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.
Written by
damienair
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No parkrun for me today. I did some parkrun tourism on New Year’s Day. But today I was meant to be volunteering at my home parkrun . However it was cancelled due to heavy frost and icy conditions. A lot of cancellations. I could have travelled to one about 30 mins away from me but I slept in, watched Squid Games with a nice warm coffee instead. Going to go for a local trail run with my cocker spaniel Ruby instead. That will be my (not)parkrun.
I heard of some cancellations this morning because of icy paths, so was worried there’d be a repeat of a few weeks ago with all the cancellations. Thankfully, only a few were cancelled, and I was able to stick to my original plan and tick off Orpington from my list.
Lovely course on grass and muddy fields. All white today because of the frost, which was a new and interesting experience. Not sure I’d ever run on frozen grass before ☃️
I’m having issues uploading photos. Does anyone else have this problem? It used to be because of the iPhone’s picture format, but I’ve since changed that to a more standard format and it still fails 🤔
I find that reducing the dimensions of a photo to about 800x600 pixels means the upload goes through more often than not. (The site still sometimes has problems, though.)
thanks for the tips. I tried, but it didn't work. I even made it smaller and saved it again as a new format, but that also failed. I can add it as a reply, but not to the main post, which is odd..
A tip from Beachcomber66 was sending a photo to your email address and then saving it to photos as a small picture works. So annoying as it used to accept straight from the photo album on iPhone before.
That’s odd DiogoC . Ordinarily (ie when there’s no known issue with the site), I can upload photos from my iPhone 12 with no problem. No tweaking required. Strange. 🤷♀️
It was a lie in here too! I thought about doing a park walk (recovering from a pulled muscle) but changed my mind and will go out later instead. Sometimes you just need a lazy morning ! I’m still in my pjs….
Not a single shred of guilt here either! I went out for a walk this afternoon and that hit the spot. Absolutely freezing but dry and bright. I’ll take that with the forecast for the next few days looking significantly more challenging!!!
I’ve taken to embracing guilt free mornings of not running too MissUnderstanding ! In my ever increasing quest to keep running fun, being out freezing to the marrow doesn’t tick that box sometimes! Pjs are my best friend. 😅
Sorry Damien but practically all the parkruns in my area and beyond are cancelled because of ice and snow, the reason was it rained earlier in the week causeing large puddles and very wet surfaces, then on Thursday night the temperature went down to - 4 C and hasn't gone much above freezing since, so no higher temperature to thaw the ice, better luck for next Saturday, however, I notice that even then the temperature at 9.30am is to be - 1C.
It was the very same here Al. I went for a trail run with my Cocker Spaniel later in the morning. It was along a gravel path and it runs in between a canal and the river boyne which was safe for running on. Even the mud was frozen solid.
I knew it was going to get very cold by Saturday, I ran a 8K on Tuesday afternoon and a short 3K on Thursday afternoon, the temperature for the Tuesday run was 12C but very windy, the temperature for the Thursday run was about 0C but in brilliant sunshine, the weather forecast for tomorrow Sunday is snow and until Saturday 11th January the temperature is to remain around freezing.
Stratford was cancelled due to ice. TailChaser said she was going to do tomorrow’s run today as the forecast was for snow , so I joined her and Katnap for a run along the Greenway. It was cold but not much ice and the usually loose gravel was a better surface for the effects of the frost. Katnap Jeffed with me helping me to keep a decent pace while TC ran ahead and then back like an excited spaniel trying to keep up a faster pace. We rewarded ourselves with hot drinks at the cafe and successfully ignored the bacon sandwiches!
Looks like a lovely cozy cafe. Well I did something similar, I ran along a trail which was on a gravel path, however I had an actual excited Spaniel with me. 😀
Lots of cancellations this morning in my area due to either flooding from New Year's Eve which hadn't drained away or icy conditions.
I did parkrun tourism on New Year's Day and visited Hyde to the East of Manchester. A busy parkrun as many locally were cancelled due to flooding. An interesting and varied course: start at the bandstand, then go uphill on a tarmac path (lots of bunching), a left turn then downhill (still on tarmac) to the main gates, then into a wooded section on muddy dirt paths, doubling back on the other bank of the river, then up past the gates again to the path we started on. Three laps, then back to the finish funnel at the bandstand.
Very muddy, and in spite of the crowding I made good time (31:37).
