First Parkrun

[Jovi2014]

So tomorrow is my very first parkrun and I am so nervous. Never run in a group and struggle with pacing. Any advice gratefully received! 😳

[cheekychipmunks Graduate]

Yay Jovi, your first parkrun! Woohoo!! There is absolutely no need to be nervous. There’ll be a first timers’ briefing so listen out for that. Don’t worry about your pace at all - except avoid being tempted to dash off too fast with the gazelles. Remember you can walk whenever you need to too.

You’ll find everyone friendly and welcoming, so have a blast. Just remember to take along your barcode which you’ll have scanned when you’ve finished. 😀

Tell us all about it won’t you, and huge good luck! 👍👍👍

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

That’s cool. Get there for 8:45 so you get the first timers briefing, start at the back of the pack and run at your own pace... soak up the encouragement and have yourself a great time.

Oh, and don’t forget your barcode!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

You will have a ball.

Don't be frightened to tell marshals that you are a newbie. I would be surprised if you don't believe you have discovered a long lost branch of your family by the end. Don't forget your barcode, preferably laminated, looking at the forecast.

It is not a race. Warm up before the start. Do attend the new runner's briefing. Don't start on the start line, unless it is a small turnout, otherwise you are likely to get trampled. Just go at a nice steady pace and by halfway, if you have plenty left, you can up your pace. You will be overtaken by small children and little old ladies, but that is part of the learning process.

You can register your club as NHS C25K on your profile page, if you wish.

Enjoy yourself.

[Mummycav Administrator Graduate]

Wow, well done for taking part...just relax and enjoy yourself....you won’t be the only ‘first timer’ I’m sure....don’t set off like a whippet, find your comfortable pace and stick to it...it’s your run, no one else’s...I want to hear how it went when you’ve done it...honestly, I think you’ll get a pleasant surprise 😉

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Treat it as a training run only at this stage.

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Nothing at all to be nervous about. Start at or near the back and just go at your own pace. Everyone will be massively friendly, and no matter how slow you go you will get lots of encouragement. You can check last week's results on line if you want to know how many people run and how slow the slowest is. But you can't even come last because there is a tail walker whose job is to be last. The first time I went I had no idea how long I would take to run 5K because I never measured my distance when I did C25K. I was pleasantly surprised as there are some really slow runners parkrunning every week. I was quickly hooked. Just have fun.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

I forgot to mention that if you are still doing C25K, then we recommend that you just do your programmed warm up and run and walk the remainder, to avoid doing too much too soon.........it is easy to get carried away at parkrun. You will still set a time and there will almost certainly people walking the whole thing.

[Jovi2014 Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you so much for all your advice. I have just graduated C25K and planned my parkrun as my first graduate run 😊 I’m currently covering about 3miles in my 30mins 😊 can’t believe I’m a runner!!

[IannodaTruffe Mentor in reply to Jovi2014]

Have a great day.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

Slow.... not sure whether you have completed the nine weeks..? but slow and steady does it

[Deals1 Graduate]

U will love it!! Follow all previous advice here and enjoy it!! Bewarned tho.u might get addicted!! 😬