Salisbury parkrun inaugural

One week after gutting it out, quite literally, at the Kent Roadrunner Marathon I found myself at the inaugural Salisbury parkrun.  I had completed four short (3 - 4 miles) runs since the marathon and none of them had been enjoyable, comfortable or anything that could be described as speedy.  In a fit of madness I had even attempted to run up Brockham Hill.  The relief I felt when I reached the top was short lived when I realised how painful running down such a steep hill would be!  

Saturday, however, means parkrun day.  There was no option but to lace up my trainers and get on out there and try to run.  And Salisbury is relatively nearby - who needs a lie in on a Saturday morning when one could be gallivanting around the country for a 5k run?  I picked up two friends on the way and had left the short people behind so not only was I going to parkrun, I was going to have to actually make an effort.  

The weather was gorgeous.  Sunny, but with a bit of a breeze. We found the car park easily, met up with other parkrun tourists, found the loos, found the start, listened to a run briefing, made a rude comment to the race director from last weekend's marathon (OK, that was just me, my friends are lovely, well behaved and very polite).  

The course is three laps of Churchill Gardens, zigging and zagging around - there is no way I could retrace my steps again!  My legs hated all the corners and weren't too keen on all the grass either.  Those three laps seemed so hard, but we were supported by fabulous marshals,  including a large group of volunteers who waited near the start/finish to cheer the runners on.   Amazingly I managed not to get lapped, and was very relieved on my final lap to see the turn off for the finish.  I even put on a tiny bit of effort to get to the finish line - I regretted this as I had to try to maintain it over a longer than anticipated distance!   

The finish funnel was long and narrow - which meant that there was less chance of people overtaking each other after the finish.  The message about staying in order had obviously been taken to heart by some of the runners who were panicking about staying in order in the queue for scanning barcodes!  

Coffee afterwards was in the cloisters of Salisbury Cathedral.  To say that the view was better than my regular post parkrun coffee would be an understatement!  The coffee was good and the croissants were excellent.   I said the words 'penis' and 'vagina' and shocked an elderly couple walking past our table, which added to the general mayhem.  In my defence, it was a perfectly innocent discussion of when Yr7 should be taught the reproduction module of the KS3 science curriculum - I maintain that the first half term of year 7, when they don't know each other well enough to say these words out loud, is not the right time.  

All in all, a lovely event.  Flat as a pancake, but twisty and turny enough to make it interesting.  Go along and see for yourselves!  Huge thank you to the event team and all the volunteers who made this parkrun possible.  

Putting it into context.

I have a list of things I dislike.  It is quite a long list and, to avoid causing offence to too many people, I won't mention all my pet hates here.  I'll try to keep them relevant to today's run!  I dislike, in no particular order, running on grass, running in mud, through puddles and with wet feet.  I hate driving into or around or through Reading.  I have nothing against the people of Reading - but the roads are just too confusing - give me straight forward London driving any day.  And I really, really hate being late.

So today didn't start well when I woke up to discover that Husbando had gone out and taken the car.  I sent him a tex, reminding him that I needed to leave at 7.30am, and made myself a cup of tea - not realising that the text was not delivered until I went to pick up  my phone again.  Argh!  Panic!   Husbando hove into view at ten to eight.  TEN TO EIGHT!  Google maps said it would take me 55 minutes to drive to Thames Valley Park, and I have a history of getting lost in one way systems in Reading.  Adding to that I'd have to find parking and the start of Reading parkrun.  I was a little bit stressed by this state of affairs.

Luckily the traffic was good and I only took one wrong turn in Reading, and Google maps lied a bit (or I drove too fast - who can say?) and I had arrived and parked by 8.35am, phew!  Reading parkrun's course info page told me that 'regular road running shore should certainly suffice in most weathers' but I decided, on advice of other parkrun tourists, to wear my trail shoes.  This was the right choice - although in retrospect mud claws would have been a better choice… not that I own any because, as has already been stated, I don't like running on mud!

Having picked my way between muddy patches to the start area, I bumped into friends I know via the parkrun show and lovely Gary - with whom I have run a couple of marathons in the past.  Soon we were on the start line and raring to go.

And then… squelchy, squishy, slippery, slidey mud.  And lots of it!  I didn't know what my feet were doing half the time.  I revised my hoped for finish time and concentrated on staying upright!  The views along the Thames were lovely - but I couldn't look up and see them as I was terrified of ending up flat on my face in the mud.  And kicking myself for not bringing an entire change of clothing with me just in case of such an eventuality!  Part of each lap was on gravel paths - sheer heaven after the mud, and a chance to claw back a few seconds, but with paths came puddles and there were choices to be made.  Pick one's way gingerly around the puddle, through the mud, losing time or plough straight through the middle.  I went for the latter option.  Once your feet are wet they can't get much wetter (but it was bitterly cold and a bit of a shock to the tootsies!)  The last 600m are back across grass, just when I wanted to put on a bit of a sprint I found I was struggling like Bambi on ice (but far less graceful).  I overtook someone, then realised I could not work out where the finish funnel was - there were loads of people but I couldn't spot the tape, so I let him overtake me again (having established he knew where he was heading) and managed to get across the line in 24.59.

I was disappointed with my time.  It had been hard work and I always want to take advantage of my child free parkruns to run as hard as I can.  I chalked it up to experience, met up with friends and went for coffee.  We left our very muddy trainers outside the doorway to the David Lloyd gym and had a very nice coffee and a natter.  Putting ice cold, wet trainers back on is somewhat unpleasant, but it didn mean that the pleasure I felt at changing into warm and dry socks and trainers when I got back to the car was immense!

Back at home, looking at the results page, I realised that I was 4th lady to finish - I've only bettered that at Pymmes parkrun (very small field) and first in my age category.  So maybe it wasn't such a bad run after all.  And, at the end of the day, I was out there doing something I love, with people who share my passion.  There are thousands of people who couldn't run if they wanted to. Thousands of people who go for days and days without any meaningful interaction with other people.   I get to do this every single week.

And today I came home to madeleines made by my 10 year old son...

This one was for you...

For the last two and a half years I have been running most parkruns  with the Fredster.  It is lovely that he enjoys running but it does mean that I have put my own parkrun journey on the back burner.  One of the many joys of parkrun is that you can use it to see where your fitness is on a weekly basis and, if you are too lazy to do speed work on your own, you can use it as a weekly speed session.  But last Saturday the Fredster earned his 100 shirt and I decreed that he should have this week off.

There have been a few other parkruns I have done without him recently but I have always been a bit disappointed with my performance.  My parkrun PB was set at my home run, Basingstoke, on 17th September 2011.  Over three years ago - and since then my solo parkruns had been somewhat mediocre.  I'd got close a couple of times, but normally ended up running around the 24 or 25 minute mark.  I'd got within a minute of my PB when running at Fulham Palace parkrun just over a year ago (I ran 23.58 against a PB of 23.16) so when the chance came for a return visit I didn't hesitate - despite the fact that it was going to involve leaving the house at 5.30am.