Today was back at home base at Chadderton. Possibly the busiest it's been in ages as there were lots of cancellations. There were 168 runners and only 160 finish tokens, leading to some sort of improvisation by the marshals.
It was very wet and very cold.
There were lots of dogs and a fair few kids in buggies. The dogs got very excited and vocal when we all lined up at the start.
No hope of a fast time this week as it took a lap before the bunching opened up and I could get into my stride.
On my first lap just in front of me there was a man running with a yellow lab who was doing well until the dog decided that he wanted to explore off-route possibilities.
I was overtaken a couple of times by a couple who were Jeffing the run (doing run/walk intervals).
As I expected due to the crowding I was slower today, finishing in 33:16, which I'm very happy with.
Blooming cold, below freezing throughout! About 25 seconds down on my PB set on Wednesday but set my fastest mile to date. Felt good though, they seem to be getting easier as I get fitter. In the shower back home and memories of school cross country in similar conditions and/or ankle deep snow came flooding back ...
Oh it was my 50th since starting in September 2023.
HNY friends. 🎉 Jenny and I opted out of PR today. Severn Bridge went ahead, with advisories to beware of ice (no thanks), Eastville were running the B course (double no thanks) and Clevedon was cancelled.
Instead we took the swanky new running buggy for a test drive on the Downs, and boy what a difference it made to the regular one. Super smooth, absorbed the bumps and sent baby straight to sleep! We just did 2.5k together, then I peeled off to grab my coat from the car so covered 3.2k, before walking to the cafe for coffee and cake as a reward for making it out the door on a freezing cold day! 🥶
It’s an OutnAbout Nipper Sport V5 Dexy5 . We spotted one at PR a while ago and it looked nice, so Santa took note! Easy to fold (wheels come off to make it compact), and it’s lovely and light. 🩵
I walked at Southampton parkrun today. Lovely crisp morning alongside (well mostly behind 😂) 1034 runners and walkers. Got chatting to a lovely elderly chap who has volunteered over 500 times. He’s a local legend and in his younger days had run several 15 minute 5Ks. That’s about twice as fast as my fastest. Today my official time was just over 51 minutes. Looking forward to running again one of these days when my knee is up to it. Meanwhile still enjoying the parkrun atmosphere and community on days like today 👌🏻
Well done Mudita11 ! Do you have a predicted timeframe for your recovery? You can’t rush these things clearly, but it would be nice to have a vague idea. 🥰
Thanks Cheeky, no not really. All I know is that if I opt for surgery to repair the ACL it will be 6-9 months if all goes well. Without surgery (which is my current plan) no idea 🤣. Seeing the NHS physio next week for my first session with them so hopefully I’ll get a better idea then 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼x
After last week's enforced absence, I was very happy to be back at Portsmouth Lakeside this morning. Because of the recent niggle with my abdomen, I took the first km quite easily - mind you, I didn't have a lot of choice as it was distinctly crowded on the narrow path leading up to the first turn-around. The reason for that became clear once the results came out - a New Year 'bulge' with 416 finishers, second highest ever for Lakeside, but not quite beating the 429 on 29/6/19.
It was chilly, but not as cold as I'd feared - not surprisingly there were quite a few icy puddles around the lake which I think we all managed to avoid. A most enjoyable run, with just a couple of twinges early on, so hopefully I will be back to chasing sub 30 soon - 32.06 today.
Well done JP. It was cold on the prom too but no ice in evidence. Definitely warmer running than volunteering today, but lots of layers on to keeep us warm. January gets a bit mad for numbers as everyone thinks about new year resolutions. It will go down again next month. Good luck with that sub 30.
Happy New Year everybody! After a tourist trip to Doddington Hall last week, I was back there today for a running club meet up. Only about 12 of us in the end, but one of our teenage stars had the fastest time! Although it was cold, the course wasn’t at all icy and there was no wind, so it was quite pleasant. I managed12 seconds faster than last week, followed by a bacon roll and cappuccino in the cafe. Now waiting to see if the threatened snowstorm actually arrives!
Nice one Sandie1961 ! Hope your snow arrives/doesn’t arrive, depending on your preference! Personally I find it a right pain, but the grandsons were out making snowballs this evening. Hoping it’s melted by tomorrow!
