Slowest Parkrunner, feeling demoralised

I am completely late to this post but DO NOT EVER feel bad for being in a park run, exercising or coming last in your run!!

Bravo to you!

You have taken initial steps, you have got off the couch so doing more than some of us!! I note the irony as I sit here on my couch with a full belly of food .. but I am envious that you have the discipline to do it. Once again bravo!

You will get better, it's just your body adjusting .. our body wants to preserve energy, not spend it .. the mind may work against you for this very reason .. you got this!

Well done! I'm proud of you!

Keep going op you’re doing really well, the weather will improve sooner than you know and the ground will be drier. I focus on this and it helps me feel better 😊

You’re faster than anyone sat on the sofa or still in bed!

Well, I’ve never done it so you’re quicker than me.

As others have said (but you need to know that we mean it) you were faster than everyone who stayed home. It will get easier, the sun will shine, the mud will dry out and you will get to know people.

You need trail shoes. No wonder you were slipping everywhere

Well done! I get lapped by my children every time I do it. Doesn’t matter a jot.

We both cover the same distance, but I can claim I worked harder as I exercised for longer 😄

You’ve done it! Be proud of your achievement 👏👏

Well done you for getting out there and doing it - the weather is horrid, ground conditions hideous (saying this as someone dog walking daily who is sliding about in the mud and wouldn’t dream of running in it!). You are amazing just doing it 🙌🏻

There's a race organiser called Barnes Fitness in the Reading area and they are now giving a bottle of prosecco to the last finisher at their races.

The slowest time at the parkrun I did yesterday was 1 hour 14. 45 minutes or so sounds pretty respectable to me in muddy conditions.

Most parkruns around me were cancelled yesterday - either waterlogged or just underwater!

Don’t focus on how slow you are compared to everyone there. Find some smugness in the fact that you completed it compared to the hundreds of people that sat on their sofa instead!

I think you are brilliant.

I was lucky that outside school I did dancing (badly), and I got into DoE. That lead me to hiking and yoga, plus functional brisk walking in early adulthood. Then that lead to other classes at the leisure centre.

Running and strength came in in my 30s when I had babies and needed to squeeze something in and the most practical options were C25k and a circuits class. Fortunately the C25k podcasts (I hadn't quite got to smartphone stage for apps) and parkrun were gaining momentum. It was MP3 players and social media that turned me into a runner and undid the damage of physical "education".

But so many girls/ women have been totally discouraged from being fit and active for the fun of it and the health benefits by the way PE was "taught". It never even occured to me at school that running was something you could learn; I thought it was just something that I instrinsically couldn't do (something also reinforced at home by a mum who'd had similar experiences decades earlier)

Oh well done you! Threads like this inspire me to try park run... One day I will, and I promise I'll be slower than you!

So the first one you did was flat and on tarmac. Then you’ve done one involving hills and mud and you’re only three minutes slower. You’re also a minute quicker than you were at the same one last week. You’re doing absolutely fine.

I rotate around three local parkruns and all of them have people coming in after an hour.

You're still faster than everyone not doing parkrun.

I did a 6 mile charity run once and despite lots of practise beforehand, I was overtaken by a six year old. 😅😅

We have a 85 year old who used to walk with me as I tail walked, after a few weeks he said "would you mind if I leave you and walk a bit faster just I've got to get home to walk the dog". After you've been at parkrun a little while you realise you absolutely can't judge anyone based on their age or body shape or the expensive kit they have etc. I've given up trying to predict who the fast ones or slower ones will be.

You’re doing great, I mean you got a course PB today, so you’re heading in the right direction.
Hills are hard, trails are hard, and it’s cold and rainy. But the hard runs build fitness. You’ll fly round a flat easy course.

A very elderly man with a limp was faster than me today and i just feel like giving up
A man with a fridge on his back beat me in my first marathon.

Hi op, well done for going on such a dreadful day. I was there today marshalling and the puddles and mud were awful and so you were amazing to do it! Also, please be aware that you won’t be the slowest parkrunner or the last as there is always a volunteer tailwalker who gets the last position. Ignore the speedy men at the front and rejoice on your brilliant achievement.

@BiscuitsCheeseBiscuits "At mine today I came 29 out of 40."

Where was that?! I usually finish 450-500 out of 500-600 runners. I did a bit of 'stat padding' once by visiting Orkney to claim 51st (out of 53). I want to come to yours!

That’s not slow - lots of people do that speed. Starting running can be tough.

The hill will have put people off (I sometimes go to one with a hill & it’s not unusual to hear parkrun tourists saying that they are never coming back due to the hill).

The 5k app is great for motivation as it has lots of challenges & you can track your speed and your improvements. It might help to think about your PB for the hilly course as a different target to beat to your overall PB.

Parkrun has done a lot to encourage wide participation (eg having the parkwalker as well as the tailwalker), so the other runners won’t mind slower speeds.

If DS is volunteering, then you may get to know some other volunteers, which might help. You could always try volunteering as a park / tailwalker to help with how you are feeling (as it’s then your job to be slow & the run can’t function without you).

Well done to DS for volunteering too!

Don’t worry about it at all. I’ve been at the back and at the front (of my age group!). No one judges. It’s just good to do it