How did your parkrun or (not)parkrun go?

[damienair]

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.

[Sandraj39 Graduate10]

Looks like I might be first to reply - very excited to have just done my local parkrun in Cranleigh.🙂 This is only the second time I have done a parkrun and although I frequently run on parts of the course, the first time to have done it officially! I had a finish time of 31.59 which I’m very happy with…and as this is a few minutes walk/jog from my door, I will definitely try to run it more often!

It was also great to run it with my husband and eldest son, who is staying with us for Easter.🙂

Happy Easter weekend everyone!🙂💐🐣x

[damienair Administrator in reply to Sandraj39]

Fantastic running and a great way to kick off your Raster with your family. Well done 👏

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

What a great way to spend time on a Saturday morning! I have recently resumed Park Runs, and now run them with a friend I have known for years; he is a much better runner (a bit younger than me too) but a Park Run is great when you can have a chat, coffee and a sneaky bacon and egg sandwich afterwards! A finish time to be pleased about too is a bonus 🙂

[Sandraj39 Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks - I really enjoyed it  Beachcomber66 🙂

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

Superb Sandraj39 and a really good time. How lovely that this one is close to you 👌🙌

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Sandraj39]

You know you are now on a slippery slope Sandraj39 😂. I love to see families turning up together for parkrun when on holidays. Having a parkrun on your doorstep is so convenient too.

[damienair Administrator]

I volunteered this morning at my local parkrun. It was raining but thankfully I didn’t get too wet. I was handing out finish tokens at the finish funnel. Happy Easter and Happy Running everyone.

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

Thank you for volunteering 😀

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10]

Good morning and a very happy Easter to you Damien and other parkruners, joggers and walkers, I didn't go to parkrun today, instead in preparation for a 10K race in 2 weeks time I travelled to the same park that race will be, 2 weeks ago I walked 8K in a time of 1:31:41, this morning I ran 8K on the same route in a time of 0:54:37,

Regarding next Saturday, I have had three emails asking me to walk at parkrun on Saturday 26th April so instead of running shoes l'll go to Palacerigg Country Parkrun which is a trail course wearing my sturdy walking boots, whether I am a official park walker or not it will be a walk not a run.

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to AlMorr]

Great preparation for your race super AlMorr

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to GTFC]

Thanks GTFC, my 8K run this morning started and ended where the 10K race will be held, part of the race is along the River Clydeside Walkway next to the oldest park in Glasgow, namely Glasgow Green, I ran 4K along the walkway which was halfway, then turned and ran back to where I started, I saw more than 40 other runners some of whom said 'good morning' , I was only passed by about 5 runners going at sub 30 minute 5k pace., my split 5K time was 33:42.I heard on the news that a robot ran a HM in two hours forty minutes, that's just little quicker than I ran my only HM a few years ago 😂

[damienair Administrator in reply to AlMorr]

Well done Al and best wishes for the rest of your 10K training. Great 8K today. Happy Easter. 🐣

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to damienair]

PS Damien, I have just looked back on my running times for running 8K, this morning was my quickest time EVER for that distance, the first time I have ran 8K sub 55 minutes, I ran it without my metromone app which I usually have when running 8K, so I am happy laddie 😂🏃🏾✔️

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10]

Good morning Damien et al. Well, I did it! I tried a new Park Run this morning ! 🫢

Stewart Park in Marton, the Birthplace of Captain Cook no less. It has a Birth Place museum and a really friendly corps of volunteers and other runners. The route, layout and topography came as a bit of a surprise after the super fast Albert Park. Right angle bends, some hairpins and hills too!! Total ascent was 37m as against 7m at Albert. The track was much narrower than I am used to as well, so there was a bit of a log jam at the first right angled bend just after the start. Actually, it was a good reminder; this is a Park Run through a beautiful park alongside lovely people enjoying the morning, not a place for getting into a lather chasing PBs. The result, Park Run time of 30:36 (5k time 29.56) and a broad smile. Apres run coffee and bacon and egg roll (on brown of course 🙂) and time spent putting the world to rights, and then home for a shower and off out with Molly soon. Loved it 🙂

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

Superb effort Beachcomber66 last week was a Boro Runners take over there with a record attendance so you timed it well. Excellent run 👌🙌

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to GTFC]

A complete fluke rather than well timed GTFC, but I really enjoyed it. A completely different run to Albert Park.