My previous visit had been for a very special occasion.  parkrun is a wonderful community that brings so many people together, and it was through parkrun that I met a lovely couple called Steve and Zoe.  I met them first in Basingstoke and warmed to them instantly.  Zoe's smile would light up the greyest of days.  What I didn't know then was that Zoe was dying.  You don't expect people younger than yourself to be dying do you?  But such was her personality that she wasn't going to let this fact ruin what was left of her life.  She set herself goals she wanted to achieve, one of them was to run 50 parkruns and receive her coveted 50 tshirt.  That Saturday at the end of November last year was the day that her tshirt was going to be presented to her.  parkrunners who knew Zoe turned up to support her and cheer her on as she completed what was to be her last parkrun.  It was chilly warming, but full of love and friendship and there was much laughter in the beautiful cafe inside the Bishop's Palace after our run.

Roll forward just over 12 months, and I find myself walking from the tube station to the park in the coldest weather of the year so far.  The thermometer read minus 2 and there was ice on the paths.  My Garmin strap was broken, I didn't know a single person there and did I mention it was cold?  I had 5 layers on and was still too cold.  It was very different to the party atmosphere of my previous visit.  I chatted to a few people, went for a warm up jog, almost falling on an icy patch and decided that a PB attempt would be a bit silly.

Fulham Palace parkrun is nearly 3 laps of the park, it is as flat as a pancake, although you do have to keep your wits about you as there are several sharp corners.  I set off, with my Garmin in a pocket, and just ran.  I fell into a pace and noted that I was about 10m behind a dad who was coaching his son around the course.  I felt comfortable and, using my wrist watch and the fact that I knew how long the laps were, calculated that I was running 'about 8min/mile pace' - that felt about right for the effort I was putting in, and decided that I would just enjoy myself.  As I ran down the bank of the Thames, I thought about Zoe and how proud she had been to wear her 50 club tshirt.  I couldn't help but grin at the thought.

Passing the start line for the final time I decided that, if I could run 8 min/miles in the dying stages of a half marathon I could certainly run a bit faster for the final three quarters of a mile in a 5k.  I passed the boy and his dad and pushed on for the finish, thanking the marshals (they must have been so cold) as I passed them for the last time and even lapping a fair few people.  I threw myself across the finish line (which is painted onto the tarmac) and fumbled to stop my Garmin.

I was stunned to see the time - 22:43!  The man who finished behind me came up and congratulated me on an excellent run, the father of the boy commented that I had run really well.  He'd been aware of me on their tail, and said that he'd watched me as I'd sped up - I'd just noticeably lengthened my stride as I'd glided past them.  After that at I couldn't get my extra layers back on fast enough and, after thanking the volunteers, I made my way into the Bishop's Palace to get warm and have a coffee.

Thank you to all the volunteers who stood in sub zero conditions just to allow us to run.  And Zoe, this run was for you.  You may no longer be with us in body, but your spirit lives on in many forms.

He, who would valiant be...

I am not entirely sure how I ended up entering this event again.    Indeed, if look at my blog from last year,  I find I am at pretty much the same stage in this year, new job - great but still in the rabbit in the headlights stage, tired, losing my voice etc.  At least I'm not training for an imminent marathon.  I think that I entered because I decided to do the Giant's Head Marathon next year and thought I'd need to get some trail experience.  I'm only doing the Giant's Head for the medal (go on, have a look, you know you want to!)  26.2 miles on trail is a long way for a confirmed road runner so today I was only taking on the half.  

The weather was fantastic.  I'd obviously misread the weather forecast as I'd thought the sunny, warm weather was over, but the sun was shining and clouds were scudding by as we waited for the start.  We got their early enough to see the full marathon runners off, and I caught up with friends.  I have since discovered, via Facebook, that there were several other people I know there and I am sorry to have missed them.  As they set off they were told to 'watch out for tyre girl' who had set out early for the marathon pulling a tyre behind her.  I prefer to carry my tyre around my middle!  As we had time we had lovely coffee from at the back of a Citroen van.  This of course meant a queue of the loos!  

Soon we were off, having just managed to get to the end of the loo queue and back to the start line in time to sort out  my Garmin.  As we left the start area we passed through the open gate, and my race almost ended there.  I was chatting to a fellow runner and did not see the thin, grey end of the gate pointing towards me (see photo).  I hit it hard with my left shoulder!  It wasn't marked and with loads of people all around it was not easy to spot.  Still, onwards and briefly downwards I went.  Running on the road was easy, nice and wide, easy to pass people.  I'd decided to just see how I felt and not force the pace as I have another race next weekend (and the weekend after).  Which idiot enters 4 races in the first 5 weeks of a new job, with one of them being in another country?  So I pootled along, chatting with people I knew, people I'd never met before.  I made a huge effort to catch up with one lady who I thought was someone I knew only to find she was a total stranger!  I caught up with someone I know from CPRC briefly and was introduced to his running companion.  Only in England would one turn and shake hands with someone one was introduced to while running a race!   

Once off the road it got a bit more serious.  The paths were narrow in places which resulted in having to walk for some sections and during other sections I just concentrated on keeping up with the person in front.  The hills were as sapping as last year, but I think that the weight loss has helped as I recovered much faster.  Not that you could speed down lots of the hills as they were steep and, well, trailey!  I stopped completely to check on two runners who fell spectacularly!  My automatic reaction to stopping running was to stop my Garmin, luckily I didn't stop it for long and the runners were both OK.  The highest point of the run offered absolutely stunning views, I'd say they were breathtaking, but I didn't have much breath left to take!  There was less haze this year and I could see much further.  If I can work out where it was I would love to go back and spend some time there.  

The water stations were well placed, just when I thought I was too thirsty (it was warmer than I'd anticipated) a water station appeared!  The marshals were friendly and cheerful.  I think I managed to thank most of them as I plodded past.  At one point, in the last couple of miles, I overtook someone and realised that I couldn't see anyone ahead of me.  I panicked a bit and called over my shoulder 'Are we going the right way?' and sped up so that I had someone in view.  Soon we were back on the road.  Running past the golf course and up hill to the gate to the field.  I spotted a man in a purple shirt who had passed me way back at mile 4 (in Puttenham).  I caught him up, overtaking several people in the process.  Then I carried on overtaking people as I knew that the finish beckoned.  At one point I overtook a car - shouting 'I'm faster than a car!'  Then it was round the corner and down the hill to the finish.  I heard my name called and I think I waved - but I was intent on catching just one more person.  I threw myself over the line and heard my number and name over the tannoy - a nice touch that.  I'd done it!  And 11 minutes faster than last year!  

The CPRC guys I'd caught up with briefly had finished ahead of me (it was they who had shouted as I came in), so I went to join them.  Apparently they didn't realise I was so fast.  I said I wasn't really, more a case of being too stubborn to give it!  

As I waited for my friend to come in I collected my medal and my tech t-shirt.  Then I totally messed up sorting out my 'phone to take a photo of her as she sprinted to the finish!  Sorry!   After that we went for lunch!  Steak frites and a glass of wine.  Lovely.

