Number one was marshalling at Killerton parkrun. So at 8.15 in the morning I was fixing high viz arrows to posts and tying ****ing gates open in the middle of the woods, then standing at the furthest point from the finish while all the happy parkrunners came through. And what a cheery bunch they are. The first guy through hardly acknowledged my presence, but most of the rest waved and/or thanked me and I responded with encouragement and lies. “Nearly there!” I shouted, despite the fact that I was standing just past the 3k marker.
After about forty minutes a couple of women with a young girl walked by and asked me whether there was a tail runner, as they were going very slowly and had seen no one behind them. I gave them a couple of minutes and was just about to ring the Run Director to check that there actually was a tail runner, when I espied the tail runner walking with a chap in his forties.
When they reached me, he apologised for wasting my time. I said “Nonsense, that is what I am here for.”
He muttered something about having to face up to some home truths and then I saw Mme Truffe a couple of hundred yards down the track, coming from her post by the cattle grid, so I waited for her before following on.
The walker completed the course, in about fifty some minutes, I think, and handed in his token only for us to find he didn't have a bar code. At least if you come home last it doesn't affect anyone else. I asked him, ”Have you heard of C25k?” to which he replied “Yes, I've got it” and his two teenage sons, who had finished half an hour before said “Yes, mum's doing that.”
I didn't probe further but just said “It does work. Two years ago I couldn't run, but today I am going to run home twelve miles from here. Stick with it. It works.”
His boys beamed and he shook my hand and said he would be back. All of which made me realise how much C25k and parkrun have given me.
Mme Truffe was going on to visit some friends, so all I had to do now was run home. The sun was coming out and it was warming up, but I had been hydrating regularly as I stood marshalling and was prepared with a bottle belt and a muesli bar. The route was mainly familiar except for the bit where I ran round three sides of a field before going diagonally across it to a gate, where I discovered the path was actually on the other side of the hedge. The route was 80% road, but the offroad sections were definitely the most fun, especially running through the middle of a field of eight foot high maize.
The run ended up being 18.43k and I did it in a shade under two hours, but I didn't have enough left in me to run round the town and do my first HM distance, mainly due to it being pretty warm and that I still haven't got my refuelling strategies fully sorted for these longer runs. My splits showed a slow decline in pace over the last 5k, which I would hope might be reduced with better refuelling.
Still, it produced some new firsts......my first run of 18.43k and 1:58:55, my first A to B run, ie. without returning to my starting point and also my first experience of runner's nipple.....which I will definitely have to address before I do any longer runs.......ouch!!
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IannodaTruffe
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Oh great post m'dear. What a great morning's work for you: you do a public service by marshalling Parkrun. Then you really encourage someone in the early stages of the programme, Then you do a massive run home and get a new distance PB in a very respectable time! Result!! Congratulations on an epic Saturday
That's a lot of progress in just two years. Best thing is you haven't forgotten where you come from. This forum reminds us all, at our various stations along the route, often enough of struggling along, struggling with not just some pain, but with self consciousness and gremlins and hordes of other ugly monsters, and being grateful when permitted to stop running after the unforgiving minute was run. Lucky for your last man home that a c25k -er was there to encourage him, even if there's plenty of encouragement at parkruns.
It's all good. It's good that someone out there is pulling out so many stops he perhaps forgets his manners, and busts himself to get a top notch time (a Welsh friend posted on Facebook about someone on their parkrun did it in 14.something not long ago); it's good that you're out there probing the limits of the distances your legs might be willing to carry you; it's good that youngsters are setting themselves up for life with this, that their dads are giving it a go, knowing they're not as fit as they once were, good that there's a bit of good natured competitive push somewhere way down the middle of a parkrun, good that there are people just out there flushing the lungs, getting some air, feeling the joy of having some firmness in their step again. There's a longer list than that, all of it good.
And having someone like you still here, who's seen quite a lot of those different good things at work, means we all get to hear about more and more ways in which this is definitely about running, and often challenges, but also about more than that. Lovely post. So much in it.
For me, parkrun is one of the best examples of people power at work. All that it stands for is positive and although I have taken quite a long time to do my first stint of volunteering, I will definitely continue to do my bit.
I am still here on this site gary_bart, because I still get a buzz from hearing about people's self discovery of their own ability, via C25k, and I was inspired by those who had progressed further than I ever expected to, and still am.
Yes, we have parkrun. Ours started just a few months after Australia's, in 2011, and there are 63 of them, now. This means every city has at least one, and most of the big towns do, too.
I agree with what you say about parkrun. It's not just another running event, it's quite a revolutionary event, getting so many more people involved. And I also get a buzz from this site.