[Tasha99 Graduate10]

When your 250th 💚 parkrun is on your honeymoon with my GTFC but you’re in Slovenia 🇸🇮 where there are none. Answer - drive to Austria 🇦🇹 to do it 💪🏽 5 years of basically non-stop parkrunning (besides the Covid times) and I’ve got the green top I’ve wanted since my first ever parkrun. (The RD is from Durham too 🤣)

GTFC and Tasha in Austria

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

An absolutely wonderful memory together ❤️

[TailChaser Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

As you do 🤣🤣 Congratulations Tasha 🥳🥳🥳

[Sandraj39 Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Wow! That’s amazing Tasha! Congratulations - and enjoy your honeymoon too!🙂

[AlMorr Ambassador Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

That's a beautiful photograph ❤️❤️✔️✔️

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Congratulations Tasha99 . An amazing effort to do that 250th run too. Happy holidays. 💚

[Cmoi Graduate10 in reply to Tasha99]

Congratulations Tasha99 🥂🥳, and enjoy your🍯🌛👩‍❤️‍👨 !

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Cmoi]

Congratulations Tasha. Another one for the Smoggies 🙂.🍺

[beth_f Graduate10]

Afternoon all,

Hove prom again. Brutal headwind one way which seemed to get worse on the 2nd lap.

Anyway was feeling that it was a good run despite the wind nearly knocking me sideways and finally got a PB! Came in at 32:00 (4 seconds off my last PB which I got May 2024). Not quite the numbers they had last week and the finish funnel was the quickest I’ve been through!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter 🐣

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to beth_f]

Great run beth_f congratulations on the PB ⭐️🏅🙌

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to beth_f]

The wind was pretty cold and blustery up here too; but you didn’t let the weather stop you. One advantage of running in parks is that the trees offer some shelter. Few hiding places when you are running on the prom! Well done; and a PB thrown in 👍

[Survivor1952]

Fantastic day after having had last week off due to other commitments. Post run it feels well worth having got up slightly earlier than most other days (I'm retired).

Felt really good at HIIT Cardiac circuits yesterday and puzzled the tutor as my HR had dropped by about 10-15% both before and during class compared to the week before, I normally peak close to my age maximum but this week I couldn't get higher than the low 130's despite it feeling as if I was working just as hard. Recovery from exercise was really good too, it feels as if I've stepped up a level.

Anyway on to today. Felt a bit uncertain about how it would go. There are some runners I like to pace myself against, one lady with a PB of 30:29 and looked after by a local running coach seems to be a good benchmark for me as she is running at an age grade of around 48% which is similar to me and in the 38-39 minute bracket. I was pleased to be able to stay pretty much on her shoulder to just short of halfway. Indeed on the way back to the finish I was still with her having dropped back a bit and then caught up.

Into the last 250m and I did my usual, for me, dash for the line if I can call it that. Passed 4 or 5 people doing that including my 'pace' runner and picked up token number 632. According to my watch today was another pb around 38:20 taking about 15 seconds off that which I set two weeks ago! I do believe that is the fastest 5k I've ever done on foot in my life. Official results still awaited as we had 739 today (including tail walkers). Token sorting afterwards is getting more onerous although we finished in good time this week, we had a good team ...

No local run on the 17th May as the course is unavailable so looking to do one of my Nendy runs. And away at friends at the end of May so I'll do their local event then.

[TailChaser Graduate10]

Good morning Damien and all!