So, how many trail races will I have to do before I feel the love?  This was a very well organised event, the views were stunning, there was plenty of cake for afterwards (I was good and did not partake), and I am very glad I did it.  But to say I enjoyed it would be an overstatement!

Chichester inaugural parkrun

'I'm doing a book fair in Lewes on the 2nd August, would you like to come along for the day?' asked Husbando about a week ago.  I thought about the two Brighton parkruns and said 'Yes!'  I haven't done either of those yet and this seemed like an ideal opportunity.   A couple of days later I remembered that Chichester's first parkrun was coming up soon….. And after a little bit of investigation I found that it was the same day.  I have probably mentioned before that I didn't do geography for O'level, and that I can at times be somewhat geographically challenged.  I thought that Chichester and Lewes were quite close together…..

No matter, Husbando needed to be in Lewes at 7am.  Lewes is about an hour and a half away from my home, which meant an early start for me, young Freddy and Husbando.  We had a quick coffee with Husbando in Lewes and then headed off along the A27 for the 50 minute long journey to Chichester.   The parkrun takes place in Oaklands Park, which is located just behind Chichester Festival Theatre.  Many years ago I saw an excellent production of 'When we are married' starring Dawn French and Roger Lloyd Pack at Chichester.   I recall that the theatre has excellent acoustics and good vision from all seats.  I must go back one day.  Anyway - back to parkrun… the Sat Nav took me directly to the free carpark at the Chichester Rugby club, and from there it was about a minute's walk to the starting/run brief area in front of the cricket pavilion.  The Fredster was desperate for a wee so I asked a volunteer where the loos were.  I was told that they were in the pavilion, but that they were mens's only, but that it was OK for women to use them too, as it was a cricket pavilion.  I did, jokingly, mutter something about the fact that women are allowed to play cricket too these days - and the England Women's team actually did rather well in The Ashes!

Pre run wees taken care of, we bumped into some familiar faces.  There were far fewer of the regular 'tourists' than usual, but it was lovely to see friends from Basingstoke, Queen Elizabeth, Reading and Roundshaw Downs parkruns as we waited for the run brief.  Event director Mike Houston struck just the right note with his briefing.  Thanking all those who needed to be thanked (sponsors, local supporters and volunteers), giving out all the necessary information and informing the many new new registrants of the procedure to follow at the finish with wit and humour and some oversized barcodes and finishing tokens.

Then we were off!  As you can see from the screenshot of my Garmin trace, it is not the simplest of circuits!  I ran to the bottom of the course (about half a mile) with the Fredster.  The Fredster was VERY TIRED, not just from his early start, but also because he had run four miles the day before.  I could sense that this was not going to be a fast run for him or a fun experience for me.  Luckily, for me if not for him, a friend had volunteered as tail runner for this event, and he was just starting the short out and back section as Freddy and I finished it - so I asked if Freddy could run with him and off I went.  I am not running well at the moment, due to carrying about a stone and a half more weight than I should be, but it was nice to be able to have a tiny bit of a burst of speed.  It was lovely to be able to work my way through the field a bit.

Most of the course is on grass, apart from the long straight bit you can see along the side of the A286 - lovely tarmac, but also a 400m long hill.  So swings and roundabouts there!   The second time up that hill was when we got lapped by the front runners.  I was doing my customary shouting of 'Fast runners coming through - keep left!' When someone asked 'Who is the girl with the lungs?'  It took me a moment to realise they were talking about me!  I guess you can take the girl out of the Artillery Regiment - but she doesn't lose the ability to run and shout loudly enough to be heard the length of a gun position easily.    By the third time round, the incline was starting to make itself felt, but I was spurred on by the sight of the tail runner and Freddy up ahead.  Not only had I worked myself a considerable way through the runners I was going to blooming well lap someone!  Hurrah!  I kept going, then slowed down a bit as I had run off with Fred's water bottle and he was hot and thirsty.  We had a bit of a chat, Fred was happy, the tail runner had to keep calling him back as he was faster than the last person, but all was good.  I left the water bottle and made my way to the finish.  Despite my slow start and slowing a few times to talk to people as we went around, I squeaked in under 30 minutes (29.19).

After collecting my token I looked up and saw that Freddy was just about to start his final lap.  I knew he could run faster than the pace being set by the final runner, so set off to run the last lap with him, because I really needed another 400m long incline!  He did pick up his pace, finishing 3 minutes ahead of the last runners, and still managing to put in a sprint to the line.  After sorting out barcodes etc. we made our way for a post run drink and natter at Bertie's Cafe.  Chichester parkrun is another of those lucky venues that have a cafe right near the finishing line - fabulous and brilliant for building a real community.  The cafe is on the first floor and has a terrace with fabulous views over the park - which was lovely, until it started to rain!  But at least the rain stayed away until well after parkrun finished.

Huge thanks to Mike and his team of volunteers for organising another brilliant parkrun!  I am sure I'll be back to run in Chichester again soon.  Oh, and I hope token number 8 found its way back to its rightful spot!

Jingly jangly runner

It isn't often that I don't feel like parkrunning.  There are many weeks when I would quite happily do an extra parkrun or two every week, but this morning was different.  It had been a very long week at work, I'd had emergency dental work done, I'd dealt with all my exam classes going into stratospheric levels of stress and just about managed to get out and run all my scheduled runs.  I am still suffering the effects of the 50k race I did and my training runs had been at a pace that would not have worried a snail.  Added to this, three of the children had to be at a school open day, so I wouldn't have my son with me and therefore no excuse for a slow run.  The temptation to stay in bed was very real.

But, I did get out of bed and I did parkrun.  Three weeks ago a new parkrun started locally: Rushmore parkrun.  I couldn't go as I was doing this instead, so decided to go today instead.  I went with a friend.  I still find it much easier to go along with someone rather than on my own, and we found our way to the start without too much problem.  We did miss the very clearly signposted carpark, but we do know where it is for next time!  Hanging around at the start someone came up to me and said 'Are you MrsBridgewater?  You must meet our Event Director!'  I was a little taken aback - turns out that this was someone who read my blog and said lots of nice things about it.  The event director, Chris, was lovely and very welcoming.  I am sure he is far more relaxed now than he was three weeks ago.

There was a briefing for new runners, a pre run brief near the start line and then we were off.  I had been concerned that this would be a 'twice round a sports field' type of run (which always reminds me of being punished for being naughty or skiving games at school) but it was much more interesting than that!  Yes we did run across a sports field, but we also ran along a path at the edge of the road, down and along a canal tow path and through a wooded area and underneath a tree lined avenue to the finish.  Part of the route was on tarmac - sweet! Some of it was on grass and on (what could be had it not been hot) a muddy towpath - to be expected on a sports field, but there did seem to be quite a bit of gravel.  I HATE gravel.   I really do dislike it!  My friend, who was running with her son, said she thought of me when they got to the gravel bits!  Still - it could be avoided quite easily by running on the grass - so that's what I did.  The course was brilliantly marshalled by friendly volunteers.  There are 2 short downhill sections, but no noticeable uphills - which make this a course with great PB potential.

