Hello there lovely VRBs. Welcome to another week. I hope no one was too badly affected by Bert! My forecast tells me we're in for some better weather thank goodness, though I send sympathy to anyone still languishing with wind and rain.
This weekend, despite Bert threatening to spoil proceedings, I managed to find a parkrun that was all surfaced paths, that I hadn't done before, and not too far away, that began with a ‘G’ ( a letter of the alphabet I hadn't done)! On top of that, it barely rained and a particularly strong couple of gusts of wind noticeably pushed me along up the final hill - result✅
Although a massive fan of the Parkrun concept, and a frequent volunteer when I was injured for a long time, I have been rather slow to the party (especially when compared to many of people in these forums). The thought of running the same course or two every Saturday doesn't work for me; a PB at my local parkruns is out of reach these days and every run l do there sadly reminds me of that! But I've discovered that going to new courses is great fun and that that can become a 'challenge' of its own. The 5k app (or the parkrun chrome extension which the picture is taken from) is great, with lots of little challenges (such as the alphabet challenge) as well as all your parkruns statistics. I often think how small and silly these challenges must look to non runners - and to some runners too - but with so many 5k app users, maybe it's not so small and silly! Of course, when it comes to parkrunning, I also find it's a great way for me to go along and meet up with other people. and that those runs are almost always the best parkruns.
Anyway, as I said, I was slow to this party - I have managed just 47 parkruns ( in 6 countries, at 29 locations) in all the years I have been running. So now it's time to think about my 50th run; Christmas Day might be a possibility, and if so, I may be able to do that with both my sons. I do hope so 😍
But that's quite enough about me!!! How about you? Were you affected by last week's turbulent British weather? Are you a parkrun lover or a shunner? Do you have any end of year goals in sight? And how's your running faring during these ever shortening days - or isn't it☹️?
Do tell us all about it - this is a great place to introduce yourself or to give us a quick update if you don't want to write a full post. Please join us for a good old natter in the comments below 😊
Wishing everyone a great week.
From your team, Irishprincess , Beachcomber66 and me xxx
Morning Linda and running friends. I’m impressed with your country tally, and wouldn’t it be fabulous to celebrate your 50th on Christmas Day! Hope you can make that happen. 😀
I’m a huge PR fan, in fact in recent weeks it’s been pretty much the only running I’ve been managing. I’m loving learning how to be a buggy pusher with my daughter as we take it in turns with Tiny Chipmunk. Santa might well have been kind to Jenny as I suspect a shiny new running buggy might be on the cards. Can’t wait to test drive it (assuming Santa comes of course!) 😅
New HM plan starts in earnest tomorrow. Was meant to be today, but my alarm didn’t go off. Setting it for 5:30am this morning and not tomorrow might have helped! 🙄 Anyway, my 16 weeks to go until the Bath Half email has arrived, so I need to shift. I’ll be doing the majority of my training runs at the gym, but that’s ok.
Now there’s commitment cheeky! 5.30am takes me back to my working days; doesn’t happen now. I hope your prep goes smoothly and you manage to make it fun regardless of where you run. Bath Half sounds like a really good event. Something to look forward to in the depths of winter.
Well I have no choice really BC. My job is really busy even though I work from home 99% of the time, and I still don’t want to go on the common without Flossie (plus it would be waterlogged at the moment anyway). No pavements on our road means in the dark would be asking for trouble!
So a pre work early trip to the gym it will need to be! I’m looking forward to Bath. 😀
Ooh a new toy. Exciting. I didn't know there were special running buggies.
I'm sure you must have some very impressive parkrun stats too Cheeky - your 50 seems so long ago now. How lovely to be regularly running with your daughter.
Those 16 weeks will no doubt fly by, but you'll be ready, come what may. 5:30 shows serious commitment in my book. good luck tomorrow.
