A hidden gem.

I have driven up and down the A316 many, many times, but I had never noticed Crane Park Island before.  What an utter treat it was to discover this wonderful nature reserve virtually under the shadow of Twickenham Stadium and in the middle of South West London's urban sprawl.  This park is the site of a former gunpowder mill, but is now home to kingfishers, water voles and Crane parkrun!

Thanks to some help via the Facebook page I found my way to the park.  Thanks to the most unhelpful dog walker ever, I was merrily heading off in totally the wrong direction.  "Oh yes, this is the way they come from every Saturday, just after 9am!" she said as I wondered if I was going in the right direction, under a bridge on a very narrow path by the river.  Luckily I bumped into a runner I met at the Abingdon marathon, I knew he looked familiar, but I am useless with names and faces so was very relieved when he called out 'MrsBridgewater!' as I approached.  At the start I met another runner I knew from Frimley Lodge parkrun  - the running world is very small!

At the start I put my favourite Gore running jacket in a stranger's back pack.  As you do.  The start is some distance from the finish so the lovely volunteers act as sherpas between the two points.  After the run briefing I tried to decide where to stand in the mass of runners.  I plonked myself towards the back of the middle, if that makes sense.  This was not a great place to start, the path is fairly narrow, and I got a bit blocked in for the first couple of hundred metres.  I was running naked  - i.e. without my Garmin.  Not through choice, but because it was away for repair.  Running without my Garmin at my own parkrun, where I could use other runners I know to gauge my pace, is one thing, running without it with a totally unknown group of people is a different matter!  I was also recovering from a nasty tummy bug, so had not idea how this was going to turn out.

The course is mainly on paths through the park (both compact gravel and tarmac) and is made up of one a three quarter laps.  You leave the park briefly three times - to run along the pavement of two roads.  This seems to be quite a novelty in parkrun terms.  I plodded along, not really sure of my pace, but loving the park!  Loads of bird song, and no traffic noise in the depths of the park - and sculptures, I want to go back and walk around so I can have a proper look.  There are no km markers, and that, along with no Garmin, meant I really did have no idea how I was getting on.  I chatted with a few people as I ran, determined to enjoy myself.  The finish hadn't been set up when I passed it the first time, so I didn't even know where I was aiming for!  I asked one runner I passed how long it was to the finish.  "You just go up that hill, round a couple of corners then up a bit and it is on your left."  Which was exactly what I had to do, but what I really needed to know was roughly how many metres!    You don't get much visual warning either - as it is just around a bend, but for the last few metres you can see the coffee van ahead, which must spur a lot of runners on a bit!

The coffee van being 'right there' at the end meant that a lot of runners stayed to drink coffee, chat and cheer on those who finished after them.  The coffee was very good too!  I met up with runners I knew 'virtually' from the FetchEveryone website, had a bit of a chat, drank my HUGE cup of coffee in the sunshine, before dashing back into London so that I could use the shower in my hotel room before I had to check out!  I've done a lot of inaugural parkruns recently, and they always have a bit of a party atmosphere, same faces, different venue, but turning up to an established parkrun on my own is a different animal.  I get quite nervous about it to be honest, so a huge thank you to everyone who made me feel so welcome.  I'll be back, and may bring small children with me!


In other news
Garmin must be praised for their excellent customer service!  Posted my watch to them on Wednesday, and a replacement was sent to me so that it arrived on Saturday.  This is for a watch that is out of guarantee - but only by a week!  That has saved me a few pennies!

As I was in London I decided to pay a visit to Sweatshop's self styled 'ultimate destination' for runners. I can only say that I was distinctly underwhelmed.  I have shopped at the Sweatshop concession in Harrods for years (and get lovely Harrods points when I do so), but I expected the flagship store to be bigger, better and have a huge range of lovely things for me to buy.  They didn't.  In fact there had been a greater choice in Harrods.  The service was good and friendly, but it lacked the 'wow factor' I'd been led to expect.