One thing I hate about as much as gravel is running near someone who has jangly keys in their pockets.   I ran too fast in the first mile trying to get away from the pillock who was running near me with keys jangling.  It was only when I found myself running on my own and I could still hear the jangling that I realised I was the culprit!  Normally I give my car key to my older daughter to look after while she volunteers, but she was at school and I'd shoved the keys in my pocket with my barcode tags and a ten pound note!  I took the key out of my pocket and things were much better after that, if a bit slower!  I was pleased that I maintain a reasonable pace, not too concerned that it was way off PB pace as I haven't set myself an insurmountable target to beat next time I run at Rushmore.  I was the 5th lady home - been a long time since I've finished that high in the rankings.  I'm quite pleased with that, even if I only achieved it by summoning everything I had left to overtake a lovely lady in the final 150m!  My guilt at this is made worse on discovering that she is a teacher at my middle child's school!  Oops!

Sadly the coffee van man failed to materialise again.  A huge shame as with over 150 people there (runners, volunteers, supporters) on a lovely sunny morning he'd have sold a few drinks!  There are plenty of park benches near the start/finish too for those of us who are too old to sit on the floor (or too old to get up again once we've sat down on the floor).  If anyone local has a coffee van or knows someone who has one, why not get in touch via the Rushmore parkrun page and see if you can offer your services?

Thanks to all the team for a great run!  You even laid on fantastic weather.  I'll be back with a short person soon!

#DFYB

Husbando had a bookfair in London today.  I wanted an excuse to have a day off work, so I decided to go up with him and take the Fredster with us.  I planned a bit of parkrun tourism.  At Kingston parkrun's 4th birthday last weekend I chatted to (among other people) a regular from Richmond parkrun.  He sang the praises of Richmond Park so I decided that this would be our destination.

We set off at 6am.  Yes, 6am.  We had to drive into central London, unload a car full of books and then drive out to Richmond again.  I am not a morning person, so I tend to repeatedly check that I have everything I need: wallet, keys, jacket, change of clothes and shoes etc. etc.  I was feeling very smug with myself, and mentally rechecking the list when I was about 15 minutes from home only to spot a glaring omission! Our barcodes!  I had a quick search in the car as I have spares, but the only barcode I could find was for my oldest son.  Had I been on my own I think I would just have run without a barcode - but the Fredster is set on getting his 100 top as soon as possible, so we persuaded Husbando to drive us home, with him muttering about us making him late, so that I could grab the barcodes from where I had left them on my desk.

The journey into London, unloading the car and grabbing a quick cup of tea was straightforward, and Fredster and I piled back into the car to make our way to Richmond.  I plugged 'Richmond Park' into the sat nav and off we went.  We arrived in the park, driving through some rather splendid gates, in gorgeous sunshine - a perfect spring morning.  It was just after 8.30am and I spotted a sign for a car park straight away.  We parked up.  I asked a lady in running gear if she knew where parkrun started - she looked at me blankly.  No matter, we took of our sweat shirts and jogged off in what I worked out (from a map) was the right general direction.  A few minutes later I said "BARCODES"  I'd left them in the pocket of my sweatshirt which was in the car!

I told Fredster to stand by a tree and NOT TO MOVE AND NOT TO TALK TO ANYONE as I sprinted back to the car, I realised that the parkrun start was probably too far away from us for Fredster to get there and still have any energy to run 5k so I jumped in to the car and whizzed back to pick up F.    We drove along, avoiding kamikaze cyclists, looking for the start.  We found a car park, with lots of people in lycra and several 100 and 50 shirts walking out of it.  I drove around the car park, one eye on the clock and one eye desperately looking for a parking space.  There were no spaces, I drove round again just to make sure.

My stress levels were rising now.  I couldn't see anywhere to park, I didn't know the area at all, so had no idea where to look.  I thought about just giving up, but we'd arranged to meet a friend who was travelling up because I'd suggested it.  I decided to drop Freddy at the start and tell him to find out friend, and if he couldn't find her 'just run and I'll catch up with you!'  I drove out through a gate, and looked for on street parking.  Not easy, but I found one on a metre that allowed me an hour.  I locked the car, grabbed the barcodes and legged it the three quarters of a mile back to the park.  I haven't run that fast in a very long time!

Back in the park, the runners had moved from where they were assembling.  I could see where they had gone, and the volunteers pointed me in the right direction.  I assumed that they had started running from the run briefing point (as they do at Bushy) so carried on running like a think possessed and suddenly saw a mass of runners standing facing me (the run is an anti clockwise and I had set off in a clockwise direction).  I hadn't missed the start!  I even managed to find Fredster and his godmother and start my Garmin before the run was started.

The run is lovely.  A gentle downhill at the start, some amazing views over London, and a great chance to chat with a friend I don't see often enough.  I looked at my Garmin and realised we'd run over a mile without me really feeling that we'd got started, at around this point I heard my name called - and it was the gentleman I'd met at Kingston!  We ran and chatted for a bit and then I had to stop to sort out Fredster's laces!  He was wearing trail shoes with elastic laces and somehow he'd tangled them up!  

We ran and chatted, chatted and ran, talked to each other and to people who were running near us and got our dose of Vitamin D for the week.  I was gradually calming down from my pre parkrun stress fest!  Fredster enjoyed his run, investigating some very impressive tree trunks and pointing out deer poo - in the absence of any deer sightings!   We finished in about 34 minutes - 10 minutes slower than I ran solo at Kingston last week, but running with a 9 year old will do that!  One day he'll be faster than me.

While my friend and F waited to get all the barcodes scanned I jogged back to pick up my car, drove back into the park and found a space (right next to my friend's car) in the car park that was now a little emptier, and then jogging to Cafe Terra which is the post run coffee venue.   There were not many parkrunners at coffee, which was a shame, but this often seems to be the case when the cafe is not right next to the start/finish!

So, a mixed morning!  I could do without the stress of looking for parking places (and forgetting the blooming barcodes didn't help!) but the run itself is beautiful and the people we chatted with were all very friendly.  There are even loos right by the start, but I didn't have time to use them!  Next time I run at Richmond I hope to arrive in time to find a parking space, listen to the run briefing and then saunter to the start line!

I'm also going to order some more barcodes!  I think a set (there are 7 potential parkrunners in our family) in each car is a minimum requirement!

Run, run as fast as you can!

Saturday was a much anticipated day in our house.  My 9 year old was going to run his 50th parkrun.  He ran his first parkrun in October 2011 and, after a bit of a rocky start, he really knuckled down recently and started coming to every parkrun with me.  Obviously he is dependent on me to get him to parkruns, but on a couple of occasions he has persuaded friends of mine to drive him over and, as his 50th loomed ever closer he got Husbando to drive him to Alice Holt parkrun and run that parkrun with him.

When he ran his first parkrun it took him 43minutes and 37 seconds to complete 5k.  He'd got progressively faster over the 22 months, but we'd been stuck at around 33minutes.  His PB was 32.51, which he set a couple of weeks ago.  As we drove to War Memorial Park we talked about maybe trying for a PB. Wouldn't it be nice to get a PB on this special day?

