Hello Everyone. Today is parkrun day, a free 5K event which takes place every Saturday morning all around the world. It is for everyone, slow, fast, able, disabled, big, small and everyone in between. Oh and don't forget about the super Mum's and Dad's who push their babies in buggies. You can walk, jog, run, run/walk, it's not a race, just a run in the park and loads of us here on Bridge to 10K do it religiously every Saturday morning.
Some of us may not be able to do a parkrun at the moment so until parkrun returns fully for everyone some of us will continue to take part on our own in a Virtual parkrun every Saturday morning called a (not)parkrun. Or if you are away on Holidays, prefer to run on your own, or do not have a parkrun close by you a (not)parkrun is perfect, please feel free to join in. Please post a little run report after your parkrun or (not)parkrun and let everyone know how you got on. The little run report can be done over a post parkrun coffee and treat/cake. (parkrun is all about the after run coffee and cake, and meeting friends old and new).
If you are a new graduate and would like to start, all you have to do is run, walk or jog at a parkrun or a 5K run/jog/walk (not)parkrun anytime today or tomorrow and write a little run report under this post. It's like a little community and it is good fun, sets you up nicely for the weekend. If you want to you can register on the parkrun website and you can log your 5K (not)parkrun. In fact you can log any 5K done during the week as a (not)parkrun.
For anyone whom has not done a real parkrun yet and if it is available to you, give it a try. It is the most wonderful community event. Saturday mornings will never be the same again.
Looking forward to hearing from all of you who ran in real proper parkruns and (not)parkruns. Happy running and have a lovely weekend.
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damienair
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I volunteered today and was handing out the tokens as runners came in. At around the 17min mark it became suddenly very busy. It's so good seeing people of all ages come in. We had around 320 at our event today and it's such a friendly affair.
It was a (not)parkrun today for me. I'm in Paris for the marathon tomorrow and as you might know parkruns have been stopped in France because of the government rules about needing a medical certificate to be involved in organised running.
Instead I did the Paris Run For All which worked out as a 5K through the city. This run was a bit different - there were half a dozen runners at the front wearing pacer flags and they were running slowly - around 6min/km - and they shouted at anyone who went in front of them. Therefore this was a very gentle jog.
At the end there was coffee, croissants and pain au chocolate (plus apples to be more healthy). Rather hot today in Paris 27C! Thankfully it should be cooler tomorrow.
I take exception to your comment, which I find ill-informed and offensive.
FYI, the medical certificate requirement from the French Athletic Federation (not the government) has been around for donkey's years. Bizarrely enough it doesn't seem to pose a problem to permanent residents of France, only to certain tourists, and parkrun.
Ok fair enough! Apologies that you've taken exception but I'm pleased we don't have the same arrangement here, as we frequently welcome overseas visitors at my local parkrun (and probably most others in the UK).
From what I recall, parkrun HQ and their legal advisors were not convinced that their insurance would cover them in France without having medical certificates from their runners, and having them would not fit in with the parkrun model of operation.
All we can do is watch this space I guess. But we could still be in the same situation as it may not be possible for people to just turn up without having done the course and still be insured. There is no way that the core teams could check the runners on the day. We have some people who havens even registered with parkrun turn up and run. They just don’t show up in the results.
I hope you are keeping well and still running up those hills, avoiding the hunters Cmoi.
Thank you, I appreciate your positive response. Not least because I've been flamed on previous threads on this topic - not by anyone involved in the present one, I hasten to add.
I've done some intensive googling and the FFA revised its requirement for medical certificates at the start of this month in favour of a Health Prevention Course (Parcours de Prévention Santé) . You can now obtain a free PPS certificate here - pps.athle.fr/ - by watching some very short videos and ticking the appropriate boxes.
While I'm not into races, I just got myself one just in case. Cynical me imagines that it could take some time for its validity to be generally accepted by race organisers.
Actually it's the French Athletics Federation (FFA) that requires medical certificates, not the government. And, for clarity, it was parkrun's decision to suspend their events in France.
