Consolidation continues: Junior Parkrun!

[ktsok]

It was raining hard this morning so a perfect day for our first Parkrun... well... it was a day, anyway! The marshals were lovely and welcoming, which helped with the nerves. And I had a stash of jelly babies so we knew we were covered.

My 8 year old decided he would like me to run with him for the first lap, then he said he would sprint the next two... fine, I said. So we took our positions and off we went!

Some of the kids exploded off the line like rockets. It’s difficult not to get swept up in the general mayhem! Alex whizzed off ahead for the first km but started flagging a bit after a hill climb. He walked until I caught up, pretended that he was giving me some coaching (pace yourself mummy, don’t go too fast) and then whizzed off again. I had two more ‘coaching lessons’ before he put in a final sprint on an uphill and crossed the line.

The fastest time for the 2k was 8:25... 😳 Alex did a respectable 12:07, coming in 24th out of 46 brave wet kids. His mum came in with an unofficial 12:28. I did feel pretty tired! And very proud of the pair of us; we have made a start to our Parkrun adventure 🙂

[UnfitNoMore Graduate]

12:07 is quick and a half for a first timer... very good job there ktsok Jnr.

8:25 isn’t bad... my local one went sub 7 minutes this morning... I was tired just watching 😂😂😂

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Sub 7 minutes - that’s crazy fast! The junior record here is 6:37 😮

Yes he did well, bless him. He says he wants to do it in 10 minutes next time... can’t fault the ambition, anyway! But he will need a new pacemaker 😂

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

6:37 here too... same guy as today, but he was slacking today and 11 seconds slower 😂

For some reason we have an adult record at juniors parkrun.org.uk/marple-junio...

Little Miss UNM runs a kilometre to my mile on long runs... but she totally kicks my butt over 1k. Today we have done 2 active 10 walks and I can’t keep up with her... so I’m gonna take all the 5k wins over her that I can before she’s faster over distance.

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Gosh, ok good to know.

Do not compete with kids on short distances!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

I guess that’s why marathon athletes are older than 100m champs!

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

How old is Little Miss? Yup, this is all going to end one way; us getting left for dust! As it should be 🙂

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

She’s 12... going on 36

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Keeping you on your toes in all sorts of ways then!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

Pretty much... luckily the local boys have a lot of fear... I think it’s the death metal 😂

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Play it extra loud - it’s Valentines this Thursday!

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

Valentine’s Day... nice slow Marilyn Manson song... little bit dark... that should do nicely.

She got suspended from nursery once... proud day for me. I got a phone call to pick her up quickly... she’d been pushed over by a boy on the trampoline. I asked if she was ok... she was. She got up... punched him full in the face, took him down and had the kid in an arm lock with no intentions of letting him go. She released it when I got there... dunno where she got it from 😂

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Maybe wrestling rather than running? (good on her)

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

I’m happier with her running... but I’m relaxed with the knowledge that she can handle herself... anyone hurts her probably won’t have to answer to me 😂

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Wow. That’s a very direct way of dealing with a problem! Perhaps you should just let them come calling and enjoy watching the ensuing chaos 😆

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

I was doing a little MMA at the time and she used to come and sit at the side of the mat... seems she learned more than I did!

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Taking it all in...

[UnfitNoMore Graduate in reply to ktsok]

Luckily she also took in the self defence only bit... but she does like to get in bullies faces if she comes across them at school... so far they’ve all backed down, funny that.

[ktsok Graduate in reply to UnfitNoMore]

Good girl 🙂

[Granspeed Graduate]

Wahoo! Inspirational to this snail. 👏🏼🐌😊

[ktsok Graduate in reply to Granspeed]

Thanks Granspeed!

[Shelley2310 Graduate]

Well done Alex. My granddaughter wants to do it at some point. She’s bit like me, unfit and slow, are there some slow kids there?

[ktsok Graduate in reply to Shelley2310]

Slowest was 20 minutes, and quite a few in the 15 - 17 window. And a tail runner, of course! People stayed to cheer the last one over the finishing line which was nice. Maybe run together? Alex liked the fact I was slower; maybe you could run slow and your granddaughter would enjoy feeling she is helping you/keeping you company? 🙂

[Couchpotato2 Graduate]

Great! Sounds like he will be of help after all in helping you train for that half-marathon

[ktsok Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

Well, he walk-runs without any self consciousness or feelings of disappointment! That’s a lesson to learn 🙂

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

It is and to do that in a race context as well is much harder. I run / walked on the Park run (trying to stick roughly to the programme) and did feel a bit like a looser. Also during the warm up walk, I felt the need to tell people I would be running later. I am where I am at the moment and it's probably normal that I'm not at the same place that someone that has done 100 PR before me. Acceptance. Actually good thought to keep this week. Thanks Alex for the lesson!

[ktsok Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

It is a good lesson. He also told me that as long as we had fun, that was all that mattered. And he told me tonight he really enjoyed this weekend... 😊🥇

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

That is so cool and you'll be able to run together more, which will be fun.

[ktsok Graduate in reply to Couchpotato2]

And I should have said yes, it’s completely normal you aren’t at the same pace as an old timer! We are beginners!Iannodatruffe says somewhere that we have only run for a total of 16 hours (or something) by graduation. That’s not a lot! But it is tough to keep that in mind sometimes. Maybe we should wear L plates - or a C25K t-shirt!

[Couchpotato2 Graduate in reply to ktsok]

I'll put L plates if you do!!