My first Parkrun but definitely not my last 🍀🍁🏃🏻‍♀️🌳🏃🏼🍂🍄

[Kimchoc08]

Today I ventured into the brave new world of Parkrun and I have to say what a wonderful bunch of people they are!!

I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to fit one in but with copious amounts of Open Days, which all fall on Saturdays, it hadn’t happened as of yet.

So this week I purposely set out my runs to coincide with the Parkrun today and it paid off!!

I woke up at 8am, dressed in the gear, had a cup of tea, seriously can’t function without tea in the morning, ate a weetabix, set my music up, poised MapMyRun to go and walked to the park.

I am extremely lucky to have a Parkrun on my doorstep, I mean it’s an 8 minute walk to the park, which I used as the warm up walk.

I arrived at 8:50am, a little apprehensive about being a newbie but I didn’t need to worry at all. The volunteers pointed me in the right direction, towards a guy named Mike, who did the welcome talk for us newbies and tourists. There were people from Hull, Guernsey and then there was little old me.

Welcome talk done and off I went. I went running at my first Parkrun, my first official event, my first timed event, my first ‘other runners are running along side me’ event!!

1st lap round the park and I felt good. I was overtaken by a man who must’ve had a rocket 🚀 up his bum as he seemed to be flying but I didn’t let it bother me, I just carried on running at my own comfortable pace, moving over to let other runners pass me and enjoying running as part of a group.

2nd lap came and went without major incident, although I thought I was going to loose a shoe at one point, apparently heavy rain creates shoe sucking mud puddles and I thought this is it, I’m losing my shoe and will have to finish the run in only 1 shoe but thankfully it stayed on my foot!!

Home straight in sight and I felt ecstatic, I kicked a little harder, crossed the finish line, collected my place fob and went to register my time with the volunteers. Then after catching my breath, had a good chat with some other runners and headed off home 🏠

A warm bath followed by more tea made me feel good but then came the congratulations email from Parkrun with my timings and I was ecstatic!!

My first Parkrun resulted in a time of 36min 18secs. I was 271st out of 334 runners and was the 117th female across the line!! I even gave myself a little victory dance round the kitchen!!

To each and every one of you on this forum, thank you, thank you and thank you again as without your support, I would not have been able to get this far in my running journey 🏃🏻‍♀️

Have a wonderful weekend and happy running folks 🏃🏻‍♀️💕🏃🏼

[Neverrunbefore64 Graduate]

Well done you, I'm going to graduate (hopefully) a week Wednesday, then I'm seriously thinking about a parkrun. You've made me feel like I probably can do it.

[Wizziewood in reply to Neverrunbefore64]

Do it! You won't regret it, you might even surprise yourself.

Don't worry about your time, you definitely won't be last even if you need to walk some of the way.

Happy running and good luck!

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Neverrunbefore64]

If I can do it then anyway be can!! Such a lovely friendly atmosphere and it was great to be a part of it 😊

[Richard7 Graduate]

Congratulations Kim .. I have been putting off ParkRun but will definitely be doing one .. just a matter of when! Love the rocket comment! Sounds like you had fun doing it which I guess is half the battle won. I drove past a local ParkRun today at 9:45 as people were leaving knowing that if I had joined them I would have probably only just been finishing but at the same time feeling good for them.

Well done for the time and keeping your shoes on - and for not shooting off like a rocket yourself which can be the temptation when you see everyone else I guess.

[Martin_Rose Graduate in reply to Richard7]

Come on Richard, join the park run fun.

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Richard7]

Oh Richard, if I can find the inner strength and courage then I know you can!! They’re a great bunch of friendly encouraging people and you’ll feel right at home as I did 😊 Go on, go for it, I dare you .....😏

[Richard7 Graduate in reply to Kimchoc08]

Slow and steady

[Wizziewood]

Very well done! Glad you enjoyed it.

Parkrun is great isn't it! Good luck next week!

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Wizziewood]

I loved it 😊 Friendly and encouraging group of people. I shall define be going back 😊

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

What a great result Kim..and you had fun too...Your first Parkrun and you Aced it..😊xxx

Well done You👏👏👏

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Bluebirdrunner]

I never knew I’d find fun running at 9am on a Saturday morning in a park filled with muddy puddles!! Loved it 💕

[TJMazz Graduate]

Brilliant. I’m glad you enjoyed the experience. Maybe one day I’ll have the courage to do this 🙌🏻

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to TJMazz]

If I can find the courage then you most definitely can. They are such a friendly bunch of people and made me feel very welcome 😊

[lardofale Graduate]

Absolutely fantastic report Kim, love it! I knew you'd love it, the volunteers are unbelievable and the other runners are, well, family!! My first experience was very similar in that I was unsure about what to do but was soon put at ease and able to enjoy it. I completed my 10th Parkrun this morning and my 4th sub 30 minute effort! That little email is a great little confidence booster too isn't it?!

Great effort and I guess that's the first of many!! 👏👏👍😉

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to lardofale]

The email was the icing on the cake!! I never thought that I’d enjoy running as much as I do and coupled with the fact that Parkrunners are a lovely, kind and friendly bunch of people, I felt right at home!! I shall definitely be joining in more of them!!

