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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Hi everyone. Posting this a little early as I am starting early in the morning. Going to do some parkrun tourism with a few friends. So just in case I forget I'll post this now instead of in the morning. Have a wonderful parkrun everyone. I'll be doing a parkrun along a beach on the East Coast of Ireland. I'll wave across the Irish Sea at all you lovely people. Enjoy.
Hello 👋 everyone, Parkruners, joggers, walkers. I did some tourism today, I’m doing the 5 in a row challenge, I went to Dulwich where wonderboy Alex Yee once did a sub 15. Today I was hoping to reach sub 30 mins. Results aren’t in as I post. But I had the best fun, it was a sunny run, no mud or hills and my family were around (it’s my birthday tomorrow) ‘my Hawaii’.
Ooh is that Portrush damienair ? I remember seeing it on the golf one year (Ryder cup I think) and thought that’s one for the list of must dos.
A mini tourism to our NENDY today which involved driving up to the M27, north of the city, then a few miles west later driving down to the sea at Lee-on-the-Solent.
A much narrower prom than ours but thankfully pedestrians did not attempt to share it with us. I felt it went slowly because it took me a while to be able to run my pace, but I think the slower start probably helped me later. Everyone was in good spirits and well behaved. Start west of the cafe, run east (including mini hill) to Browndown camp cone ( had to walk around it) then run east past the start, over a short shingle area near the hovercraft museum and turn at the next cone by the beach huts, run east 150m past the start and funnel along the beach.
I got to see UpTheStanley and Oldgirlruns twice along the route which is nice.
So I was 3rd out of 11 in my age group , age grade 62.48%,, with a time of 33:27, my fastest time since November. It was my 27th location and I finally ticked off a stopwatch bingo number 27 to leave me only one to go. Lots of 27s!
Coincidentally, the song playing on iTunes as I finished was Walk to the Water, and the breakfast cafe was named On the Water .
Good morning everyone! Facebook reminded me that it was exactly 5 years ago today, on 13th April 2019, that a little band of runners ( Dexy5 UpTheStanley cheekychipmunks Katnap TailChaser , kittens and I, plus Wimborne ) met up for the first time IRL at Southampton parkrun. Mr S thought I had lost my marbles going from Lincoln to Southampton for a parkrun, but I think it was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made in the past few years. We have met up in various combinations, locations and distances ever since, supporting each other through Covid and all the virtual runs we all did and picking up new members of the gang as we have gone along. Some great memories and many more to come I hope 😃
PS I reckon younger kitten has grown about 2 feet since the photo was taken!
Today I went to my home run at Market Rasen. Very low numbers (75 😳) due probably to it being Lincoln 10k tomorrow and Manchester Marathon weekend, but I got my fastest Rasen time this year, knocking 32 seconds off my previous best and over 3 minutes off my slowest time this year. 35.19 and 63/75 😣Hopefully heading in the right direction though. Next week will be the first of 3 Irish parkruns, as we head off along the Wild Atlantic Way in the van. Can’t wait ☘️ 🇮🇪
That does bring such happy memories Sandie1961 , and UTS wore his special hat so that we could find each other. Like you say, our running has moved on since then but it is always special when we can meet up along the way. 😍
Very well done Sandie. Great running and lovely photo, great memories. Have a wonderful time along the wild Atlantic way. I'm looking forward to reading your reports. I'm only 30 mins from the East Coast. Opposite side of the Country. You'll have a wonderful time. The cream of the Irish people live along the West Coast.
That day was certainly the start of something I could never have imagined 😃
Such a pity we’re not coming near you, but I am really looking forward to it. First time to Ireland apart from a conference in Belfast 20+ years ago. We are packing for 4 seasons! 😂
You’re right to pack for 4 seasons. It’s been extremely wet, loads of rainfall and storms. Hopefully your arrival will help with a change of weather. The west coast gets twice the amount of rain as the east coast. Hopefully it will be good for you.
I’m glad you had a good run today Sandie; you’re definitely getting back to form again! That’s such a lovely photo - I wasn’t there then but have really enjoyed meeting up with you all since. May there be many more meet-ups to come!
That’s such a great photo Sandie! Youngest kitten is quite a bit bigger 🤣. That was my second pair of proper running shoes - shows how long ago that was 🤣.
Great to hear how much your running is improving, I hope you’re able to keep it going 🤞🤗🤗
Good morning damienair, this morning I was a marshall at Palacerigg parkrun, nice weather but part of the course had a lot of puddles, next week I'll be running there, when I got back to the finishing line there was a piece of cake and ginger biscuits to eat
Yes Sue, the RD offered me a second piece of cake but when I got to the table there was no cake, some runner before me ate the last piece of the cake, instead I had a ginger biscuit which was home made by a regular runner at Palacerigg, she baked those ginger biscuits last night.
