1st Stratford parkrun

[simonwilliamstutor]

Well that was rather good!

I reckon there were over 400 people there... from all over the place too. Plenty of tourists to bolster the numbers and lots of cameras so no doubt we shall we in the local papers.

Long introduction from the RD, Stratford's mayor and the health & safety official. Eventually got underway and I quickly realised I had started way too far back and was struggling to get past people. Thankfully the course opens up after a few hundred metres and I was off! Must have overtaken well over 50 people. First km was 5:48, final km 4:31... I had enough in the tank for a sprint race at the end with another guy (roughly the same build as me) and I won! Not keen on the grassy bits which will no doubt get very chewed up if there's a long period of rain before a run.

Lime Green Laura says I did it in 26:06. Will post official time when I get it.

[Noaky12 Graduate]

Wow thats very speedy indeed! Well done. Sounds like a great parkrun ☺

[Sandraj39 Graduate]

Fantastic time Simon ...well done! And what a great finish!🏃🏻🏃🏻

[Hidden]

Brilliant time and the last split woah that's fast !!

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate in reply to Hidden]

I was using up the energy I saved on the first lap!

Official time was 26:21... Well chuffed with that. Sub 26 next time!

[John_W Graduate Ambassador in reply to simonwilliamstutor]

Congrats on a great time Simon. I always take note of your posts cos your pace is similar to mine. I've yet to do a parkrun tho - must get round to one.

Anyway, well done!

John

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate in reply to John_W]

Do it! Great fun... Just register and rock up. That was only my second this morning after the mud bath of Leamington at the start of January. I may well volunteer on Easter Saturday which will probably be my next opportunity to participate.

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate]

According to the results page there were exactly 450 runners. I came 225th... Talk about squeezing into the top half of finishers!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Brilliant... well done that man!

Speeding up too..great stuff!

[davelinks Graduate]

Look at the Stratford Parkrun Flickr site for your photo and put NHS c25k as your club in your profile if you haven't done so already, and well done today..

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate in reply to davelinks]

Will do. Didn't notice anyone taking my picture today but I will have a look.

[davelinks Graduate]

No, you don't always notice them when busy running, usually proper dslr's, and you said there were plenty of cameras there..

[ju-ju- Graduate]

That's fantastic, you certainly are a speedy runner.... Won't be long and you will be posting your times at 22 minutes, I'll be watching this space....

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate in reply to ju-ju-]

Gotta break the 25 minute barrier first - my unofficial PB stands at 25:30 at the moment. Not sure if I could get down to 22 mins!

My cousin (our mums are sisters) is in his mid-50s and he's gone sub 21 for 5K. He has been running for years though and he's like a rake! Losing more weight is probably my best way to speeding up - I'm definitely still in the overweight category!

[simonwilliamstutor Graduate]

youtube.com/watch?v=Pstx4hy...(Not working as expected?)

Headcam video from yesterday... I'm in red & orange at about 2:05 and you see me overtake the cameraman at 13:20