[KimLoulou Graduate]

Well done. I wimped out today as it was raining. Regretting it now. Not been out since Run last Sunday as have had a knee niggle since then but will try tomorrow

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to KimLoulou]

I wanted to wimp out and the inner gremlins nearly won but I have myself a right good talking to and got out there. I was very glad I did 😊

[Fenellawny Graduate]

Well done. It is a good feeling isn’t it, running with others and seeing where you end up. My park run was only 98 people big last week. Very brave of you running with all those others this morning! You’ll enjoy the buzz for the rest of the day. 🏃‍♀️😊

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Fenellawny]

Only 98! I would’ve preferred that as opposed to 334!! It was a little daunting at first but once I was running, I went into my own little world and forgot all about the 333 other runners!!

[Feegle Graduate]

Well done and glad that you enjoyed the experience

I too, completed my first Parkrun today....I was overtaken a young woman pushing a buggy, lol.

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Feegle]

Well done on yours 👍🏼 I too was overtaken by a woman pushing a buggy and she had a dog too!! Crazy 😜 it’s hard enough running without having to push anything!!

[ChrisAllen1 Graduate]

Well done and a great post, can't wait to do my first one

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to ChrisAllen1]

Thank you and you’ll love it!! Such a friendly encouraging bunch of people 😊

[Sadeskin Graduate]

Well done you!! Lovely post and I am so happy for you that you completed your first Parkrun! I did the very same thing today, felt a bit strange amongst other ‘runners’ and I missed my new runners briefing as I didn’t know where it was! It’s quite a challenge running in thick mud and puddles isn’t it?

Well done again, a lovely read

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Sadeskin]

Thick muddy puddles were an obstacle I could’ve done without today but I think we’ll just have to get used to them now that autumn is here!! I did enjoy it though 😊😊

[Martin_Rose Graduate]

Well done Kim, I knew you would love a park run, that's a great time, I did my 5th one today. XxX

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Martin_Rose]

Oh Martin, how right you were about Parkrun!! What a fantastically supportive group of people!! I had the time of my life this morning!! Rain, puddles, fallen leaves, ASBO swans, all in all an enjoyable way to spend the first part of my Saturday morning 😊😊

[Irish-John Graduate]

WELL DONE Kim!!!!

( And "shoe sucking mud puddles" - a wonderful turn of phrase! )

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Thank you 😊 It really was the only way to describe those puddles!! I still enjoyed it though 🤣🤣

[Irish-John Graduate in reply to Kimchoc08]

And you will enjoy mmany more I bet

[RunaroundSue]

Well done, you are so lucky having a parkrun on your doorstep (almost). We have about a 10 minute drive to our nearest one and I thought that was good

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to RunaroundSue]

Thank you 😊 I do consider myself very lucky that it’s right on my doorstep!!

[J9_54 Graduate]

Yay well done Kim. Congratulations. They are fabulous events ParkRuns. I still cannot believe they are free and completely organised by volunteers. Such a great idea.

[Decker]

Well done Kim! Sounds like a great time and maybe some new friends as it sounds like you will be back again 🙂

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Decker]

Thank you. I will definitely be going back but not for a month as I’ve got even more Open Days!!

[Fishypieface Graduate]

Blinking brilliant!! Very, very well done to you!!

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Fishypieface]

Thank you 😊

[SaskAlliecat Graduate]

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful experience! Well done!

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Thank you 😊

[misswobble Graduate]

Wooohoooo! Good innit! It's a blast! I love the way everyone moves forward as a body. All sorts of shapes and sizes, speeds and abilities. Everyone together. It's a great thing to do. You should volunteer. It's really a good thing to do

You can get a cuppa and something to eat at ours, which is lovely. I met up with a couple of C25kers at ours a few weeks ago and we went for a post run hot choc

I'm so pleased you enjoyed it. Now you've done one you will get hooked and try and find one whenever your're on the move.

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to misswobble]

Bloody brilliant morning run with all sorts of different people who made it enjoyable 😊😊

[miss_august Graduate]

This sounds good... I've been putting off going for, oh, years, because it's scary to go to a thing like that alone (for me anyway!), but I think it might be good for me. I usually (always!) run alone and company for a change might be nice. Plus the new route of a park! However, the park nearest me is a bit hilly... Mind you, I don't mind a hill, and want to try trails soon, so perhaps that is what I need!

So yes, your post is making me think perhaps it's time to be a bit braver... I just hope people would chat to me a bit and make me feel better about being slow

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to miss_august]

I was put off as I was by myself but I grabbed the proverbial bull by the horns, took a deep breath, prayed to the running gods to not let me make a complete prat of myself and off I went. I think the praying worked as it all turned out wonderfully well!!

[icklegui Graduate]

loving reading about everyone's parkruns - so clear how wonderful a morning you had! Lovely writing, lovely run. Fantastic stuff!

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to icklegui]

Thank you. I used to read people’s posts about Parkruns and feel jealous but now I’m living the Parkrun life!!

[Cornet-Carolyn Graduate]

That's absolutely fantastic and a great first park run time. Well done you, very impressive 👏🍾

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Cornet-Carolyn]

Thank you 😊 I loved every minute of it!!

[Mimirossi Graduate]

Well done Kim! It sounds as if you had a great time this morning.

It was my first park run today as well after trying to pluck up courage for weeks! It was raining and I almost chickened out, but I am so glad that I went. I was pleased with my time and that I got round with no problems. I also learnt the joy of going straight through the numerous large puddles!

Hope that lots of people had a great time at Parkrun this morning

[Kimchoc08 Graduate in reply to Mimirossi]

Oh, running through puddles was easier than trying to dodge them today!! I enjoyed every mud splashed moment!! Well done for getting your first one done!!