First Parkrun planned and very worried!

[mrsbluegsmith]

Well, after starting c25k in February this year but never completing the official program (the music was putting me off) I completed Race for Life in under 30 mins in August. Since then I have mostly ran inside on the treadmill. So wanting a new challenge I have signed up for my very first Park Run .... only now Im worried about being surrounded by all of these professionals! Help ... what should i really expect and what if Im last?

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

IF you are last then you will be cheered in by people who genuinely appreciate the effort that runners are putting in and are in no way patronising. You will also be bolstering the ego of the person in front of you, which is a very generous thing to do. If you can run 5k in under 30 mins then I doubt very much that you will be last. There are runners of every age, shape and ability at park Run and the respect for all runners is mutually supportive and encouraging-a bit like this forum, I suppose. It is welcoming, friendly and informal.

If you are worried, you can look up the finishing times on the results page of you local run's web page, to see how you compare. Do it, mrsbluegsmith. You won't regret it and you will enjoy being with other runners.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[c4ts Graduate]

Completely agree with IT above.

Definitely just go for it, a great way to see how you are doing, check out the latest results page before you go, as that is a really good indication of what the timings are for the specific Park Run.

It is not a competition between the runners, just yourself and the clock - and even then only because we all seem to have some competitive spirit in us.

[crox Graduate]

I agree with both of you, I've run at 4 different locations now and never been made to feel out of place. Everyone is cheered on to the last.

[wilmacgh Graduate]

Well done for signing up. I suggest you have a look at the times others in the programme have been doing. What it will show you is that plenty people are slower than 30 minutes ans anyway that doesn't matter. Also depending on which run you are going to do, you may find a kindred spirit.

finding the results on this site isn't as easy it it should be on this site but try this:

Find a post from tygfuz - easiest way might be to use the search box.

then click on his name - once you are in the profile, click on Posts.

Use the right hand drop down menu to give you the "latest posts" most of which are NHS C25kers Parkrun results.

You need to register your club on the Parkrun site as "NHS Couch to 5k" to have your result included.

[katee1958 Graduate]

I did my first parkrun on week1 run 1 of the programme and totally agree with the comments above. My first attempt took me 48 mins, and I wasn't the last to finish. What was evident was the support and encouragement from the spectators, volunteers etc for everyone, including the slower runners. At 30 min for a race for life, I would say you are a fast runner x

[Adzriel Graduate]

I don't think that you need to worry about being last at all!

My partner is a runner, and has been for a while. He runs the Park Run nearly every week. So I've set myself the goal of being able to join him on it by the end of October. We'd checked the times of the slowest runner in the last Park Run that my partner did, and their time was just over 37 minutes. So at less than 30 minutes you'll be just fine

Good luck! Let us know how it goes!

[deekay64 Graduate]

Why not volunteer first to put your mind at rest? I signed up ages ago then life got in the way and I got an injury. I'm just regaining fitness now so I went along a couple of weeks ago as a volunteer. I'm not fit enough to run it yet but I'm going to keep going along twice a month to help out. Good luck

[notbad Graduate]

Great suggestion to volunteer first, when I did my first parkrun I got there a bit earlier and went to chat to the organisers, which helped settle my nerves. There are some incredibly fast runners there it's true but a huge swathe of runners finish around the 30 mark so you'll have lots of company. Enjoy

[squaremum Graduate]

Despite volunteering four times at my local parkrun before finally running it last Saturday I was still nervous, but that all went away when we all set off together. Just go for it, you won't regret it.