Firstly, big thanks to everyone who took the trouble to reply. It means a lot to get some different viewpoints.
This morning I completed step 1 - my first ever parkrun. It was OK. Just OK. Not the wonderful experience I hoped for. Of the 316 runners plus volunteers a grand total of 1 spoke to me, and that was the lady doing the newcomers' briefing to ask me if I had parkrunned anywhere else. All attempts at conversation with fellow runners before the start about trivia failed. Surely not everyone is in the zone?
After the cattle stampede at the start things thinned out after about 1-2 km and I was able to run "properly" without tripping over others. Over the line, job done.
As for a 10k race next, I'm not sure I will bother. Instead I will see what sort of a plan My Asics suggests and examine it in minute detail for the next few days.
I won't see my running friend until Thursday so that gives me a few more days to procrastinate!
PS I took an Imodium just in case...It worked so no need for the change of clothes and wet wipes.
Written by
Langley-Loper
Half Marathon
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Sorry to hear your first parkrun experience wasn't great. It is hard to go there without knowing others, I did this myself. Now I know a few runners that attend as we are all in a local run group, this is how I have found runners to run with on club runs. Otherwise my training miles have all been solo as other runners in the club are running shorter distances. I use parkrun as part of my training for the hm. A mid distance run 4-5miles Monday, long run Thursday 10-12miles and a parkrun on Saturday. It gets the Saturday run done early allowing for family time. I know others who have used parkrun as part of their long run i.e. run there, run parkrun then carry on running after. Let us know what you decide.......bet you sign up!
Ungortunately Sunday has to be my long run due to the way my week pans out. I don't think Saturday parkruns will be my thing for a while. Maybe I will squeeze in the odd one at an easy pace for a change of scenery
I'm sorry to hear your first parkrun wasn't the highlight you had hoped for. Hopefully as you go more and see the same runners regularly you'll feel more comfortable to strike up a conversation yourself. I find I'm not one to start up a random conversation with someone I don't know but once I feel more comfortable.....watch out .... you can't shut me up 😄🤐🤣. With over 300 runners, it'll help get you used to running in groups and figuring out where to start in the pack. I hope you go back again and can make it part of your training. My nearest one is over 5 hours away, so pretty sure I'll never get to do one ☹️ So my advice is just random life advice 😁
I have two at about 15 min and 25 min drive so am lucky. The 25 min one is near a big supermarket. I am sure they wouldn't mind me doing the weekly shop all sweaty!!
I did try to strike up conversation - what was the route like, was it likely to be muddy...everyone seemed to be in their own little groups. I know I need to persist to infiltrate the ranks but I don't think parkruns will be my thing for a while.
It was a useful experiment today though and I am glad I went.
Fair enough. You tried. Based on some of the posts about parkruns, it sounds like some can be more serious and others may be more friendly. Maybe this is a more "serious" one. I'd give the other a go and would definitely hit the supermarket all sweaty after 😁
I have never had much chatting at parkrun as a runner (not that I mind that myself, I'm not chatty and I'm all about the pb at parkrun!), but have had some great conversations and laughs as a volunteer there - I recommend doing that
Good idea to check out MyAsics. Have a look at Hal Higdon's plans too.
Well done, you braved it and survived!!! Could you and your friend do your own 10k together? That might be more fun, and you could sign up for a virtual medal?
I've done lots of of races but only one park run. It was ok, one runner chatted to me for a while and was encouraging but on the whole I wasn't overwhelmed with motivation to do another any time soon. My races have been great events and a great motivation though, from small local events to the bigger events. I've nothing against park runs and think they are brilliant for a lot of people but if they're not for you it's fine and it's worth experiencing a 10k race, it might be a totally different experience.
One of the things I found intimidating about large events was the jostling at the start, and generally not knowing where to go, what to do, what to look out for etc. I'm a solitary runner by nature so I don't need (want!) to run with someone, but I find it helpful occasionally to chat to someone in the start pen. Your Parkrun sounds a bit miserable, tbh. Now I've done a few events I'm much more confident about what happens in general and I'm happy to go on my own, but I always start towards the back because I know I'm going to set off slowly and I don't like the madness towards the front. As long as you know what to expect, no problem. Parkrun is a reasonable environment to simulate a start of a race, but there are other oddities such as the loo queues and whether or not you get your race number before the event or if you have to go to the registration tent, which means another queue. If you read all the info, you can be prepared.
My friend knows the HM route well as it's where she runs every week. As a lot of it is along the seafront apparently there are plenty of permanent public toilets! She has suggested I go over to her house and we cycle the route to familiarise me with it. What a lovely friend I have.
I did my first park run Saturday and got chatiing to a couple of people I started at the back as I knew I would’ve slower than the runners at the front they get together in the coffee bar after but i had to shoot off will go next week
Joined my local goodgym and have my first group run tomorrow
Parkrun is many different things to many different people, I love parkrun and do evangelise about it, I’ve done over 100, and volunteered over 60 times, and I am one of those who will speak to people, especially if they look a bit lost, and I do chat to complete strangers on the way round......they usually then run away from me.......ha ha ha! 😂, however, I do recall the awkwardness of going for the first few times, it is hard to get chatting to people, and often what you may be thinking is not what others are thinking, for example, this week, (as previous weeks) our track was a mud bath....coming towards the end I said to another runner laughing.....’good job I don’t mind mud!’ , she thought I was complaining about her splashing me....as she said ‘I think we’ve splashed eachother’...I just added, ‘it’s been like this for weeks!’...and just smiled and carried on.
I hope you give it another go sometime, or have a go at volunteering, but if it’s not for you, it’s not for you, at least you tried it. Remember, parkrun itself expects nothing of you, other than to go along and join in.
Good luck with your HM training, I don’t think the recent weather is helping at all with any kind of running at the moment, lots of people, me included are struggling to find the love right now....🙄
Parkrun is clearly a fantastic institution as so many people love it and turn up every week come rain, sun or even snow. I wanted to enjoy it and some elements I did. If I can get over the cattle crush at the start and accept the cliques then it could be a useful part of my running. I might try my next closest and see how it compares.
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