Four years ago, as part of my training for my first ever
10km race, I decided to give Parkrun a try. I can still remember the day well –
I made myself go even though it was raining and I was nervous because I wasn’t
too sure what to expect. I wrote a post about it at the time which can be found here.
This weekend saw my 50th Parkrun event – that’s
50 times I’ve dragged myself out of bed on a Saturday morning to go and run a
total of 250km which I’ve done across lots of different locations up and down
the country. I even ran on Christmas day and did a New Year's Day double this year!
For those not familiar with Parkrun, it’s an event which
sees thousands of runners set off at 9am in parks all over the country (and
rapidly spreading across the world). At the end of the run you get a little
token which gets scanned in along with your barcode then an hour or two later
you get an email telling you what time you completed the course in along with
lots of other stats. Amazingly, this super-slick operation is completely free
to attend!
These days, my Parkrun experience couldn’t be more different
than the rainy day back in 2015! I used to turn up alone, run alone, go home
again. Now, just like running in general, Parkrun is a social occasion. During
the week, we arrange which location we’ll be going to with informal polls
between our friends. Normally there’s some logistics planning to make use of
car sharing, particularly when we’re doing a bit of tourism (more on that
later!). Sometimes, I’ll complete the whole run with Des or one of our many
running friends – and if I do find myself running alone I always end up
chatting with fellow runners on the way around. After we’ve ran, we’ll head for
breakfast together, extending the event into the late morning to really kick
the weekend off.
Then there’s the tourism! We’re really lucky in Nottingham
because there are loads of events within around a one hour drive from us. I’ve
just about ticked all of those off now, each one as friendly and welcoming but
on a variety of terrains, elevations and back-drops. Further afield, we’ve
based several running club away days around Parkrun locations, including a trip
to Leeds and one to London. I even managed to get to a Parkrun in Dublin
following a very early morning flight last September!
Of course, Parkrun wouldn’t be possible without the
fantastic volunteers who help out each week to make sure the event runs safely
and without a hitch. I did my first stint as a volunteer as part of my running
club’s takeover last year and have done a few different roles since then. I even volunteered at my 50th on Saturday by writing the run report (you can read that here!) It’s
a great opportunity to give something back and I’d recommend anyone to give it
a go.
So now it’s time to start ticking them off towards the next
milestone of 100 runs! With new locations launching on a regular basis and plans
to visit more cities to take advantage of their courses, I’m looking forward to
seeing where the next 50 runs take me!
For more information on Parkrun, visit www.parkrun.org.uk