Thanks for correcting me. Yes, poor phrasing on my part. Parkrun in France I understand thought it too risky to go ahead and start they have stopped parkruns for the moment.
Preamble: I hope you're reading this after a wonderful race!
Thanks for your positive response. As I've mentioned above, I've had a couple of very unpleasant experiences in previous threads on this topic, so your constructive reaction was very welcome.
As of this month the FFA have now brought in a new system - see pps.athle.fr/ - though I do wonder how long it'll take for it to be recognised in real life.
Fabulous well done, and great to see your milestoning friends too. (On first looking at your post I thought your 100 friend was either very pregnant or had an impressive belly, but then I put my glasses on! 😂)
Parkrun 4 for me today, and another variation of the course due to ongoing sea wall repairs, eroded beach and state of tide! Keeps it interesting 😂. Thanks to all volunteers who make it happen every week; I'm volunteering next week.
We’re away for a few days so went to Congleton this morning. The hardest thing was not taking advantage of the full range of the hotel buffet breakfast which wouldn’t have sat well mid run. Tomorrow I’ll make up for it!
The weather was weird, with a warm breeze like on the tube! I was far too hot in a long sleeved top (again….exactly the same thing happened last week!). Three laps round the mere. Lap two was a low point when I needed a good old grumble about there being too many people, too many clothes on me and too much distance still to cover but it was fine. Sometimes you just need a good whinge! I was like a tomato at the end but the coffee tasted extra good.
Short sleeves for today, with a long sleeve thin shirt on top. If I had got too warm,I could have taken the top layer off and tied it around my waist; good each way bet 🙂.
Now that would have been a good plan! I did have a debate about whether my sports bra was both substantial and nice enough to tie my top around my waist but it failed on both counts! Definitely shorts and t shirt next week!
Isn’t it funny how other parkruns always feel longer than your own. Yes I moved onto a T-shirt last week as I was beginning to get too hot once running.
Another parkrun, another PB! At least according to Strava 😜
I stopped running as soon as Strava recorded 5K, which was about 200ms from the finish, due to nasty stitch. Was only 15 seconds away from a PB according to the official timings.
Lovely course. Around a NT mansion and gardens. On the way to the park, I saw cows and horses!!
Hello everyone. There are a lot of parkrun events cancelled in Ireland this weekend. Storm Kathleen is blowing hard across the country. Thankfully my local parkrun was going ahead and I took part. Being the first weekend in a new month it was pacer week and I decided to follow the 30 minute pacer. However he was running a 5:45 min/km pace and I tucked in. After a while I managed to hold the pace and found myself gaining on the 29 minute pacer. After I caught up with him I again tucked in for a while. In the last 2 kilometres I pulled away and started to gain on a lady in front of me who shared the same name as the storm. But 300 metres left Kathleen went into 6th gear and I was only just slowly gaining on her. But Kathleen was strong and there was no way she was going to allow me to pass her to the finish line. I was delighted that I finished strong and got my fastest time this year. My finishing time was 28:37 and my Garmin time and parkrun time matched perfectly. Head wind today was cruel, but the tailwind up the hill at Navan parkrun was amazing.
Just hubby & I & 299 other park runners this morning. 28:11 for me & 27:28 for hubby. I didn’t get the best start as got stuck behind two walkers. It is getting quite congested at the start of our park run but probably good training for future races.
Yes parkrun just keeps on growing. We now call runners to the start in fastest time first as it is much safer. Not everyone is as realistic about their time as we would like though.
Omg this is awful. Why do only fast runners get to go to the front and get a PB easily. Drives me mad. If you want a PB, go to the front. If you don’t, hang back. That’s fairer,
The trouble is, everyone wants a PB. it really is safer to do it that way on our new course Tasha. If people are running at the same speed they clear the area much quicker so the slower runners reach the start line quicker too. There is less overtaking so they can stay within their half of the prom.
