merry bunch. Flossie got tons of attention as ever.!🥰
Congratulations to you Flossie on volunteering at parkrun this morning, I wish your owner all the very best for her run tomorrow at the Great Bristol 10k.
Once settled and completely better we'll plan to do it another time, it'll just be a bit of a longer drive but I like driving 😀 I was gutted but it was the right decision as return to energy is taking its time.
Quakers Walk for us today. We have been camping nearby since Wednesday so on Thursday walked into Devizes along the canal and took the opportunity to check the car park (no restrictions or height barriers) and the walk to the start, although this morning it was well signposted.Three laps, on good paths, mostly flat, 13m elevation.
That completes our UK Alphabet, only Z left now.
Toilet available in the Kennet and Avon Canal Trust rooms, and tea/coffee plus cake for £1 donation.
Some of the cafe volunteers were running or walking the parkrun as well so it is an excellent joint venture.
One new record today - third breakfast! we went into the town to buy bacon barms to eat alongside the canal 😲
I don't know. I'm not too bothered about getting the Z. It would have to be part of a longer trip as we are not going to just travel to get a parkrun. I think there are plenty of other places I would rather go
Yes, it is. I see lots of posts on the Campervan Parkrun Tourist Facebook group but I really don't fancy driving over there when we would be passing lots of more attractive parkruns and camping places.
Probably more likely to go for a mini break in Luca in Italy I think
Yes, it is. I see lots of posts on the Campervan Parkrun Tourist Facebook group but I really don't fancy driving over there when we would be passing lots of more attractive parkruns and camping places.
Probably more likely to go for a mini break in Lucca in Italy I think
10k pace intervals this morning. It was cooler today, thanks to a coastal mist. Plenty of people about in the woods, but not enough to impede my passage.
The timing was messed up on one lap through a communications malfunction (had to stop to deal with it🙄). The best 5k was 32.29, so headed in the right direction. Hope I have saved enough energy for my HU10 miles! Right now, I need food!!
This morning I decided to stay local. And to my surprise my 15 year old Son decided to join me. When we got to the start line some of my parkrun friends were there and like me they were wearing their parkrun milestone 50 T-Shirts. It was my 50th birthday on Thursday so this is my first parkrun in the new age category. It was so lovely. My Son flew off and I steadied into the run with my friend Ida before pushing on. It was a lovely run and nice to be back at my home parkrun after a few weeks of touring different parkrun courses. I took it easy and didn’t look at my watch. My finish time was 27:46. After a few chats my parkrun friends ushered me over to one side and we had a milestone 50 group photo. Followed by a post parkrun coffee in a local Costa.
I thought it must have been your birthday recently Damien, as I’d seen your age change on the profile that goes with your posts!! A very happy birthday to you 🍰🥳 A fantastic time to! 👏👏👏
Thank you so much. Yes Healthunlocked prematurely put me into the new age group. 😁 Been a few days of celebrating. I had such a lovely surprise last night when my extended family joined us for dinner without me knowing. Such a wonderful surprise.
2 x reasons to celebrate 50 within a week! Nice one Damien, and congratulations! I love how you’re now saying taking it easy results in 27:46! You’ve come such a long way and it’s wonderful to see! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
If things hadn't gone mad for the family (twice) in the last six months I would have been doing this back in February/March.
Lovely weather to start, but it soon warmed up.
There were three of us doing milestone runs today. One lady in her 70s was doing her 50th who got loaned a sash with 50 on it, another lady of similar age to me who was doing her 250th (after 8 years of parkruns, but also having over 200 volunteer credits) who also got loaned a 250 sash.
And there was myself doing my 100th, but they found they didn't have a sash for that.
No matter. 98 of us lined up. It was busy this morning.
We were off. I did my usual trick of starting nearer the back and moving up the field as I warmed up. I paced myself using a lady who was doing her 95th parkrun. Her husband (and little dogs) cheered us both on at one of the corners.
And then I found my pace as she started to flag. "Go on ahead. I'm tired. It's your milestone today." she urged.
Even with that during the third and fourth laps I started to get warm and felt the need for 10-15 second walk breaks. There were also dogs and little kids who would dash unpredictably in front of the runners.
On the final straight a kid zoomed past me going full pelt. He finished about five seconds in front. In the finish funnel there was a bit of confusion about the tokens as one guy had run through and not picked up a token.
Afterwards I hung around and chatted with various people and had a piece of celebratory lemon drizzle cake. When the lady who was doing her 50th parkrun came in at the 50th minute we cheered her home. More chatting with people, and then I left.
Fantastic, huge congratulations to you on your 100th parkrun and nailing a lovely sub 30 min 5K finish time too. Just another 150 to the next milestone. I’ve only worn my 100 T-Shirt once, I’m usually in Apricot lately. Celebrate it and have a lovely weekend.
Well only my second parkrun and a PB of 26:07, 155 runners and most unusually, it was warm and sunny, 👍 This is my local event and has only recently started up, this week was run number 4 for Cycle Route 43, Ystalyfera. I must admit I did go off a bit quick due to finding myself quite near the start line, I did slow down after the first 1000m and found someone running around my pace so stuck with them for a while until they moved up a gear and left me behind although I did get past them a few hundred metres further along, my asthma was a bit of an issue today and I did find it hard work from about 600m out from the finish, but I got there in the end, another very enjoyable Parkrun
Back to my home parkrun, Southampton, for me today. I took it fairly easily as I’m getting over a minor op. Finished in an official time of just over 41 minutes and Mr Garmin says I’m “detraining” - how rude 🤣!
I also volunteered to do token sorting so once the parkrun had finished, five of us decamped to a nearby pub. First time on this role and I really liked it. There were 1118 runners so lots of sorting to do and we only had one token missing. The chief token sorter then pulled out a gadget with which she created a replacement. Wow, I just didn’t know these things existed. It was a lovely sociable morning.
