parkrunners (AOWALC) Anonymous Keep on Running into Spring

[OhOneOhTwoOhThree]

New thread for parkrunners old and new.

We are a long-running thread, but very friendly - please come and say hello, and chat about PBs, tourism, progress towards tee-shirts and anyything else about parkrun

Fritton is over an hour from me and I'm rd that weekend too, as well as being due Easter Monday

I knew you were due around then not that it would stop you.

Halle I will be at Panshanger next Saturday . Well done on forcing yourself round today and doing so well

feet eeeeew.

cinnamon lovely pictures

Well done on PBs Melanie and Thursday

Did minimeglet manage not to chat?

I know what you mean germs about a change of pace

I did get to tail run/walk . Got to about 2 miles and the lady I was walking with decided to cut it short, so I had a bit of a run to catch up with the next last person

Our winner today was a 50+ vet who used to run for Ireland - finished in 17.01, and apparently still had the puff to chat to the guy in second place (who finished in 17.03 )

Ooooh, we got a lovely mention in this week's write-up! I ran my first parkrun in March 2013, in over 34 minutes and with an age graded % of less than 50. In 2 years I've shaved 10 minutes off my run time, and yesterday's % grading was 71.

Sometimes progress seems glacial, you need to look at the big picture and take the long view.

Hmmm, Limavady. I have my old school reunion in Coleraine in May, could possibly tie in that one the same weekend.

Melanie that's fantastic progress

Fab MelanieCheeks!

Check out my Mother's Day pressie bit stretched now but will be perfect when bunp is gone!

That's great, Cinnamon!

OP, can I ask you a quick question about Panshanger? My cousin lives in Hertford and is a very inexperienced runner, ie done zero running since school (she is 30 now!) and is slowly losing weight but still got a lot to go. She wants to join in with parkrun but is nervous. I live nearer to Beds so it is difficult for me to come to support her. Is it a friendly group? And is the course quite newby-friendly? It may take her an hour to get round it....would that be a problem? Thank you if you are able to answer!

Tidy I have only been twice to Panshanger, but both times people have been friendly and struck up conversations.

The route is a single lap so there are no short cuts (unlike my local, where it's 2.5 laps, so you can stop before the end if you run out of puff ), and it is mostly trail through the woods/fields and I understand can get pretty muddy - so not the easiest of courses for a new runner.

I was tailing yesterday at Bedford and met a lady doing week 3 of C25K - could your cousin try run/walking?

And I meant to say last night that parkrun is very inclusive, so she should give it a go! Maybe have a look at the results on the parkrun website to so how long others are taking - we were 50 mins on Saturday for a relatively fast course, so up to an hour sounds reasonable for an off-road one

Thank you OhOne. :) That's really helpful. I might suggest she goes with her dog and walks the course first to see how she gets on or tries C25K as well.

Agree that parkruns are all (in my experience) welcoming, and there will be a huge range of abilities. Check out their latest results to see what times the slower runners are doing it in.

Yep I haven't been to an unfriendly one yet, although I've only been to mine plus four others so pretty much a rookie!

Think I've been to 9 either running or volunteering (including Panshanger)and they have all been full of friendly, chatty, supportive people.

I can confirm though, that every single one of the 28 parkruns I've been to so far, both here and the one I did in Copenhagen, have been incredibly friendly and inclusive and I've never felt excluded in the slightest. In fact, being the tourist or the newbie usually means that people will make extra effort to come and say "Hi" and make sure you know where to be and then they want to know what you thought of their course when you've finished too .

I got almost adopted by a lovely couple at Lanhydrock who walked me to the start and wanted me to join them at the cafe afterwards, got tips on where to take the kids when we were in Porthcawl, got invited to the anniversary barbeque by the ED when we were in Peterborough.... The RD in Copenhagen even apologised for not switching the whole race briefing into English for us! It's amazing how you can turn up anywhere with a barcode and a pair of trainers and be immediately included. I love parkrun x

Planning to run this weekend if all goes to plan. Then next week will be my last chance to run parkrun for a bit. I'm RD 4th and baby is being evicted on 7th if he hasn't already arrived

Not sure why I am asking this.... but if you were thinking of setting up a new parkrun is there a list to see if its already in progress? Not sure I have the time / energy to set one up but maybe if there isn't one being considered at that park.

parkrun HQ have a list Halle so if you enquire, they will tell you if there is already one in the pipeline.

Halle - if it's local to you that you are thinking about I can put you in touch with the local ambassador for our area. He knows everything about what is going on and at what stages they area at.

Some people on my FB group were thinking about the park in WGC famous for its lakes. I was just pondering.... I think it would be popular but have no time to organise myself until September.....

I can ask if you want - will be seeing/talking to him quite a lot over the next few weeks :)

If you could that would be fab. I am just starting to think about it....

and you know where thinking can lead... :)

Dangerous places.

ive just found this "cheat" from a facebook parkrun group (sorry if you all know this already) but if you copy this link and put in a parkrun you haven't done (instead of Evesham if you've done this) and your number at the end (this isn't me btw) and then it lists all your parkruns!! I quite enjoyed looking at my runs in order.

www.parkrun.org.uk/evesham/results/athletehistory/?athleteNumber=1000000