Good morning Linda. Well done on getting out to a Park Run and coming home intact. I confess that I have managed only one this year! I just rocked up at Albert Park, ran 29.49 (first sub 30 minutes 5k for ages), had a really nice time chatting to people, including a really inspirational man in his mid eighties who was running the Berlin Marathon, and ….I haven’t been back 🤷♂️. Why? No idea…..Saturday mornings can be time pressured, but that doesn’t apply to 51 out of 52 per year. It is my speed run day too. No rationale at all really…pure Hermititis! Christmas 50th with your sons sounds perfect.
That's a very impressive way to rock up at parkrun BC! Nice job!!! I like the added depth it gives my runs - chatting before and after, thanking marshalls, being surrounded by like minded folk, being pushed along a little ... there is a wholesome, feelgood factor about parkrun that is very special. The caaraderie really draws me to parkrun. What has put me off in the past has been the repetition and ... yup ... the early start 😍😍😍 But what has really whetted my appetite is the number of mini challenges/achievements that are totally non pace related.
I agree. It wasn’t a matter of trying to beat other people. Having people around me who were running at a faster pace encouraged me to try to push my own perceived boundaries. When I got to 28:17 I thought that was fast enough🤷🏻♂️
I have a love/hate relationship with Parkrun. I love it as it forces me to run sub 30 but also hate it as I don't like running at my 5k pace. I prefer my easy runs. I haven't been at park run for ages so it's going on the goals for next year. I'm in the seventies so I want to run my 100th next year.
Another amazing pic RW. It is still blustery here, but we have sun and the temperature is around 10c. Perfect for a run. Only 5k. My tear seems to have healed and my ankle felt much stronger this morning. I applied some magic blue sticky tape on the outside of my calf. Probably made no difference, but if the problem is fixed, who cares?🙂
That's a very impressive number of parkruns for anyone, let alone anyone with a love/hate relationship. I do hear you though! I need a challenge of some sort, and simply pushing my 5k pace faster and faster was getting downright unpleasant ... and then impossible!
Now my focus has shifted, I am really enjoying the distance again.
Hello Linda, well done on getting back to parkrun. I hope you get your Christmas 50 run in with your boys. I love running with family, but my niece has just had her 1st baby so her running days are going to be rather different now.
As you know I am a complete parkrun nutter and am involved with the core team as well as being a runner. I am running my 200th run this Saturday and UTS is running with me. 😱 I’ve now run at 36 locations (all UK) and volunteered 170 times.
My PB is 31:28, which I can’t see me ever achieving again, so I concentrate on age grade scores. I am really pleased when I get over 60%.
Meet ups are great aren’t they, whether at parkrun or races.
Lovely sunshine after Storm Bert passed through. All the rain came through at night but the 50mph southerly winds were here all weekend.
Eeeekkk! Yup, I'd have held a lifetime grudge if any of my kids had been that weight!!!
We had a beautiful sunset here this evening - well, it was beautiful when it was at the side of me rather than directly in front (I was driving along the M25!!!).
It has taken over our lives Sandraj39 . When UTS became a Run Director I also volunteered to take over management of tokens (it was a bit haphazard). So I take the tokens home each week to finish the sorting , replace missing tokens and prepare for the following week. This sometimes involves a trip to the store to pick up or drop them off if we are running elsewhere. So I am getting a volunteer credit most weeks. Plus I do other roles but don’t get additional credits. TailChaser is ahead of me though.
I do token sorting nearly every week. That’s a good one as I don’t even have to be there - this week Katnap brought them home for me. My main other three are RD, Timekeeping and Event Day Course Check (which is only for core team members). Timekeeping is a funny one as everyone seems to hate it but I really enjoy it (unless it’s really cold and I lose my fingers!).
EDCC tends to be the one I do when I run, especially if I’m training for something as I can run it and add the distance on. I’m trying not to feel too frustrated about my number of runs but 250 still seems a very long way.
You should try and get on your Core Team Linda, you get first dibs at everything!