All local parkruns cancelled today although I can't at the moment I'm thinking about volunteering for a few parkruns in the near future though till my plantar fasciitis sorts itself out. Well done anyone who ran walked or volunteered today
Gee it was cold in Southsea! I was handing out finish tokens with Oldgirlruns and my fingerless gloves didn’t work as the thumbs were covered and impossible to hand them out. So I had to take them off altogether. Very cold fingers due to cold wind straight off the sea. But we did it ! We make a good team.
Back to the restaurant at our old parkrun event start with the Core Team for coffee and breakfast.
It was also Coddfish birthday so she had a shout out from the RD as she has a higher volunteer quota than her age! Well done to her.
Belated Happy Birthday to Coddfish , well done. I too was down to Volunteer as Finish Tokens, however my local parkrun was cancelled. I was surprised as they rarely ever cancel, even going through the recent storms. But obviously safety comes first and no one wants to put on an event only for people to fall and get hurt. There are a few slippery spots on the course.
Mine (Skipton) went great, thanks for asking. We were left on tenterhooks until an 8a.m. update on facebook (why don't PR use the 'news' on their their PR website? Not everyone's on fb). We were warned not to try for PBs and it was indeed a slower time for me but hey, the wonderful volunteers turned out and made it possible so thanks are due because any run at all would not be possible without...!
Well done. Great that you were able to get your parkrun done. And yes absolutely the volunteers are amazing especially this time of year. I’m not on Facebook either but you can still see the Front Page of the individual parkrun facebook page to see if the event is still going ahead.
Thanks Damien. Yes, I know about the the front page, but I'm just being a grumpy old git because Parkrun already has a website for such updates but the local PR teams don't seem use it. TBH, if that's all I've got to moan about, life's pretty good eh?😅
I'm a grumpy old git too. I used to be on Facebook about 10-11 years ago. But it was pure and utter nonsense. I deleted my account one day and closed it down completely. I just had enough. I'm not on anything else Social Media related other than this lovely place, WhatsApp and Strava. I know my 15 year old Son wouldn't count any of that as Social Media. I do some parkrun tourism and I am trying to tick off all the parkruns in Ireland. Ireland has no where near the number of events as the UK and it is no where near the size. So it is an achievable little goal. I have about 42 parkruns left to do in the Republic of Ireland before I tackle Northern Ireland. I did my 75th different parkrun course on New Years Day. I aim to have the Republic of Ireland completed in 3 years and the full Island of Ireland completed in 5 years. Northern Ireland will be a lovely challenge as I love that part of the world. I am on an Ireland WhatsApp Group for parkrun tourism which is great as each weekend we get updates on cancellations just in case anyone gets caught out.
I'm impressed by your determined approach to bagging all of the Irish Parkruns and I'll be interested to read any progress posts that you make. I lived in the south for a few years (near Moville on Inishowen) whilst working in Derry - I was terribly unfit at that point and I'm happy to report I'm marginally fitter now thanks to C25K, Healthunlocked and PR. Keep it grumpy!
😅 . We used to have a pipe (a tannoy announcement) onboard when I was in the navy and the ship was anchored in sight of land but offshore: "Shore leave will begin at 0800 for the Black Watch* and long distance swimmers". Not sure I've told this very well, but its memory always makes me smile!
*There was no black watch (a watch is a shift) on ships - the crew were allocated to either Port or Starboard watches.
Hi everyone, quick catch up time, I had a pretty good christmas running wise🙂
I managed to do the Christmas Day Y Promenad , Aberhonddu parkrun, very interesting little run which is a loop you run twice, they have a hard surface section which runs alongside the River Usk and a nice field section which could be a bit tricky in places and a couple of upward slopes🥵 but the slopes are only short sections thankfully, anyway weather was good and a big turn out of 158, excellent atmosphere and some pretty impressive times, I will be returning to this one in the near future to try and improve my time😁, I then did the New Years day parkrun at my usual run at Ystalyfera or Cycle route 43 to give it its official name, this one was wet and cold but another good turn out of around 120, and despite the weather the fastest fella ran in 15:41 😳 when he ran past me on the way to the finish I hadn't even reached the half way point🤣I did as many of the Saturday runs that I could do as well, I think Ysatlyfera only called off one run over the holiday period so a big shout out to the volunteers. I have now got a little niggle in one of my knees which is proving a bit stubborn to clear up and I've also picked up the dreaded norovirus, so feeling seriously weak just now, no running for a while apart from back and forwards to the loo🤢 Blwyddyn Newydd Dda bawb. Happy New Year everyone👍
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