It was one of the promises we made to the council when they agreed the new course last year. My best time last year was under these conditions so PBs are still being gained by many.
Just a 34.44 5k for me this morning, with muddy and wet stretches. Wrapped up in that time was a very slow warm up 1k followed by 20 intervals! 18 at mile pace and 2 at 5k pace. Only option on the plan was a hill work out..so lesser of two evils chosen! Lots of stretching will be needed to set up Monday’s long run. Plenty of people about; it is windy up here but the temperature has reached a 2024 high of 16c. Oh, and AHR only 134 🙂.
Well done Beachcomber66 . It was only 13C down here as the sun didn’t come out, so not quite as warm as forecast . Intervals always make me smile, especially when it’s Funky Fartleks.
It is a lot, but each interval was only 30 seconds. The aim was clearly to up the pace without (hopefully!) doing any damage. Guess I will find out tomorrow!
Run and walk for me today as my cold has reached the annoying "not quite gone" stage. I was really glad of every single walk stage, partly because it was so warm - I could have worn my 250 vest.My reported postion and time are wrong, so I appear to be faster than I was. My actual position, time and the fact finished with a friend are a minute and a half slower. I let the RD know in case they are puzzling over any discrepancies so I expect a correction later.
Back to the village cafe for a nice breakfast then my 250 tshirt was delivered and this time it fits!
It seems that I need Extra Small for the vest and Small for the tshirt.
Ah brilliant Sue that your 250 T-Shirt arrived. That’s fantastic. I hope your cold moves off you fully soon. Well done on braving through to complete your parkrun today.
That’s funny my vest is snugger than my T-shirt. But they may have changed with new suppliers. It’s great that milestone vests can now be worn when it gets hot.
Good afternoon Damien, I also wore my 100 parkrun T Shirt this morning for my 110th parkrun, I ran at Dunfermline parkrun before the winds of Storm Kathleen began, it's now windy but not gale force 8, last Wednesday I ran my 178th (not) parkrun in a time of 33.33, this morning I ran in a time of 33:36, so it was almost all the 3's again
Thanks Dexy, it used to be that my parkrun time on a Saturday was faster than my midweek Wednesday run, especially when I ran a 5K (not) parkrun, recently the times are fairly similar.
Back to one of the original time trial Parkrun in Brighton - our thinking was it would be less busy (Marathon & 10km tomorrow ) and a bit more sheltered from the wind.
Last time we came was in October when it was wet. Better conditions today thankfully.
Found it tough going as it’s not as flat as Hove Prom and the pacers were all over the place - found the 40 min ahead of me then spotted the 33 minute pacer a few runners ahead and somehow the 35 min was next to me so was surprised to finish in 33.18 ! Husband was his usual speedy self & ducked in under 22 mins and there were 524 total park runners & walkers.
Hi everyone! A sedate (not) PR for me on the Brittany coast. It was lovely and I could have easily jettisoned my lightweight jacket. At least I was in capris, otherwise I’d have definitely been too hot. This run doubled as W1R4 of my NRC HM Plan - the long run!
When I got back we had the obligatory fresh pain from the local boulangerie, then it time for me to do something I used to do daily for decades, but not for about 7 years - I went for a horse ride on the beach! OMG it was fun and I’m sure I’ll feel it tomorrow! 🐎
How lovely to be riding a horse on the beach . I tried that once and the horse was definitely more experienced than me! Sounds like you are having a lovely time. 🏃♀️ 🐎 🇫🇷
Great T-shirt damienair . UpTheStanley was RD today so I got roped into briefing the marshals, number checking, and then doing the final token sort and replacing missing tokens on the strings ready for next week. I feel exhausted ! UTS had his dream team of Mr &Mrs Coddfish and Oldgirlruns volunteering too.
So that was volunteer no 138 for me. Hopefully, we’ll try somewhere new to run next week.
Stay safe in storm Kathleen everyone to the west of us. The wind is really picking up here now.