And finally...
We didn't know where to stay on Saturday night.  So we went to to lastminute.com  to have a look around.  We discovered their 'top secret hotels' - basically you book a certain star rating of hotel in a specified area, but you don't find out where you are going until after you book.  We ended up at W London - somewhere we would never have considered, but which we absolutely loved.  It feels as though we were living in a bond movie, very stylish and luxurious!

Kent Roadrunner Marathon

It all started a few months ago, Ian Berry of TZruns mentioned that he was organising a second 'Kent Roadrunner Marathon' and had I thought about signing up.  "Yeah right," I thought, "I really want to run 17 laps !"  I told Ian that I'd run his marathon if he let me have bib number 69.  I'd never heard  of people demanding their own numbers and getting them, so thought I was on fairly safe ground.  How wrong was I?  Ian said yes, and I was signed up.  I wasn't even sure where the race was taking place until someone told me it was 'near Bluewater!'

I travelled down to Gravesend yesterday afternoon, with a brief detour to Bluewater to pick up things I'd forgotten to pack (hair brush, FitFlops), and checked in to a Premier Inn.  As I checked in I asked what time breakfast would be served, 8am!  Far too late for me when the race was due to start at 9am.  Dinner was eaten with friends (who were celebrating their wedding anniversary).  It was a huge amount of food, and after catching up with friends and meeting new people, I toddled off to bed at about 10.30pm.  

Yesterday was surprisingly warm, and I was dreading a hot day today, but the sky was cloudy and the temperature was chilly as I arrived at the Cyclopark and parked my car close to the pavilion building before paying for parking, collecting my race number, timing chip and 16 wrist bands. The wrist bands were to save our poor addled brains having to remember how many laps we had run - a good plan as most runners come equipped with just 2 thumbs and 8 fingers so that counting beyond 10 would involve removing shoes and socks!  The system is quite simple, you start with 16, take one off every time you complete a lap and pass the start line, thus running your very last lap without a wrist band.  Simple really.  

We assembled for the start, there were announcements for birthdays, 100th marathons and then we were off.  The first 9 miles were fabulous, if a little too fast, but then I developed a shooting pain in my right foot.  I thought it was a blister, so took of my shoe and had a look, but nothing there... It was agony to put my foot down, still, at least it slowed me down to a more manageable speed.  I was ok-ish until about 17.5 miles.  Then it all got too much, it hurt a lot, and the idea of running round and round the track again and again lost its appeal!  Passing the finish line was pure torture - the temptation to stop was huge.  I walked through the water station each time I passed it, I detoured to the loo 5 times, I stopped for a chat with a friend who was marshalling.  "Is it OK if I stop?" I asked, she told me to do another lap and see how I felt, walking if necessary.  So that's what I did. 

Whilst I can't say I'm a convert to laps, they do have some interesting features.  You get lapped, and you lap others.  I was lapped by the first man at 4 miles into the race and the first woman after 6 miles.  It was good to see these speedy runners whizzing past, normally they are so far ahead that mere mortals like me don't get to see them.  Lapping other people was an unusual experience for me - and I lapped some people several times. It was a very friendly atmosphere, lots of banter between runners who knew each other well or had only just met.  My frequent loo stops confused people as I'd suddenly be behind them again and working to catch up!   17 laps also ensures that you become very familiar with every twist, turn and undulation!  A slope that you barely register on lap one becomes a mountain during the final few laps.  

I'd set out today aiming for 4hrs 20mins.  By 17 miles in I didn't care how long it took, I was just going to finish this thing.  I couldn't do the necessary maths to work out how I was doing.  At the beginning of the penultimate lap I worked out that if I could do each of the remaining laps in about 15 minutes I could still get my PB.  So I walked to the water station, had a couple of cups of water and set off at a gentle trot!  I was so thrilled to get rid of my last wrist band that I threw it to some friends in the crowd. Shedding that bit of weight obviously worked and I picked up the pace.  Suddenly I was running at sub 9min/mile pace.  I caught up with a runner who'd left me behind ages ago and we ran together for a bit, before I ploughed on leaving him behind.  I got to the top of the last steepish hill and walked for about 100m, I couldn't run... but my pace still stayed below 9min/mile pace.  I started running again as I turned the corner to the uphill slope to the finish, I kept pushing on, the last quarter mile shows a pace just over 8min/mile.  I've never been happier to see a finish line.  The gun time was 4:16:17, my watch showed 4:16:00 but whatever it was it was a 6+ minute PB after the toughest run I have ever had.  