We lined up at the start.  I was chatting with a much faster running friend who was recovering from injury.  The three of us set off running at a nice, easy pace.  An easy pace for my friend and I, but a little ambitious for the boy wonder, or so I thought.  He just kept going!  He didn't whinge, he wasn't grumpy, he just kept going, and going, and going.  Just as we got to the 'bus stop' (that's what it looks like!) on the last lap I looked at my watch.  28 minutes.  I turned to my friend and asked quietly, so that my boy couldn't hear, whether we could do sub 30.   We thought it was possible, if not probable, so pushed him on a bit.  He powered on through the woods, up hill and along the twisting path, overtaking people as we went.  As he came out of the woods, with the finish funnel in sight, loads of people started cheering.  He shouted out an alliterated phrase that he'd obviously been planning for the entire route and sprinted to the finish - crossing the line in 30 minutes and 1 pesky second! As we chatted on the way home he did point out that if we had started at the front he'd 'easily' have been sub 30.  I said that if he'd started at the front he'd have been flattened!

I'd made cakes to celebrate - cakes and parkrun seem to go together very nicely.  It was lovely to sit around in the sunshine chatting with friends, catching up with a lovely parkrunner who was running her 150th parkrun.  There is no parkrun shirt for 150 runs - but it is a fantastic achievement non the less, and was marked with a certificate made by our Event Director.

I am incredibly proud of my boy!  He has worked so hard and Saturday's run really showed him that a huge factor in running well is deciding that you are going to run well.  He has a real runner's attitude, he will finish a run whatever it takes.  He is always up for a run with me during the week.  He may not be as fast as some boys his age, but he can keep on going, and going and going!  And he will improve over time.  He'll be faster than me one day!

Today saw me heading on up to Bushy Park for the first Run 10 for Mo race. I was glad that I had been to the Bushy parkrun a few weeks ago as it meant I knew where I was going, where I'd park etc.  The event was smaller than the parkrun, limited to a maximum of 500 runners, the entry fee was a very reasonable £5, but every runner was expected to raise £75 for the Farah Foundation.  I would be surprised if there were more than 300 runners.  I'm not sure what happened.  Maybe they didn't raise the sponsorship, maybe the fact that the race was starting at 12 noon in the middle of summer put them off.

A shower of rain at about 11am made me pretty sure we were going to have some nice cool weather.  The clouds vanished just before 12 and the temperature started to soar.  After the usual pre race announcements we were off.  The route was totally flat, and on a mixture of grass, gravel and a little bit of tarmac.  I am not a fan of gravel or grass, and had decided before I set out that would not be getting a PB today.  Doing this of course meant that I was not in the right frame of mind to get a PB.  I ran the first mile too fast, hated mile 2, 3 and 4.  I was doing maths in my head, working out how slow I could run and still finish in under an hour!  (My PB is 49.16).   The heat was sapping, it wasn't a busy race, and the supporters, whilst enthusiastic, were thin on the ground.  I just wanted it all to be over.  I normally feel like this at some point in a race, normally really early on, before I've settled into a rhythm, but that rhythm never materialised today - despite what one of the runners said about my 'lovely, even running rhythm.'  Even with less than half a mile to go it wouldn't have taken much persuasion for me to quit.  Still, needs must, and you can't run a race without a sprint finish.  I managed to put a brief spurt of speed on, and overtook a couple of runners in the final few metres to finish 9th lady and 61st overall.

After getting my breath back and chatting to a few people, I ran back around the course to find a friend and run in with her.  It was lovely to see her and encourage her to the finish - and boy, does that girl have a turn of speed when it comes to a sprint to the line!   (Time 52:38)

We collected our goodie hags - nice quality bag with tech vest, running socks, pencil and wrist band.  No medal, which is a shame, because I do like a bit of bling, but nice to get a vest rather than a tshirt!  Last time I was at Bushy Park I had to dash home, but today I had time to linger and have a late lunch at The Peasantry Cafe.  What a lovely place!  Great company - meeting runners from Reading parkrun, good food, lovely park setting - what more could one want?

Of course, those of you who know me will be aware that I am training for a marathon, and that a 10k/6 mile race does not constitute a long slow run.  So more miles were required.  When I got home I went for a run with my 9yo, then after a short break and an iced coffee, a run with Husbando to take the total mileage up to 13.7 miles for the day.  The last run was really hard.  Alice Holt Forest seemed to have an awful lot of hills, and a lot of gravel.  And my legs were very tired.  Still, I did it.  And a Sunday where I only wear pyjamas, running kit and pyjamas again can't be bad!

An unexpected treat!

It is the first morning of the half term holiday, so what happens at MrsBridgewater's house?  Do we all get a well earned lie in followed by a leisurely breakfast?  Of course not!  The alarm was set for 6.45am, which is to be fair 55 minutes later than a week day, and we had a quick breakfast, opened a few birthday presents (my baby girl is 7 today) and then I set off for Brokenhurt's inaugural parkrun.  Just one accompanying child this week, which seems to have become the norm.  He has decided to run with me a couple of times during the week too, and I had great hopes that this would improve his parkrun performance.  We also picked up a passenger on the way, and prepared ourselves mentally for heavy Bank Holiday traffic.

We were pleasantly surprised, the traffic was light and we got there with time to spare.  We weren't the only 'parkrun tourists' making a journey today, there was a knock on my car window before I'd even taken the key out of the ignition and and old friend was standing there.  As I looked around I saw lots of familiar faces from last week at Queen Elizabeth parkrun and overheard the comment that this was becoming a bit of a moveable feast... same faces different venue!  I like this aspect of inaugurals.  I think it must give first time parkrunners a real sense of the type community that their new parkrun will develop into.

Brockenhurst parkrun is held on the sports fields of Brockenhurst College.  The course details told me that it was a 4 lap course and fairly flat.  All of the course is on grass.  I think I may have mentioned once or twice that I don't like grass.  And I really don't like laps.  I am still wondering what on Earth possessed me to enter a 17 lap marathon next weekend....  After the run briefing we set off towards that back of the pack, we could see the field spread out as the speedy runners pulled ahead.  The weather was sunny but the wind was chilly, so it was a case of baking in the sunny bits and feeling rather cold in the shade!

My young companion had been running splendidly during the week, we'd been for two runs together of 2 miles and 2.5 miles, and he'd averaged 10 minute/mile pace.  I had great hopes that he'd pull a new parkrun PB out of the bag this week.  From the outset he was grumpy.  And slow!  I was disappointed. I love running with him, but I miss having a good, speedy parkrun blast on a Saturday morning.  He got increasingly more miserable (and slower) as we carried on.  He started complaining about achey feet, elbows, shoulders, eyeballs, earlobes etc!  I said he could stop, but he didn't want to stop.  I said that if he smiled he'd feel better, he accused me of lying!  I carried on encouraging him, running backwards to cheer him on.

One of the advantages of running at the back is that you often get lapped by the lithe young men, and get a lovely view of their legs as they race past you.  On today's four lap run we got lapped twice - an unexpected pleasure!  My son was more impressed by watching the passing trains, but each to their own!  One of the disadvantages of running on grass is that you often can't hear the faster runners approaching, so we had to work hard to stay out of their way!