When I took cakes for my 250th I put some in a box marked "Reserved for slower runners and volunteers" to make sure that my friends and I were not left with crumbs by the time we finished.But we ended up with plenty left over anyway.
We are going to celebrate a 500th next week so there will be cake again.
Thanks Dexy, I do notice that it is Palacerigg parkrun which have the smallest number of runner's who have cake or biscuits most weeks, (54 ran there today) the other 3 parkrun which I attend have far more runners (214 at Dunfermline this morning) and only have cake on their parkrun birthday, you may remember my very first parkrun at Dunfermline in July 2019 was there 5th birthday and there was loads of cake and biscuits.
Not sure if there will be more cake again next week Oldgirlruns when I run at Palacerigg but you never know, although Palacerigg Parkrun is trail there weren't too many puddles, a few but not too bad unlike Springburn parkrun in Glasgow which was cancelled today because of long stretches of flooding on part of the course, there are photos of severe flooding on the Springburn parkrun facebook page, it looks very bad, they might have an alternative route next week, with more rain expected that flooding won't go down any time soon.
Especially for AlMorr here is a junior parkrun report.Marple juniors was cancelled today due to too many volunteers being involved with the Manchester marathon and holidays so I went to Tailwalk at Hyde juniors.
You will be pleased to know that there was cake, biscuits and sweets to celebrate their 250th parkun.
I had a gingerbread man and a biscuit to fortify me for my shopping trip to Morrisons 🍪🎂🎂
Congratulations Sue on tailwalking at Hyde Junior parkrun, you thourghly deserve that gingerbread man and biscuit, being a marshall and tailwalker at junior parkrun adds to your total volunteering at both senior and junior parkruns but at junior parkrun I don't think that you need a barcode.
You need your barcode number to be added to the roster but you don’t need to carry it.And as Tailwalker you don't get a time because it is only 2 km. Unless you are under 15 years old.
But it is nice to encourage the small ones. Today was a 4 year old doing his second junior parkrun with his Dad. He mostly walked but ran to get away from me a few times !
I did set up at my parkrun today, then tried the stepping stones run on the beyond 5km bit of couch to 5km app. Managed to come in a minute faster than last week, so I'm happy with that.
Had planned to do Bevendean Down in Brighton which is a hilly off road course but finding out the lack of facilities put me off going so headed to another one which we were yet to do at East Brighton.
Another off road course which did remind me of school cross country running around football & cricket pitches however it was lovely. Very low numbers (81 in total) but everyone was so friendly and the cafe was excellent. The signage around the fields was funny and we were warned that the air ambulance could land here at any point but it only happens once in a blue moon. Thankfully not today.
Mr Beth ran with me so we chatted around the course which was a helpful distraction and came in at 34.16. Apparently I was first in my age category 😆.
No facilities? It’s a shame but I think I’d have to give that one a wide berth too beth_f, especially after travelling to get there! But it sounds as though you made a wise choice as an alternative - good luck with the next 10!
Yes, it's a shame @Oldgirlruns - there are a few ParkRun's that I quite fancy doing but when you read the blurb and it says no toilets, cafe or parking it does put you off somewhat!
Yes SueAppleRun - a lovely one to do - free parking like Preston Park until 2pm on Saturdays. I'm not sure why we had been putting it off for so long (probably as it's on grass and I don't particularly enjoy running on that) but we liked that it was a small number (I panic in huge crowds and totally know what you mean about Hove as we had similar numbers when we were there a couple of weeks ago) and everyone hung around at the end until the tail walkers were in which was nice.
Have you run Lancing? Let me know if you decide to, I'll send you a map where to park for free, it starts across the green but after that straight along the prom and back 😁
Hello parkrunners, I met Mudita11 this morning for Hove Promenade parkrun, we had a great catch up chat before she ran on way faster than I can. I ran a bit walked a bit can came in under 50 minutes which was my aim, after a delicious breakfast I dropped Mudita11 off at the station, I was surprised to see so many people actually in the sea, a happy day
Lovely to meet up with Mudita again SueAppleRun . I loved living in Hove and will definitely have to make my way back there one day, especially as it runs past my old flat.
It sounds as though you had a good morning Sue, meet ups are great fun aren’t they! Hopefully we might make it to your end of the south coast before too long!