I have volunteered/marshalled once at Parkrun too and, similarly, was posted as far from the start/finish as it was possible to be. Maybe it's a newbie initiation thing!
Well done on doing that distance. I did my first 18K a couple of weeks ago and, likewise, didn't get the nutrition quite right but have since done two 19K's which have been less arduous (although still far from easy). Jelly babies are not something I tend to eat but they certainly help on these longer runs.
I think on our run that the furthest marshalling posts are the last to be filled, the moral being, volunteer early!!
This refuelling thing is only going to be sorted by experiment. I can get it right up to about 15k, and then I flag quite quicky, so i need to find what works for me. I suspect a decent night's sleep the night before might have helped too.
Super post, as ever. It sounds simplistic to say, but parkrun folks are such nice people, it seems to bring out the very best in everyone. I should volunteer more often!
Well done on your 18ker. Once you've got your fuelling sorted you'll be more than ready for the big 21.1 - in my first foray towards 16k last year I hit the wall around 12k and slowed right down (it felt like I was running through water), and it was all to do with not drinking enough or eating the right things before the run. I think psychologically too, once you've broken a distance barrier it feels much easier the next time.
Thanks TT. I probably should have volunteered more over the last couple of years, but now I confidently have the duties of Marshall No 4 ingrained in my brain, it will no doubt happen more frequently.
I realised that my run would just fall short of the HM distance and in the back of my mind thought that adding the extra few k on would not be a problem, but my pace had dropped by 1:30m/k over the last 5k and I was in need of fuel. Knowing when to bale out is something I have learned over the years. I am a great believer in the psychological barrier and at least now I have nudged it on just a bit further.
Thanks for this post. I found the friendly, encouraging marshals were a new dimension to my running experience- overweight and red faced as I was they all clapped and encouraged me all the wAy on each of my three parkrun laps yesterday. What absolutely lovely people . If I didn't need to do the running so much I would volunteer too. In fact I may well volunteer anyway .
And your own amazing achievement on your home bound run is brilliant- totally well done on the volunteering, supporting, running and sharing in this post 😀
I have heard very few negative reports from parkrun and it makes you realise that runners come in all shapes, ages and sizes, not just those lean, mean running machines who complete the course in the bat of an eyelid.
Volunteer..........you must.....it is what makes the parkrun movement so strong.
Absolutely ! I was marshalling yesterday too, having got my 50 t shirt last week I'm now after my volunteer 25 shirt. We had three ladies on W4 of C25K who were attempting one lap (2.5k) of our course, two of which decided to carry on and complete the whole 5k. The last runner was a heart surgery survivor trying to improve her fitness. there are some truly amazing stories out there. Hooray for parkrun !
Runners nipple hurts! I use Bodyglide now, which helps but doesn't entirely eliminate it. Well done on the distance and the time. I ran 18.5K this morning in 2:08. My refuelling is simple for long runs. I eat one Shotblok about every 30 minutes from 30 minutes in, and that seems to work for me.
I can imagine the compression top works, but I save mine for the very coldest of winter runs. Taking my Tshirt off would have overcome the problem yesterday. Like you, I was not aware of the problem until I was in the shower and then it was like pins. Still a bit sensitive this morning, but I think I will live.
I am not a great one for buying proprietary goods, but I will Google Bodyglide and Shotblok to see if they are the answer to my needs. Lack of sleep and running at midday probably all added to my lack of oomph, but it is all a learning process and long may it be so.
Well done on marshalling and on that amazing distance. Sounds fantastic. If you manage to sort your fuelling / friction points then make sure you share the solutions on here ☺
I do my volunteering at the kids Junior Parkrun. You get high 5's there - it's fab. I do recall being lapped once on the 5k as I was running with my daughter. It was right out the far flung part of the route where there were no marshalls and a quick look at my watch told me he was really on for an amazing time so we cheered and clapped him past and he managed to gasp a "thanks". In the results I spotted he'd beat his PB so I like to think we played a mini part in that.
It is the fact that it is such an inclusive event that makes parkrun really special. I just love seeing all the youngsters out there developing the running habit, so well done you for helping them too.
Brilliant stuff... sounds like a great day all round Sorry to hear about your nips.. only had it once myself with a loosish top... I certainly know how you feel when the water hits them in the shower!!
Oh IT what a fabulous distance! That's an awfully long way to run so you should still be feeling pink and smug. What with the marshalling as well I think you have earned lots of gold stars. i hope you've had a nice rest today.
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lots of firsts !!! 
Remember me?? Many firsts!!
A day of firsts 
Saturdays of firsts and 8m short of a new PB!