On our final lap we were joined by parkrun show presenter Danny Norman who was running his warm down lap.  He and I chatted about all things parkrun and grumpy socks fell further behind.  Luckily my friend came back and ran with him, which meant I could at least put on a bit of a sprint for the last 100m!  I think the grumpiness may be due to not eating a proper breakfast, he is his father's son after all!  If Husbando is grumpy it is because he hasn't eaten, so maybe I need to make sure we all get a 'proper breakfast' before we leave rather than allowing him to just grab a snack.  He certainly perked up after a post run bacon bap!

A good proportion of the 113 runners and the volunteers descended on Brockenhurt College's internet cafe.  It was an inauspicious looking venue housed in a portacabin, but the coffee was surprisingly good.  Good enough to drink two cups anyway!  It has the advantage of being right next to the finish line, and the lady who runs it is apparently open to the idea of getting 'runner friendly' snacks in... that'll be cake then!

The Brockenhurst venue has free parking, right next to the route, and lovely clean toilets!  Nice toilets are always a bonus, especially if you are travelling a long way to get to parkrun.   This is a lovely little addition to the parkrun family, I really hope it goes from strength to strength.

Exceptionally good coffee!

Another Saturday, another parkrun!  Today marked the inaugural running of Queen Elizabeth parkrun just south of Petersfield.  This is about 4 miles further away from home than my regular Basingstoke parkrun, but the A3 is a slightly faster road than the A339 so it took no longer to get there.  I set of with my youngest boy, picked up a friend on the way and we all arrived in good time for the start.

I love an inaugural parkrun as you can guarantee that you'll meet up with people you like and don't get to see often enough as they now run at different parkruns, or you've only met them once or twice 'in real life' but have spent so much time chatting on line that you feel like you have known each other for donkeys' years.  You also get to speak to lots of people who have never been to parkrun before, but more of that later!

It was quite a walk from the car park to the start.  My friend commented that we were lucky it wasn't raining, as we'd have been soaked by the time we got to the start.  We walked up hill to the start.  The first of lots of up hill bits!  Milling around at the start we chatted with people we knew, discussed how hilly this run would be and plotted future parkrun outings.  Kiernan Easton, the event director,  gave an excellent briefing.  He said he was nervous, but it really didn't show.  He thanked all those involved in the set up and all today's volunteers before describing the course.  Apparently it is a net downhill course!

I started near the back, with my boy, and we stayed near the back!  The sharp uphill start spread the field out pretty quickly, but was followed by a lovely long downhill stretch.  As I was running at 9 year old boy pace (and he isn't fast, his PB is 33minutes) I had lots of breath to talk, so talk I did!  Alongside encouraging my 9 year old (shorten you stride, dig in with your toes on the hill, shoulders back, head up, etc. etc.) I chatted with, or maybe at, other runners.  Lots of them were first time parkrunners who were impressed and bemused by the concept in almost equal measure!  The course is beautiful, lots of lovely views and very well marshalled and signposted.  Much of it is on forestry commission hard packed gravel paths with some sections over grass.  Not my favourite running surface, but as I was taking it easy I didn't mind too much.  There is one short lap followed by one longer lap, which meant that it didn't really feel as though one was running laps!  Going up the steep hill for the second time the boy was flagging, as was a Havant parkrunner who was being supported by her friend.  Her friend grabbed one of her hands, my boy grabbed the other and they pulled her up the hill!  Suddenly he could run again, having had a bit of a whinge prior to that point!

Is it hilly?  Well, yes it is!  Look at the elevation profile!  But it is also very pretty.  My son finished it 6 minutes slower than his PB, but that includes a pretty spectacular tumble as he ran down hill.  The sort of tumble that would have put me in hospital, but he just got up, cried a bit, walked a bit and then carried on running!  He may not be fast, he may not always enjoy running, but he is very determined.  If he is struggling and looking miserable I ask him if he wants to stop, he invariably says no, he wants to finish, so on we plod!  I think he likes the big cheer he gets at the finish.

Coffee and a chat is an important part of parkrun for me!  Today we got to sit outside and drink some really lovely coffee.  'Exceptionally good,' as my friend commented.  So good we had to have another cup.  The bacon sandwiches looked pretty good too.  In best parkrun tradition, the event director had organised cakes.  They looked stunning and, I am told, tasted as good as they looked.  I want to know where to get the special cup cake carrying boxes from!

I look forward to coming back to this parkrun in the future and running it without a child.  A bit more hill training might be in order first.  None of the hills are as challenging as my local steep hill, but I run up that one by myself - no one can see if I am running so slowly that it would be faster to walk.  Still, the only way to get good at running hills is to get out there and run up them!

Winchester inaugural parkrun

A new parkrun in the area, or even not quite in the area, is always a good excuse to catch up with old friends and make new ones.  So when the long awaited Winchester parkrun announced that it was starting today I checked my diary (although what else I could possibly be doing on a Saturday morning I can't think) and made plans accordingly.   It was, in fact, open morning at my younger children's school but, as two of the children were happy to go along on their own, I decided that my presence was not required.

I roped in two friends, who blame me for their parkrun addiction, and we set off with my youngest boy.      After arriving and parking in the leisure centre car park we were soon catching up with runners we knew from other parkruns.  Basingstoke parkrun seemed to have dispatched a huge contingent of runners, many resplendent in Chineham Park Running Club shirts,  Frimley Lodge, Alice Holt, Newbury, Poole and Andover parkrun were also well represented.  There were probably many other parkruns represented, and some famous parkrun faces I didn't spot.

The route is flatter than a flat thing that has been throughly ironed, but it has over 40 corners!  Some of them are very tight, including a U-turn that could become 'interesting' in muddy weather.  As there are three laps this needs negotiating 3 times.  There are also 6 river crossings, willow trees, ducks and an awful lot of grass.  There is a weeny bit of tarmac, but the rest is grass playing fields all the way.  This had the effect of taking my back to my school days when we were made to run around the school fields.  There was a river crossing involved in that run too - we called it 'The Jordan' - and I hated running round those bloody fields!

I had intended to run with my boy, but a friend with a pushchair promised to keep an eye on him.  I was wearing layers as the weather was chilly and I had intended to jog slowly round, but there was no time to change, so after the pre-run briefing I set off.  Soon after the start I stopped to check that a boy who had tripped over was OK, I felt guilty about not running with my own boy - but he doesn't like running the whole 5k with me, and I don't really enjoy running quite as slowly as he does.  With all hope of a cracking time out of the window I carried on at a slightly gentler pace.  The marshals who directed us around the twisty course today were excellent, cheerful and encouraging, taking charge of stray jumpers (my son's) and just making the run much more enjoyable.