I made up for it this morning by running the RunWalkLocal 5k,. Because of 3 major races in Brighton, London and Southampton today, it was very quiet . It wasn’t a PB but I got PB segments on Strava when the 33 mph wind was behind me. 😂
As I'd stayed up a little too late last night I overslept and had to go to my closest (Chadderton).
Tee shirt weather this morning! I wore a thin one underneath my red 50 parkruns tee. (Today was my 97th parkrun, and 67th at Chadderton.)
I arrived just before the Run Director started his spiel and nodded to a few of the familiar faces. The intro speech went on a little long and I started to feel the slight wind chill. One of the semi regulars had her birthday today. The RD led us in a rendition of Happy Birthday in various keys.
I'd taken my usual place near the back. This made sure that I didn't do the first lap too fast. Eventually the pack thinned and I started to gradually overtake others.
Occasionally I found someone to match pace with and when they got tired I'd pass them. I was lapped by the leaders during the third lap.
Each time I passed the RD we exchanged a snatch of friendly banter.
I was able to accelerate along the final finish straight, but a young lad steamed past me at a full sprint which I was unable to match. I called out "Go for it!" as he passed me.
As I went into the finish funnel one of the regulars who was tail walker today called over to me to say she could set her watch by my consistency.
After getting scanned in I chatted with various folks. Near the end I got handed The Official Clipboard by the RD while he did some clearing up. "You could do RD, you know." a few people commented.
So, once the tail walkers came in I held up the venue barcode (on the back of the clipboard) for the timekeepers and barcode scanners to register their results.
I was slower than last time, finishing in 30:39, number 26 out of 70.
Next week I won't be able to hang around afterwards as I'll need to be elsewhere by lunchtime.
418 runners and walkers at parkrun in Stratford upon Avon this morning. I was tail walking. Had to do a bit running as the lady walking in front of us sat down on a bench and said she wasn’t going any further. Anyway we trotted up to the next back marker (a Dad walking with his son) he informed him that he would be dropping his son off at the end of the lap and running the final lap alone, more running required from us!!!
Ha ha, great photo. I’m not sure any of our tailwalkers would be able to run to the next person if someone walking dropped out, but we don’t require it of them either.
Long way from home today at Preston parkrun. It’s a 3 lapper in a really beautiful park. Weather was a bit blustery but luckily no rain. There’s a steep hill which I had to walk up 🤣. Official time was 33:47 I had intended to take it easy as I will be doing Southampton 10k tomorrow (if we get back in time) but the urge to run got the better of me! Youngest daughter now lives here so I’m sure I’ll do this one again.
Shroggs Park this morning on a beautiful sunny 🌞 ☀️ 😎 morning I must learn not to get to disappointed when I don't get the time I want. Have a fantastic windy weekend
Felt very tired this morning after a couple of alcohol, caffeine and croissant fuelled days in Paris. Dragged myself out of bed, put on random clothes and started uncoordinated warm ups and rehydration. Too much, too quickly. "I feel truly awful" I declared. But I'd volunteered for barcode scanning, so backing out was not an option. I had to be there. Hoping I'd feel better soon, I decided I would try a gentle parkrun, then barcode scan the second half of finishers. Well dear reader, it was a dog of a run. As in a heavy-legged, hot, gaspy, labrador sense. Ugh! I like labradors, but this was the type of run you want to erase from memory as soon as it is finished. Even though it felt so awful, I told myself it was a good thing to have done. My running body will have released anti-inflammatory myokines. Could definitely be doing with a splash of those. And there I was, a few minutes later, relaxed and poised, ready for barcode scanning.
A busy parkrun at Lakeside yesterday with Portsmouth Joggers out in force for a group graduating c25k - great to see. A very enjoyable run for me - about 50 seconds faster than last week at 32.14. Sub-30 - I have you in my sights!
I love seeing the club c25k runners graduating at your parkrun. You are officially faster than me again Jonathan- glad you’ve got over that pesky injury.
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