Morning Run: parkrun 50!

I just finished a 4.915km running that lasted about 0hh:25mm:54ss !

After four years I finally clocked up my 50th parkrun finish. I will round up some statistics below.

It was a nice morning for it and just warm enough for a t-shirt, but I did wear gloves. Others thought it required more layers. The course was a little soft and the mud was deep in the usual places. I did not go as mad at the start this time and that paid off with a more consistent pace overall. I did have a bit of a dip in the middle. A few people overtook me early on, but then I chased down a young lady on the last half lap and passed her before 'sprinting' for the finish when I could see it. I actually got my best time on the last 200m. I was just under 26 minutes and happy with that.

I had time to appreciate some nature. There was a red kites soaring over me as I jogged to the start and I saw a rabbit by the station. There are loads of snowdrops in the woods around the course.

My first parkrun was almost exactly four years ago at Letchworth just after that event started. I was only doing it about once a month in the first year, but I got a lot of personal bests. In 2019 I was still not doing it too often. Then in 2020 COVID stuck and there were then no events for over a year, but I still kept running. Since the restart I have run or volunteered most weeks.

I should really have got to fifty last month, but I had one run where I forgot my barcode and one at Letchworth where I tripped and fell on the first lap, so did not complete it.

My slowest time is 33:39 (first parkrun) and my best is 25:09. I still hope to crack 25 minutes some time. I may have done it at Great Denham, but I was late to the start and so my official time was slower.

I have run at six different events, including a snowy Berlin. I hope to add to that soon. I have volunteered seven times. I have run on Christmas and New Year's Day, but I have not recorded any events in May. I hope to put that right this year.

parkrun is such a great event. It is totally free to take part thanks to some sponsorship, but it relies on volunteers to run it. I will do that again soon as it should not always be the same few people.

Run free and stay well.

Check out some detailed info at my EXHAUST page
Join me in testing out EXHAUST!