I crossed the line in 22mins 18seconds - I knew that something wasn't quite right!  I hadn't run anywhere near hard enough to clock that time, moments later I realised that the distance recorded on my Garmin was 2.9 miles so the course was a 5th of a mile short of the magic 3mile/5k.  What had happened?  It seems that the event director had moved the course markers slightly to accommodate the large field (280 runners) today.  This, amplified over 3 laps, meant that the distance overall was too short.  Some magic formula was applied to the results though and times were adjusted.  While it would be lovely to have recorded a 58 second 5k PB it would not have been a real PB and I'd always have known that!  My actual time went down as 24.13 - much more realistic given the pace I ran at!

After catching my breath, stripping off one of my layers and having a quick chat at the finish, I set off on another lap with the boy.  I quite like this warm down lap with him, I get to chat to other runners and encourage them on (and talk to some of the faster runners who are warming down too), my contrary child always manages to put on an impressive burst of speed as the finish funnel looms closer - despite having whinged about tired legs minutes beforehand!

After scanning of barcodes and retrieval of bags we made our way to the cafe at the sports centre for the most important bit of parkrun - coffee!  It never fails to amaze, or maybe that should be dismay, me that sports centre cafes provide such unhealthy food, and that chocolate vending machines are to be found at every corner.  Surely they should be promoting healthy eating rather than peddling high fat, processed food at every opportunity?  That said, the coffee was good and the company better!  I caught up briefly with old friends who used to run at Basingstoke and a runner I met at Abingdon last week.  I have met so many new friends through parkrun, and now regularly see an old friend (now she has given in to my relentless parkrun evangelism, accepting that the only way to get me to shut up about it was to turn up on a Saturday morning).  Plans were made for future parkrun jaunts.  Where will we go next week?  Who is going to the inaugural Queen Elizabeth parkrun?  Can we cope with the hills there after the flatness of Winchester?  Who knows where we'll end up - better watch this space to find out!

Thank you to all of the team who made today's run possible.  Here's to many more successful Winchester parkruns!

Possibly the prettiest parkrun on the planet!

We got up rather early to set out for my parkrun fix today.  Husbando was exhibiting at a book fair in Oxford, and I decided that a trip to Abingdon was in order.  As I needed to drop Husbando and books in Oxford at 7am we ended up leaving the house just before 6am.  Not a civilised time to be up and about on a Saturday morning.  When we left the house the temperature was just above freezing, so I set out in long running tights.  I did pack my trail shoes 'just in case' but didn't think to take shorts!

The last time I was in Abingdon was for the marathon.  I recognised bits of the town, but have to admit that it looked much nicer in the sunshine and when I wasn't contemplating running 26.2 miles!  Thanks to the wonders of Facebook, I'd been given idiot instructions to get to the right car park, and arrived with plenty of time to spare.  The first person I met as I read the instructions on the pay and display machine was my Facebook contact!   

I chatted to lots of friendly people, and we all remarked on how beautiful the weather was, how awful the events in Boston of earlier this week were, mutual friends we might know, tomorrow's London marathon and all the normal chit chat that runners talk about!

After the run briefing we observed a minute of silence out of respect for those who lost lives, family members or were injured in the bombing of the Boston marathon last Monday.  The odd Garmin beeped, which is probably quite fitting, but silence was observed by everyone.  I noticed a couple, not taking part in parkrun, who were walking their dog a short distance from where we were standing.  They paused and observed the silence too. 

And then we were off!  The course is pancake flat, but has quite a lot of sharp and/or narrow turns.  Running along the bank of the Thames in the sunshine was glorious.  As we thundered past a narrowboat I heard someone say 'there's millions of them!' Possibly not quite what they were expecting to see when they moored their boat on a quiet river bank the night before!  A large proportion of the course is on grass.  The going was firm, but quite uneven under foot.  I thought I'd just take it easy and see how I got on.  I am still nervous running on uneven ground, and my ankle still isn't really strong enough for me to really 'go for it' on such ground.  

We ran two laps of what is possibly the prettiest parkrun ever.  I say 'possibly' because I spent a lot of time looking down at my feet rather than at the scenery!  I really enjoyed my run, despite developing running tourettes as I tried to negotiate some twisty bits of the course and came into intimate contact with a hawthorn bush as I rounded a corner!  I chatted with lots of runners and was surprised with my finish time - 23.46 - and the fact that I finished 40th overall!  (5th lady, and 1st in my age category - woo hoo!)  For anyone who is interested you can see the Garmin thingy here!  I felt as though my third mile was much slower than the first two, and was quite happy with that as I have a long run planned tomorrow, but it seems it wasn't slower at all.  I even managed to overtake a few people as we approached the finish funnel.  

After scanning barcodes and getting my breath back I joined a steady trickle of runners making their way across the bridge to the market square.  Lots of Abingdon parkrunners enjoy their post run coffee at Java & Co!  A huge group congregated in the sunshine near the lovely Town Hall.  My interesting, non running related, fact of day is that on Royal occasions buns are thrown off the top of the Town Hall.  This last happened to celebrate the Jubilee last year.   It was lovely to sit drinking coffee and chatting in the sunshine, I think runners like talking about running almost as much as they like running!

I am so glad that I got up early, and am glad I added Abingdon to my parkrun tour.  Next week I'm off to the inaugural Winchester parkrun.  The boys are coming with me - they have missed their parkrun fix as they were away last week, and it wasn't practical for them to come with me today.  

Old Deer parkrun

Check the spelling... 'Old Deer parkrun' is not an event organised just for aged runners!  Runners of all ages gathered at Old Deer Park today for the final run in the adidas BOOST tour.

Last week, at Pymmes parkrun, I was one of 14 runners, and to be fair Old Deer parkrun normally has between 30 and 40 runners.  This week, as you can see by the photo (thanks to Martin Yelling for getting a picture of me) was slightly different.  Adidas have been touring various parkruns over the last few week with their new Boost trainers and for the last run in the series something special had been planned!  I would name all the athletes who were there as part of the adidas team - but I will leave someone out by mistake and risk upsetting them.

I persuaded a friend, who normally runs at Alice Holt parkrun, to join me in today's outing.  Two of my partners in crime from last weekend were meeting me there, as I was taking two of my boys with me as well as a friend it made sense to take my own car.  Our final partner in crime was not allowed out to play as it was his younger son's first birthday party and naming ceremony this afternoon and his assistance was required closer to home*.

Soon after parking the car I was reminded that, despite having many thousands of registered runners, parkrun is a very friendly community.  I saw an Andover parkrunner (who I first met at Killerton parkrun) and said a very quick hello as we both looked for the nearest toilets!  After we crossed the A316 using the foot bridge (which thrilled the boys and terrified me) I bumped in to the best marathon support duo ever!  Hugs and squeals all round!  There were lots of people standing around in the sunshine.  It should be mentioned that sunshine has a novelty value this year.  Normally by the beginning of April most runners would be in shorts and vests/t-shirts.  This year they were still very much in the minority, but it was sunny and the sun did actually have some warmth in it!

After a run briefing that I have to admit to not really listening to as I was refereeing between my two boys we proceeded down to the start.  There were hundreds of us!  The only bit of the run brief that I had heard was that we were running two laps rather than the normal three.  The start saw us running up a very gentle slope for about a quarter of a mile, having spotted the finish funnel (which you couldn't really miss because it was huge!) I worked out that we would have to run up it 3 times in total, thankfully it was a very gentle slope!