I did timekeeping just once and wish I hadn't! It was a very busy event and myself and the second timekeeper found our clicks to be out of sync more often than in sync. Maybe I was no good, maybe he was no good, but it left me somewhat sceptical of PR results and its a role I definitely wouldn't choose to do again. So I applaud you for that 👏
Wowsers! Your 200th is a fabulous achievement Dexy. Are you travelling somewhere special to do it, or staying with your home run? I hope the sun shines on you!!!
Back in the day I managed the odd 70+% age grade score, but I'm nowhere near these days!!!
I love meetups; that was the only negative this Saturday - it did occur to me that parkrun tourism isn't as much fun on my own (especially as the distance I need to travel is increasing).
No I will celebrate 200 at home parkrun. Not an official milestone but we do shout outs for hundreds .
Yes the travel distance is growing as we tick off the near ones. The ones not done yet are also getting trail like so I think they may wait until drier times.
Official milestones t-shirts are: 25 purple, 50 red, 100 black, 250 green, 500 blue and 1000 yellow (only gained by volunteers also doing junior parkrun so far )
Hi linda9389 Thanks for the link to the app,it's great! Didn't know that existed! Kenny will totally love all the stats! I came to parkrun during my c25k in 2014, and also used it as my graduation run! I really enjoy it,great atmosphere, friendly people! And I enjoy a bit if parkrun tourism !
I'm up to 232 now at 11 locations, so should be 250 next Yr!
Last weekend I was booked it for a pottery class at 10am ,so when a friend posted that she'd like support for her 200th run I thought it'd be a bit tight for time,but I decided to make a little sign to wave and see how many spots around the course I could pop up ! Managed 8 over the 2 laps,it was comical ! 🤣🤣 but good fun and still made the class in time, luckily its very near the parkrun venue!
Just had my stiches out today but hand still has a dressing, but did manage club night back marking last Tuesday . Going back tomorrow and hopefully another run this week and parkrun too all being well
Oooooh this looks such a good chat! How did you manage so many different countries with so few runs Linda! That’s amazing!
I’ve done 180 runs now. They keep getting scuppered by marathon training when I tend to volunteer more. That’s up to 176 I think. I’ve done 50ish locations and 4 countries. It’ll be up to 5 in January when we’re going to Cork for the day on one of the bonkers Fordy Extreme parkruns.
And as for last weekend’s weather? Well Sandie1961 gave a brilliant description of our Saturday 10k race. I was supposed to do a 2 hour run on Sunday but I wimped out and made a Christmas pud and cleaned the kitchen floor instead 🤣
Wrong question TC. My question would be ... why do so few countries have parkruns? 🤣 So many places we go but I don't get to do parkrun! I think it's time I took over the holiday planning in our household! The Germany one was run when I was staying in Switzerland, because Switzerland don't have any!Your tally is very impressive indeed!
Will you extend the Ireland trip? Or literally just make a day of it? I really fancy a long weekend to Lithuania to Vilnius. Hubby is of Lithuanian descent, so I'll try to sell that one as a trip for him, rather than a 'bonkers parkrun trip' 😍
I don't blame you for dipping out of the 2 hour run after facing Bert down like that on Saturday ... although surely there was a better option than floor mopping 🤣
I do hope you manage your 50th parkrun with your sons Linda. How special would that be? Although it might depend on the state of hangovers on the morning of 🤢
I have done precisely three parkruns in all the years I’ve been running and I didn't enjoy them enough to go back! They weren’t particularly friendly, I thought they were very competitive and I hated all the jostling for position (even though I love my races, go figure) The timing also got in the way of my training so I just let it go. Mind you, it was at parkrun where I got my first sub-30 5K so maybe I should consider going back just to see what I can do now…I haven’t tested that in years. I appreciate there are different parkruns and perhaps I was just unlucky where I went but honestly, I am a happy lone wolf just doing what I love 🤗
Talking of which, the running is going well and I’m pretty sure I’ll be good to go for my Christmas race 🥳 woo hoo 🏃♀️
In other words, we bought our Christmas tree today and it’s perched outside in a bucket of water for the next few weeks. How did we get to December?!!! 🙀
Yes. Hangovers may well stop playing Christmas morning!!!I tend to start at the back at parkrun, especially these days, and it's very relaxed back there 🤣 The most relaxed, chatty ones have been those that I walked. The parkway concept is slowly growing though, and it's a nice alternative when I'm away if I can't/don't want to run for any reason.