The medal we were given is HUGE, ostentatious and heavy on a fabulous custom ribbon! I staggered back to the car with it round my neck, it really felt as though someone had moved my car... I'd parked close to the pavilion, but this walk to the car was taking ages!  Then a return walk to the pavilion with wallet to buy lunch and to pay for a massage.  It was lovely to sit around and chat with people I'd met during the run.  

After lunch I said my goodbyes and thanks to the lovely race marshals and to Ian and made my way home.  I did have to pull into a layby for a snooze at one point, but got home safely in the end.  I'm looking forward to seeing the race photos - the photographers were so friendly and encouraging!  As for tonight - an early night beckons!

Vanquishing demons

While most of the UK population was enjoying a Bank Holiday Monday lie in, I had persuaded Husbando to come up to London with me while I ran the Bupa 10,000m.  This meant that we got up at 'normal' time, but that we didn't have the hassle of getting the tribe organised for school, although number one son was travelling as far as Woking with us on the train before getting another train to Brighton for the day.  Porridge with banana and cinnamon was consumed, a final check of race number and timing chip was made and off we set.

London was beautiful this morning.  Despite bumping into a crowd of Chineham Park Runners on Waterloo Station, Husbando and I decided to walk 'our way' to Green Park, crossing an almost deserted Hungerford Bridge.  London was quieter at 8.30am on a Bank Holiday morning that it normally is when I go for a run at 6.30am on a Sunday!

I arrived at Green Park at about 9am.  The voice over the tannoy was exhorting everyone in the red starting areas to make their way to the start!  I still had to queue for a portaloo, untie and retie my shoe laces several times, dither about whether I'd need to keep a t-shirt on until the start, check my bag in at the bag drop etc. etc.  I was no where near ready to proceed to to the start a whole hour before the race was due to start.  I think I got my act together by about 9.20am when the blue wave were being encouraged to get a wiggle on and make their way to The Mall!

Standing in The Mall was a hugely different experience to last year.  Last year it was 27C as we baked in one of the very few hot and sunny days of last year.  This year it was sunny, but the minute the Sun hid behind a cloud there was a chill in the air.  My nerves were starting to build, I'd had a bad time at this race last  year and that, and being injured for a lot of last year had sapped my confidence.  I know that my time does not matter to anyone other than me, but boy does it matter to me!  I set myself a target of getting round in 54 minutes or under, that would be over 2 minutes faster than last year but would mean that I wouldn't have to push too hard on my poorly foot!

Mo Farah went past our start zone, to the accompaniment of a huge cheer.  I gave myself a bit of a talking to.  This bloke has won this event 4 years running, the pressure on him to make it 5 in a row must be incredible.  I was just out for a nice run in the Sun!

Soon we were off.  I started too fast, but thought, never mind, I'll soon slow down.  But I never really did slow down, passing each kilometre marker less than 5 minutes after the previous one.  It wasn't easy, in fact it was possibly the hardest run I have done in a long time, but I thought that I may as well push on.  The support on the course was fantastic, running through Leadenhall Market where a drum band plays loudly is a great treat.  I am not mad on the reverse route though as there seem to be a lot more upward slopes rather than one very short sharpish (not really steep at all) hill and lots of gentle downhill slopes.

The temperature through the City was pretty warm - very sheltered and the buildings reflecting all the heat, but there were plenty of pleasant breezes.  I almost got knocked sideways by the breeze as I passed Horse Guards!  The breeze through St James Park was rather brisk.  Suddenly there were only 400m left!  I picked up the pace, as I turned back onto The Mall and decided it was now or never - I didn't even think about smiling for the cameras, I just ran.   I crossed the line and stopped my watch, then before I could look at it I found I was hanging onto the barrier and trying not to be sick!  I couldn't see a friendly first aider with a sick bag anywhere and I was not going to throw up at this race two years running!

