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| Catching their breath after the run. |
With Basingstoke parkrun relocating to its alternate venue -
Crabtree Plantation - this weekend, I decided to indulge in a little parkrun tourism. Both the 100 boy and the 10 boy have told me that they will *never* run Crabtree again! I cast my eye about for somewhere fairly local that we hadn't run before and
Lee-on-the-Solent seemed to be an excellent choice. I knew vaguely where it was and put my trust in the Sat Nav to get me there. As we got closer I realised that it looked a bit familiar, it took a while to realise that it was fairly near
Gosport Half Marathon territory!
Parking was a breeze - getting out of the car we were almost blown away by the wind! I joked that we could see the Isle of Wight - the children laughed at me, but it seems I was right! I spotted a runner with a White Star Running t shirt - so asked him which idiotic race he'd run with them! (The Ox) and found a sheltered spot to wait for the run briefing. The boys availed themselves of the loos, which are close to the start.
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| 100boy threatens to swim to Isle of Wight! |
The course is almost entirely flat and almost entirely on tarmac. There is an up and down bit at one point (I think it goes over the start of the old pier but would have to check on that) and there is a short section on the very top of the stony beach. You run about 3/4 of a mile (with the wind behind you) to a turnaround point, then 1.5miles back past the start (wind in your face!) and then turn again to run the final 3/4 of a mile with the wind helping you along. Nice and simple - with lots of opportunity to pass other runners. I ran the first mile with the boys, then I left them to their own devices. 100 boy fell over, 10 boy took a detour to the loo, meaning that when I finished I felt duty bound to go back and run in with them. I scooped up 100 boy and ran him to the finish and then went back for 10 boy. 10 boy does not like distance running, but does like anything up to and including 1500m. I don't think he pushed himself
at all until the last 400m when he just wound up the speed and fairly flew across the finish line.
After we had our barcodes scanned we made our way to
Leon's Bistro for a drink and brunch for the boys, making use of the 10% discount offered to parkrunners. Lovely to sit in the sun and relax!
All in all, a lovely new (this was the 4th event) parkrun! I hope to come back soon - not sure I will enjoy it quite so much in the winter though!