It's definitely for everyone, just as races don't work for some folk either, but it's given me a different focus recently, away from pace, which has been a bit of a blessing. I don't think I'll ever be a parkrunaholic, and that's OK.
Maybe I shouldtour out your way one day and drag you to the back of your local parkrun so we can show folk how to be more friendly 😍
So glad your leg is behaving again. I ran a slow 5k this morning (albeit with a stop to chat to an old friend) and have just been for a walk with no sign of discomfort; progress is being made here too. In theory I should be starting HH3 next week .... 🤞
I think going with another person or meeting up with someone would bring a completely different feel to them. So I understand how some people love them. The only friend who runs and is anywhere close to me doesn’t like them either so we just meet up for long lunches now 😋🤣
That’s great news about your hip Linda. Good luck for the plan 🍀
I’ve met up with a running couple from off here and we had coffee and cake afterwards. At my local Parkrun too! 🙂
A chap I got talking to in the car park when he asked for directions to the start bought me a brew afterwards. Some very nice folks at Parkrun. It seems to bring out the best in people 🙂
That's an impressive collection of international parkruns! I'm still on only one run. I really enjoyed it and came away all fired up ready for the next one but I never quite seem to get there. I nearly always run on a Saturday morning but just never seem to get my act together to be in the right place at the right time. Maybe 2025 !!
I do hope the number 50 run with family at Christmas happens for you!
That's the thing with parkrun - it's there if you need it! For the longest time I didn't bother because it was inconvenient to be up and out at that time, or it didn't fit with my training plan, or there was something else on ... It's only recently reappeared on my radar because of the tourism aspect, and the varied challenges have given me a goal that's not pace related in any way - I can even walk them when I can't run. I'll never be a regular like some, but hopefully my tourism interest will continue and I can bag a few more countries 😍If you're getting out and running on Satumornings, you're already winning without parkrun 😍
Reasons why you haven't been a regular in the past are very like mine. I do like your idea for looking out for Parkruns when away from home though..hmm
I recently found myself in a seafront hotel (nothing to do with running) on a Saturday morning, and on Googling, found Parkrun to be a mere cock-stride away up the prom. Rolled outta bed and moseyed on up to the start. Received a very warm welcome 😀. It was a gorgeous morning to be galloping about on the prom with wonderful views out to sea 🌊
What a bonus!!! These days, if we're going anywhere at the weekend, I check out nearby parkrun events. I find it so much more enjoyable than repeating my home run. Also gives OK some guilt free bird watching time 😍
I did a frosty run from Pwllheli almost to Llanbedrog on the coast route last Thursday morning, about 7km over a mixture of unsealed roads and muddy paths, and then the storm weather came in.
Saturday in particular was definitely not running weather, with 70mph gusts and horizontal rain. Sunday was also very breezy but not as wet.
Monday was spent recovering from travelling back to Manchester and doing all the "I've been away for the best part of three weeks and chores have been piling up" stuff, as well as my normal work.
I lost my opportunity on Tuesday as it unexpectedly chucked it down during lunchtime and I got so involved in work that I missed the other potential opportunities to go out.
On Wednesday (yesterday) I ran out of excuses and got out to do a 10km in late lunchtime. I definitely needed it.
Future plans: today possibly a 3km run, tomorrow maybe a leisurely long run of 14+km, and then Parkrun on Saturday.
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