Well done for token sorting Mudita11 - you definitely need a lot of volunteers for that many tokens. Decamping to the pub for the task is a great idea. I find it quite therapeutic.
Very well done on your parkrun and token sorting volunteering. I did token sorting for my first time last week and loved it too. I have booked a trip from Ireland to run at Southampton parkrun with my Son on the 21st of September. I’ll post up closer to the time. Would be lovely to meet for a post parkrun meeting if you are around at the time. I’m doing it to get a South for my compass challenge.
Good afternoon all! We’ve just got back from the 7th Fordy Runs Extreme parkrun. This was a Yarborough Leisure Centre, and it was a great excuse to meet up with Sandie1961 !
This was our 3rd EP, having done Curly Wurly and Dover Waterfront previously. They do some mad trips, including day trips to Dublin and the Isle of Wight. It is supposed to be that you travel there and back within a day, which has been easy for us this time. We cheated last time, I have no idea how they did it for Dublin!
Anyway, we didn’t overload the volunteers at Yarborough thankfully, with 344 not being a huge amount more than they’ve had in the past. I ran with a fellow Fordy I’ve met a few times and I knew to be very speedy. We complemented each other as I kept her slow (she’s been told off by the boss for going to fast!) and she speeded me up! She helped me get my fastest time this year and I was sooo close to going back under 27 minutes again, maybe it is possible at some point 🤞I’ll leave it to Sandie to tell you how she got on 😊…
Afterwards we went for a pre-booked breakfast. Much more organised than the previous ‘free for all’s’ (Club members were kicked out of the Wetherspoons in Dover last time 😱). A lovely buffet full English that filled our tummy’s very nicely thank you.
After a long time chatting, we went our separate ways. We had a bit of time to kill so we popped in to Lincoln and visited the cathedral and the castle. What a lovely city 😍 The perfect way to end a lovely morning 🥰
Wow well done. I’m not on social media other than Reddit which I pop into from time to time. Earlier this morning I seen a lovely post on Reddit from a local runner at that parkrun thanking all the lovely Fordy Runs people who visited and created such a magical atmosphere there this morning. Sounds amazing. Fantastic finish time, well done.
Oh really? Thats lovely, that’s just the sort of feedback we wish for. We always stay right to the end clapping and cheering all the runners in, it’s such a positive, inclusive club. Thanks Damien 😀
A bit late today as one of my volunteer roles today was photographer and I’ve been downloading over 250 images to our Facebook page.
We had brooks in attendance, so UpTheStanley was out of the house before 7.00 to meet them for set up of the gazebo, then cam back to pick me up for a 8.15 arrival. Runners were able to pre-book running shoes to trial during parkrun, and It seemed like a great success with many runners saying they might have to a buy a new pair .,,,,,,😂 Brooks also brought bananas and water dispensers , which was nice.
2 of our local medical group practices provided lots of volunteers today, which is good for us and they get to see the benefit of parkrun to the health of the local community. Win win
UTS and I are entered into a race tomorrow so no running for us.
Yes, and they are always very enthusiastic. One of the nurses even remembered how I’d come off hypertension meds, and said they wished they had more patients like me. 😇
I think they do very well at these visits Dexy. They had one at the Amsterdam parkrun we went to. They also did one for our shakeout run in Manchester last month and they’re coming to Clapham Common for our next club get together at the end of next month. Still haven’t been to Stratford though!
I have just looked at the photos you took at Southsea parkrun today Dexy5 on Southsea parkrun Facebook page , you are a excellent photographer, great photo of UpTheStanley telling runners to keep left✔️✔️
There were actually 3 of us yesterday AlMorr . The photo you refer to was taken by another volunteer who is an actual photographer ( he takes them while running) . Mine are the ones shown as photographer 2.
I was really excited that Fordys had planned one of their extreme parkruns in Lincoln Yarborough today (lots of people needing a Y for their alphabet) so met up with TailChaser and Katnap this morning. It was a little misty and chilly, but soon warmed up as we got going. Don’t know if it was the daily walking I’ve been doing for Dementia UK or the positive effect of running with the Katz, but I got my fastest parkrun time since Worthing in July last year and a 1.15 improvement on last week 🙌😃 Full English and a really good natter. Perfect 😍
After a heavy cold last week and a 'take it easy' run, it was back to a better performance this week. Good conditions - the promised showers didn't materialise and the (in)famous puddles were nowhere to be seen. 339 finishers and 32.20 for me - room for improvement but happy with that today😃
We went to Endcliffe Parkrun in Sheffield yesterday. We got the 'E' for our Parkrun Alphabeteer.
It was a beautiful course through park and woodland and a really friendly event. Lots of bottlenecks as at one point you go over a little bridge. A mix of trail and path, it was one of our favourite ones so far. Almost 800 there yesterday 😊
Lovely to read about all the celebrations this weekend. 50th parkrun for DiogoC Hurrah! 🏃100th parkrun for nowster Hurrah! 🏃♂️ 50th birthday for daimenair Hurrah!🏋️♀️ . I confess I caused a bit of chaos at the start of my parkrun, as I was still half asleep. I forgot to turn off battery saver, on my phone, so when I pressed Start on my app, it refused. Aaaargh!I stopped and tried to deal with it as hundreds of runners, several dogs and a pram swerved around me. Sorry! As I didn't have my glasses, I couldn't see my phone properly, so I was stabbing at it fairly randomly. The tailwalkers walked past and smiled sympathetically. I could call this a tech glitch, but the truth is it was a brain glitch. I sorted it out in less than a minute and off I went, enjoying the run at a park I haven't visited for about a year.
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