When I did look at my watch I found I had done it!  A new PB!  It had been very hard work, and probably not the best idea 5 days before a marathon, but it is done!

Milling about in Green Park and hearing eveyone's stories of the race was fantastic.  There really is a great atmosphere after this race as runners meet friends and family.  Many photos were taken, and I apologies if the ones I took on other people's cameras are useless but it was so sunny that I couldn't see the screen!

This really is a great race!  It isn't cheap, but if you are only going to do one 10k then this is it.  And if you aren't ever going to do the London Marathon then this race gives you some great sights to look out while you run!

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!

Alton 10, undulating, but a PB course!

I really didn't want to run a race today.  I wanted to plod along, in my own sweet time, probably giving myself lots of negative self talk about how useless and slow I was.  But I did need to run today, and it is the day of the Alton10.  If I 'just went out for a run' there would be hundreds of other runners on my route anyway.  It is a cheap race to enter, just £10 if you book in advance and have a UK athletics club registration, and ridiculously easy for me to get to.  I always get to races with loads of time to spare.  I hate being late, and worry about missed connections, bad traffic, getting lost etc.  This race, however, was less than a mile from my front door.  I could have a lie in, do some chores, check my emails, sort out snacks for the children to eat in my absence and still have loads of time to arrive and collect my race number couldn't I?  Well, yes, if I'd bothered to put a watch on and check the time!  We'd been advised to collect our race numbers by 9.45am, at 9.35am I was halfway through pegging out my washing on the line!

I quickly grabbed 'everything' I needed, realising too late that I had left my heart rate monitor band 'thingy' at home, along with my lip balm and a sweat band for my wrist.  I had remembered my sunglasses though.  As I jogged through the village the sun was shining down and it was really quite warm.  I was glad to dump my bag and sweatshirt, collect my number and meet up with various running friends.  I thought back to the first time I'd run this race, back in 2010, how intimidated I'd felt by all the club vests and the sinewy legs of serious runners.  I hadn't known a soul there.  My running life has changed dramatically, mainly due to parkrun, now I think I'd be hard pushed to turn up at a race without knowing someone there.  I don't name names on here - but it was great to see everyone.

I had no expectations for this run.  I set off too fast - running the first mile at a 5k pace, a bit silly, but at least I knew that the first hill would slow me down!  As we approached the first water station, while I was chatting with an ex policeman, a parkrun friend sped past me.  Our speed equalised a bit after that, thanks to me throwing caution to the wind on the down hill, and we ran together off and on until about 6 miles where she very graciously said she was going to let me go on.  She called out 'You're running really strongly - keep it up!' as I pulled ahead.  I can't tell you what a boost that was.  I kept that in mind as I slogged up a hill at 7 miles.  I think I chatted all the way around!  I certainly didn't feel as though I was going hell for leather, but I kept worrying that if I kept up the pace I was going at then I was going to blow up at some point.  I didn't.  I carried on overtaking people right up to the last few feet of the race.  My children came out to the end of my road to cheer me on just after the 9 mile marker - lovely to see them.  They took some properly awful photos of me too!

As I crossed the line I think the finishing clock said 1:24:57, the official results are yet to be posted, but even if it is more than that it is a PB (over a minute faster than Paris-Versailles, and two minutes faster than my last Alton10).  I punched the air as I crossed the line and shouted 'P-f*cking-B' and then clamped my hand over my mouth and apologised to the young Scouts who were handing out medals and cups of water (they did an excellent job both at the finish and at the water stations).  I was walking on air!  I bounced around looking for people to talk to.  If I'd been told I had to carry on for another 10 miles I am sure I was so high I could have done it!  As it was, after catching up with a few people, I ran home!

I've been on a bit of a post PB high ever since!  I could hardly wait for Husbando to come home so we could go out for another run.  4.5 miles over part of the same course, at a somewhat slower, but still respectable speed!  It was blooming hot out there this evening.  I have to say the local Scouts did an excellent job - not a sign of a plastic cup at the site of the water station we passed!

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!