Nearly 18 months ago my then 7 year old daughter informed me she wanted to take part in cross country for her school. In my head I was thinking "sweetheart you come from a long line of people who were told in PE not to bother to try running the mile because there was no way they would finish it before PE ended" but instead I said "okay" and rocked up to practice with her. The amazing coach/groundskeeper at our primary school was so supportive and mentioned that if Joss wanted a bit more practice that just down the road they did a Parkrun and you could turn up and walk/jog/run 5K every Saturday. Sure I thought I can walk 5k at the worst and getting an 7 and 4 year old around it will be a breeze.
Fast forward to that Sat in Feb, one of the coldest in our region of the UK in a long time, but we were going and it was going to be fun. Layers were put on and off we trotted. My daughter's coach may have taken some liberties in describing the course and after dragging my 4 year old uphill, straight up hill hair pin bends the whole last mile, I both felt amazing and like I wanted to die. It was someone's 100th run and they brought cake and my kids thought this was awesome and decided it that marching/jogging/walking 5K each Saturday was totally worth it.
So off we went the next week and yet again I dragged my four year old up the the last mile again while my 7 year old jogged up with her father and my son informed me he was never going to do Parkrun again. In came brother and sister in law to let us know the same distance the other way was a Parkrun and was pretty flat so off we trotted. About this time I decided that maybe I should try a bit of jogging with my walking, my 4 year old also decided that he was not going to do this anymore. There in began the round robin of volunteering with four year old while someone ran with 7 year old. We were having a good time but were not sure where it was going maybe 7 year old would get to 10 and get a t-shirt but that was all we were thinking about.
Unknown to me as all this was going on my body started to have some strange symptoms and just as I was trying to get healthier and trying to walk more and trying to jog some of the Parkrun I felt exhausted all the time. The harder I tried the more exhausted I became but still didn't realize there was something wrong so stepped back a bit from Parkrun but my daughter and my husband kept going and once she hit 10 Parkruns she set a goal to hit 25 by the end of 2018. I finally approached my GP about my exhaustion and was diagnosed with an under active thyroid. Once my meds kicked in I decided to start the C25K program. My daughter not only got to 25 parkruns in 2018 but overshot it and we ran her 27th Parkrun together Christmas day.
She is now working on hitting her 50th in 2019 and to run 100 by the time she leaves primary school in July of 2021. My son now 6 has even managed to get his 10 Parkrun t-shirt.
I am slowly working up to a 10K and and enjoy being able to go out for a run with my 8 year old daughter. I could never imagine that my daughter wanting to try cross country or as I push/dragged my son up the mile of hill at the end of 3 miles (and yes I had to push him through the finish line as he was still registering his complaint and started walking off towards the cakes before walking through the finish line) that we would still be going strong nearly 18 months later that we would introduce lots of friends and family to Parkruna and being active. That my 7 year old daughter running Parkrun would inspire my 60 something dad to do C25K so when he come to visit this summer he can run Parkrun with his granddaughter.
When you make the decision to take up C25K your whole family may not join you but your decisions have a ripple effect on your friends and family. Your partner might not take up running but may decide to eat better. Your best friend might see that you have succeeded at running so maybe they can try something they are scared of. Your 7 year old daughter might take up a new sport which leads you to happily getting out of bed at an ungodly hour or the morning on a Saturday and running for three miles just because your LOVE it. Keep going you are not only having a positive effect on yourself but on those around you.
The Tale of Pinky and Her Stroller or my first organized 5K!!
My "GO FOR IT!" once per month day today
Being Brave
Parkrun from the other side
Running with 7 year old...