Last Stratford parkrun before Manchester. Had a 60 minute run on the plan, so did a half hour warmup beforehand. Supposed to take it slow but decided just to run to feel. My tapering and the Easter break is flushing out all the strains and stresses of the past few months (work has been horrid) and I’m not 100% but after the warmup I felt a bit stronger. Got some nice negative splits and only just missed a sub 30 minutes. I was a bit disappointed until I found I’d got my first Stopwatch Bingo in years! I now only have 16 seconds to go 🥳 How many years will that take to get 🤣

It was good to meet with a couple of Fordy visitors today, we don’t get that many and it was nice to catch up with them. They were part of over 620 today, which is no surprise it being Easter Saturday. We’ve got lots of Surge plans in place now so it went really well.

It being Easter, the weather has gone downhill and we had a cold wind. Not being 100% I got really cold afterwards so a couple of post run coffees for me to help my fingers go pink again. I’m now going out again to get my pre-marathon massage, which will hopefully get the last of the toxins out of my system ready for next Sunday. Heaton Park in North Manchester next Saturday for a Fordy shake out 🥳🥳🥳

Happy running and happy Easter everyone! 😃🥰

[GTFC Graduate10 in reply to TailChaser]

Well done TailChaser a really good run that leaves you nicely set up for the rest of taper 🙌

[TailChaser Graduate10 in reply to GTFC]

Yeah, thanks GTFC. Good to finish on a high 😀

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

Happy Easter everyone. Well I did walk down to parkrun with my rabbit ears on but with headwind gusts of 30 mph and rain as we set off, they were placed safely in my rucksack. The RDs organised a slightly different route for today as little tweaks are needed since our return to our original start point. It wasn’t an easy run as I’m sure we had sleet in our faces at one point, but big thanks to all the volunteers who were out in it for almost 2 hours. Of course the sun came out straight afterwards. Just me and Mr C running today and  UpTheStanley ,  Coddfish and  Oldgirlruns volunteering. A hearty breakfast followed with OGR’s brother.

Garmin time 34:56, parkrun time 35:36, 1st in age group of 3 who faced the elements. 59.6% age score; so close to the magic 60%.

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Great effort full stop Dexy5, and double that given the windy conditions. The wind was an icy North Easter up here, but the trees provided a bit of shelter. Egg and bacon rolls post run; does 2 weeks in a row count as an addiction?

For you; a great run, great company and,I have no doubt, a great breakfast for everyone this morning!😋

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

That’s getting close to an addiction 😉

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Maybe I should eat more to build up my immunity 👍.

No Park run next week; serious business on the 27th 😬.

[TailChaser Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

If those count as an addiction then I’m done for 😅

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to TailChaser]

🙂 I need the calories for the long run on the 27th 👍

[Dexy5 Graduate10]

2nd attempt

OldGirlRuns and other barcode scanners

[Beachcomber66 Graduate10 in reply to Dexy5]

Those ears suit OGR 🙂

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Beachcomber66]

They do. We first bought them when we did Race for Life as a walking team, before we realised would become runners. Who knew what c25k would do?

[00marks Graduate10]

Parkrun #149 for me and my first international parkrun. This is Jamaica Park Parkrun in Boston, USA which allowed me to tick off the letter J in parkrun alphabet! The course consisted of 2 laps of the "pond". Looking at their stats last week there were 74 runners. This week there were 645! - mostly Brits - because of a certain event happening in a couple of days. It was a warm and sunny morning. We received a great welcome from the locals who I guess were used to their event being taken over for one week in the year. If you are ever in the area I thoroughly recommend it.

Jamaica Pond Parkrun

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to 00marks]

How wonderful, a US parkrun, and a sought after J! I bet they had to rally all their local runners to volunteer this weekend - that’s a big jump. Good luck in the marathon.

[Tessie66 Graduate10]

Well done everyone who volunteerd ran or walked a parkrun. Me and my son in law went to Roberts Park parkrun it's a quick course that holds my pb 28:58 today dressed in all red for British Heart Foundation ❤️ and what we are wearing and who we are running for at the Manchester marathon I came in at 30:49 my second fastest time this year but not a particularly quick time compared to last year's, it was a good run still and my last parkrun till after the marathon now.

[Dexy5 Graduate10 in reply to Tessie66]

❤️ 👏👏