The course was entirely on grass, the sort of grass that makes me very glad I gave up playing hockey!  It was hard packed, but ever so slightly uneven.  Just the sort of ground that I fell on last summer and injured my foot.  I was glad that I had worn my road shoes rather than my trail ones, as I think the cushioning was more useful than the grip of trail shoes given the mud free state of the route.  One gentleman had decided against shoes altogether, running barefoot.  The mother (aka worry wart) in me does hope that he didn't step in, or on, anything nasty!  The route, rich in 90º turns, was well marshalled by cheerful and cheering volunteers.  Danny Norman, host of the parkrun show podcast, made my boys' day by recognising them as he carried out his marshalling duties.

I ran quite conservatively.  I almost matched my pace for the first 2 miles of Pymmes parkrun, but in the absence of a smack down between me and another runner I carried on chatting to fellow runners and failed to pick up the pace for the final mile.  I didn't think I'd run fast, because I don't like grass, but I do think I could have worked a bit harder!  I finished in 24min44secs.   After filtering through the finish funnel and collecting my token, I set off back around the course, clockwise this time running alongside the runners but in the opposite direction, to find the boys.  I shouted words of encouragement to people I knew, and to anyone who looked like they were about to give up.  I passed my older boy and ran on to find the younger one, meeting up with him about half a mile back down the route.  He graciously allowed me to carry his water bottle and tracksuit top and begged to borrow my sunglasses (knew I should have gone for a pink pair) and we jogged on to the end.

It was lovely to be able to stand around after the run, rather than dashing off to avoid frostbite/getting even more drenched!  And a lot of the 553 runners (a new attendance record) did stand around and wait.  Prizes were on offer - and runners seem to like prizes almost as much as they like running!  Prizes included adidas trainers and clothing, personal training plans from Liz Yelling, places in the Bupa 10,000m this year and the Silverstone Half and VLM Marathon for next year.   Although I wasn't among the lucky few we all had a very good morning, culminating in coffee and chat at the cafe in the adjacent sports' centre.  My boys had scampi and chips for breakfast and seemed to think that this was the high point of the day!

In addition to breaking the attendance records, I note from a brief perusal of the results page that both the male and female course records fell today too!  No doubt several new age graded records were set too - but it is Saturday evening and my head will explode if I look at too many numbers on a Saturday evening!

So what's next?  Well, a gauntlet was thrown down when my fellow Basingstoke parkrunner said 'You could do 5 different parkruns in 5 weeks if you tried a bit.'  Next week I'll be back 'home' at Basingstoke, I'm on report writing duty so that was an easy decision to make.  I have plans in place for the next two weeks, but I'm not going to commit them to pixels yet just in case I need to change my plans!

*The naming ceremony and first birthday party was lovely too!  I feel very honoured to have been invited!  I just need to remember to take the birthday present with me to the next parkrun!  

Playing away!

Husbando and I are just back from a couple of days in Cambridge.  Husbando was there for a book fair, I was along for the ride!  I took a mountain of marking with me and spent a fair amount of time incarcerated in my room at the Premier Inn trying to make a dent in it.  It wasn't all work though.  We had a bit of free time.  On our first afternoon we braved the cold weather  to go for a run.  The absence of hills makes a change from home, but provides no shelter from the bitter easterly wind.  Whilst running alongside the side of the guided bus route we spotted a memorial in the middle of a field.  The lichen was too thick to read the engravings, and the receptionist at the Premier Inn looked blank when I asked her.  I was forced to resort to Facebook in search of more details.  

It turns out that it is a memorial to Elizabeth Woodcock.  It marks the spot where, in February 1799, she was trapped in a snow drift for 8 days.  She had been returning from the market and her previous stop had been at a local inn, where she had filled up her flask with brandy.  She was thrown from her horse during the journey, and befuddled by alcohol, she was unable to remount.  She took shelter under a hawthorn hedge and was covered by a snow drift.  It took 8 days for her to be discovered, still alive, under the snow.  Sadly she didn't survive long, she died on 24th July 1799, aged 43.  On her burial notice it is written 'She was in a state of intoxication when she was lost.  Her death was accelerated (to say the least) but spirituous liquors afterwards taken, procured by the donations of various visitors.'  

Saturday means parkrun day - even if I am far from home.  Friday night should see me tucked into bed early after a wholesome meal.  Going out to The Phoenix for the best Chinese meal I have had in ages was not going to be conducive to that!  And at the first sniff of gin and tonic my resolution not to drink flew out of the window!  My glass was never empty, so I can't have had more than a glass of wine can I?  Great to catch up with people over a lovely meal, even if I did feel a bit 'tired' this morning!

The lovely people of Cambridge parkrun made me feel very welcome.  It is always interesting to visit different parkruns.  The basic concept is the same everywhere - a free, 5k run against the clock - but every parkrun is slightly different!  Cambridge has a very organised start, with signs telling you where to stand based on your anticipated finish time.  I duly went to stand with the runners hoping to finish in about 25 - 26 minutes.  I seem to have missed most of the run briefing, but figured that so long as I followed the person in front I'd be fine!  

The course is in one small clockwise lap followed by 2 larger anticlockwise laps.  It is flatter than a flat thing that has been professionally ironed.  What it lacks in undulation it makes up for in twistiness!  I can honestly say that for most of the time I had no idea where I was.  I was hoping to run a fast (for me) time, but I got boxed in with the runners I started with, and for the first 2 laps I was surrounded and found it very hard to get past the other runners on the narrow paths.  I resigned myself to a slow time, thinking I was on for between 26 and 27 minutes.  The marshals were great, one of them called out times to runners he knew as the passed him.  This would have been great, but I had no idea where he was in relation to the distance left to run!  The finish is a deceptively long way away!  I know that it is at the end of 5k, but being a lapped race you pass the finish before you go to the finish, if you see what I mean.  I'd seen the turn of for the finish funnel on a previous lap, clocked a sign a bit further back saying 'Finish 400m' and in my mind I was going to veer off to the left and and be in the funnel.  Ha!  Not so!  The finish seemed to be ages away for a very long time!  I'd managed to pick up the pace on the final lap, finally managing to get a bit of space around me to run properly and I'd overtaken 25 people on my last lap and carried on accelerating to the finish funnel, crossing the line in 25mins 16seconds.  Not a great time for such a flat course, but at least I can improve on it when I get to go back!  

Next time I think I will ignore the suggested starting areas, and start nearer the front and go like stink from the start and hold on for as long as I can.  The cafe in Milton Country Park served an excellent cup of coffee and I chatted to some local parkrunners, where my pink trail shoes were something of a talking point.  It was great to get warm again having run through snow flurries!  

While I was 'playing away' great things were happening at my home parkrun of Basingstoke.  Nearly a quarter of the runners achieved new PBs and the course record, that has stood since July 2009 was smashed!  19 seconds were taken off the record to set the new one of 15mins 33 seconds!  I'll be back in Basingstoke next Saturday aiming to get a few seconds closer to my PB!