Hello everyone. This morning I travelled with 3 parkrun tourist friends to Laytown parkrun on the East coast of Ireland. It is a beach parkrun and it was my first beach parkrun. It was also my NENDY. Due to tidal conditions it is not on every week at the moment. But this morning it was on and we arrived early. Only a few uber tourists were around but as usual the volunteers arrived, course was set up and out of nowhere 176 runners, joggers and walkers were at the start line ready to go for Laytown parkrun event number 4. The course was an out and back, but due to a stream blocking the path at one stage along the beach it was a 1.25K out and back which was repeated. Lovely on the way out with a stiff tailwind, but on the way back it was a stiff headwind. I felt strong and did not look at my watch for the first 3K. I always feel the next K is the toughest and then I was running the last kilometer into a headwind, tired, but still running strong. With 300 meters to go I felt exhausted and pushed through with a pick up in pace for the last 150 meters before crossing the finish line with great relief. Petula and Kathleen were just in ahead of me with Ida not too far behind. When I looked at my watch I was shocked, my finish time was 27:42, my fastest parkrun time recorded since Covid stopped parkrun. Almost a minute faster than last week and my 3rd week in a row sub 30. My faithful Garmin Forerunner 35 matched exactly the same distance and time as parkrun official result. I was the 56th finisher out of a field of 176.
We hung around for a while catching up with other tourists before going to a lovely cafe on our way home. Another perfect parkrun morning and a sub 28 minute 5K. I'm delighted with that. Have a lovely weekend.
Thank you Dexy. Yes it is great to be getting back to where I was. The fact that I have lost almost 2 stone in weight is a huge help. I'm definitely planning on getting my South done this year with a visit over to see you guys. I'm aiming for a weekend towards the end of September.
Wow, that’s an amazing time in windy conditions. Obviously the training is really working for you. Lovely to be in almost at the beginning of a new parkrun too. Well done 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
A few months away yet if ever. My dream is to beat 25:36. My ultimate dream is to go sub 25. I’m going to start a training plan for 12 weeks on Monday. I might have to repeat it.
27:42, excellent time and run for you today Damien, congratulations considering the conditions and the fact it was a beach parkrun, all that training is paying off, roll on that sub 25 at parkrun.
I got an early train and headed to Hove Promenade parkrun today. SueAppleRun picked me up at the station, and dropped me back there after we’d had a glorious breakfast outside on the seafront ☀️. I somehow managed to get a pb 28:35 probably because it was a completely flat course. I came in behind a chap who was 6’8” (I asked him) who was “taking it easy” whereas I had utterly exhausted myself 🤣. Great to catch up as always Sue.
You must have done a lot of south coast runs now haven’t you? How lovely to catch up with Sue. Glad she’s back to parkrun too.sounds like a great morning 😃
A little touristing again for me today damienair when I tagged along with Dexy5 and UpTheStanley for a NENDY run at Lee on the Solent. A sort of elongated figure of eight course along the prom with a great view of the Isle of Wight, narrow in places and with short hops across the shingle beach. I really struggled today, legs like tree stumps and no oomph at all so I ended up doing a walk-run and coming in at 48:03, which I’ll take thank you! I did manage a quick spurt at the finish though, UTS warned me there was someone right behind me and I wasn’t about to be pipped at the finish - yes, I know it’s not a race but an Oldgirlruns has some pride! A very nice breakfast bap followed as we looked out over the Solent, because that’s what parkrun is all about is it?! Happy running folks!
Well done for battling on. Nice that you were able to find a bit of speed at the end to salvage your pride 😂😂 Don’t think I’d want to hop across a shingle beach 😳
Well done Oldgirlruns . That’s a great time considering how long it took you to get to the start line with 557 runners. We will certainly let you know when we are travelling again.
Sounds like a great morning. I had a lovely Microlight Airplane many years ago before my kids arrived. I flew out overhead where you were today one time on my way over to the Isle of Wight. Those were the days. Hopefully I’ll get to do it again someday when they eventually come off the balance sheet.
For the first time in many months there were no puddles at Portsmouth Lakeside this morning - we hardly recognised the course. Another big turnout with 318 finishers. Very pleased to be able to continue my recent streak of improving times - 31.37, 30+ seconds quicker than last week and my fastest parkrun since pre-hernia 14 months ago!
Today, I visited Oak Hill parkrun. I was apprehensive about the hill in the name, but the route avoid the big hill in the park with only 2 slightly uphill paths.
No PB for me today, but I was happy with my times. I’ve noticed Strava always records 5K about 200 metres away from the finish. I wonder if that’s because I start counting it at the end of the line, where I usually start from. Anyone else have this issue?
I've had runs when it doesn't reach 5K well into the finish funnel. The problem with that is that you walk the second you cross the finish line, which then affects your overall pace as it still counts your slower walking pace. Might not be a big deal, if you don't care about that, but I do, especially as I am still working towards improving my pace.
Very well done on another tourist parkrun. Yes I believe the course is measured from the start line. So if you’re 100 meters back in the crowd it will affect the distance and finish time, even not following the most efficient race line will affect the course distance.
Normally I just go with the official parkrun finish time. However if I was to chase after a PB I would start closer to the front of the crowd so as the 5K distance is more accurate. Yes for tracking distance on your watch you could press start as you cross the start line.
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