Today a gazelle, sorry friend that completes ironman competitions for fun (!) told me i should go do a park run.
"It's great" he says "there are lots of people of all speeds, not everyone runs, some walk, some jog. You should go, i think you'll enjoy it."
And he genuinely said this in an encouraging, supportive way.
So people. If you have avoided the park run because *I'm not running 5k yet *I'm too slow *I'll look out of place *im not a proper runner or whatever the excuse is. GO. Be free. Attend a PR because the gazelles, who most of us fear/envy are nice people too and want us to join in the fun. 👐👐👐
Now I just have to find a free Saturday morning! 🙆♀️
Written by
Jogunlikely
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Normally horse riding Sat am. Will have to persuade my coach to give me a different time slot once a month. Should be easier now as she is married to Ironman 👍
Kudos if you do. I have total respect for any adult that learns to ride. I've ridden since I was 5. You bounce really well at that age and don't have a mortgage or family to support. Both important considerations because you will fall off at some point 😱
However very few things can beat it when you and neddy 🐎 are working in unison. It's magical 🦄 💞💞💞
Had more than my share of broken bones, and it’s a risky sport, horses are involved in more human fatalities than spiders snakes and sharks combined in Australia, but there’s something magical about horse and rider... much as I’m into sprints and middle distance running (long too now I guess) when the Olympics are on nothing beats equestrian events for me... dressage doubly so. I don’t even get close to understanding how that’s possible!
I have to admit I had a bad experience of park run.
I found it crammed with sub 25 min runners and no one under 30 mins.
I volounteered first just to see what it was like. I have severe depression and Crohns disease and, despite my best efforts, it does affect me. I do run and I felt park run would be great to get me out of the gym.
Anyway I made it there and was assigned a time keeping role. When I got confused, easy to do if you are new, the run director grabbed the stop watch off me and started shouting.
I left in tears and I will never go back.
Seems, at that particular run at least like you are welcome but only if you are their type of people.
BlueMat, don't give up regarding parkruns, I think you mentioned "no one ran under 30 minutes should have been no one ran over 30 minutes". That is not a typical parkrun, sounds more like a outing for the local amateur athletic club. All sub 30 minute 5k runners at a Saturday morning park run, unheard of. 😊 Try another parkrun somewhere else.
Oh BlueMat what a shame. I’m so sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Is there another near you you could try, as I’m sure the one you mentioned isn’t typical. At ours it’s been known for people to walk the 5k and take longer than hour. 🚶♀️
If you can possibly find an alternative one I’m sure you’ll love it, really. ❤️
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Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that. That is not how it’s supposed to be at all. Is there another one near that you can try? I love being part of the Parkrun community. Ours is so diverse(yes we have runners who complete in sub 16 mins but also have walkers who complete in just over an hour) so welcoming and when you volunteer to do a new role, you’re supported by someone who’s experienced at it. Timekeeping can be pretty stressful, especially in the middle phase when you are clocking finishers through quite rapidly. I really hope you can give it a try somewhere else. The treatment you received is far from the spirit of Parkrun and on behalf of the community, I’m really sorry it happened.
Bluemat that sounds awful. I would check out others in your area. You don't need to volunteer or take part just go and have a look to see how the land lies.
Doesn't fit with my Parkrun experience at all. Yes, we have teenagers who streak round in 17 minutes or so, but plenty of people of all ages doing much slower times. I was really pleased on Saturday to break the 33 minutes, but I was 209th out of 341 runners. As I was walking away from the finish, there were many more being cheered on by volunteers, other runners, and just bystanders. A large number of C25K finishers were doing their graduation run with a local running club group including some larger ladies who were obviously labouring with still 2K to go, but determined to soldier on - all respect to them!
Maybe what that cliquey Parkrun group needs is an injection of a large number of beginners to bring them into our 'real' running world!
Very well said JU! I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said. 👍
I’ve run ours 7 times and volunteered 3 times and I love doing both equally. Everyone is so friendly and encouraging. The elite runners who sprint the whole way are lovely. The people who come in towards the end are lovely and everyone in the middle is .... yep, lovely!
I run and volunteer with my dog who is welcomed with open arms. It’s the highlight of my week!
So glad your friend recommended it to you, and here’s to many more fun parkruns! 👏👏👏👏
I agree. I walked my first. One of the top 3 things I did this year was start ParkRuns. The first was to do C25K and the last to join a running club 😍
Its good to know that my experiece was unusual but I suppose these things happen.
Initially, I tried to put myself in the run director's shoes and imagine that he was stressed and under pressure.
Some of you have mentioned looking at run times or just going to look. That sounds a really good idea. There are plenty of parkruns near me so Im sure there will be something. It is a great idea. I will choose wisely next time!
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