Killerton...

9:00am on Saturday, 18th May 2013 -- The finish funnel at Killerton parkrun.  Is there anywhere quite as beautiful as this?  A competition perhaps with Paul and Tom as ajudicators?  Who will take up the challenge?

Queen Elizabeth parkrun

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!

(This blog post, along with other posts about running, cake, children and wine appears at http://mrsbridgewater.blogspot.co.uk/)

parkrun stats of the week..4th May 2013

The parkrun statistics of note for last weekend are:

243 parkrun events run (yet another new record by 4!).
37,986 runners! (This is yet another new global record attendance, by just 80)!

The average number of runners per parkrun event run was: 156.3.

For the second week running 47 parkrun events recorded new record attendances last weekend, as follows:

Event		Record Attendance
Aberdeen		169
Abingdon		171
Barnsley		124
Barrow		158
Belfast Victoria		206
Big Bay		46
Black Park		423
Bolton		223
Bradford		467
Braunstone		251
Bromley		401
Cannon Hill		379
Carlisle		174
Chelmsford Central		202
Claisebrook Cove		176
Clermont Waterfront		49
Cleveland		153
Congleton		146
Coventry		516
Darlington South Park		147
Delamere		152
Ecos		140
Falkirk		192
Guildford		191
Gunnersbury		259
Heaton Park		478
Highbury Fields		105
Hilly Fields		103
Huddersfield		411
Ipswich		151
Killerton		154
Kingscliff		85
Leeds		461
Livonia		31
Medina I.O.W.		151
Newcastle		502
Northampton		224
Pennington Flash		159
Pontefract		202
Portrush		105
Rushcliffe		128
South Manchester		329
Southampton		387
Sunderland		159
Tollcross		93
Valentines		156
Worsley Woods		202

The longest standing parkrun attendance record is:
Amager Faelled  146 28/08/2010

And in the UK it's now :

Banstead Woods		220	23/04/2011

The highest attendance this week was exactly 900 at Bushy parkrun.

The lowest attendance this week was just 8 at Nibe parkrun and Vejen parkrun.

There are now 7 parkrun events with a record attendance over 500, with Coventry and Newcastle parkruns breaking the 500 barrier for the first time this week. The 7 are as follows:

Event		Record Attendance
Bushy Park		1051
Old Deer Park		553
Poole		535
Bramhall Park		519
Coventry		516
Malahide		513
Newcastle		502

There are now 25 events with a record attendance over 400, 42 events over 300, 83 over 200 and 190 over 100.

No better feeling

Ok, I admit it, there are some better feelings than encouraging someone round to finish off a well earned parkrun PB, but it is certainly still a great feeling.

After a calf injury three weeks ago and 3 runs and 24 miles in the preceding 36 hours, plus more than my fair share of 3 bottles of (well earned) red last night, I arrived at parkrun in two minds this morning. Should I start from the front and push it a bit, or start from the very back and work my way through the field?

Well, common sense prevailed and I did neither. Option 3 was conceived about a minute before the start and I pushed my way a few rows back. This allowed/forced me to start pretty slowly as the best part of 200 parkrunners overtook down the flanks.

A couple of minutes in and I decided that half pace was too slow. I gradually picked my way through runners for the next 10 minutes or so until reaching clear air.

At about 6 minutes in I found myself in a photo being taken by Olympic legend and former British and World record holder Dave Moorcroft. It turns out that I was just passing his son. I chatted with his son for the next couple of minutes.

I guess having such a famous Dad you probably have a lot of people tell you how amazing your Dad is/was, but he seemed quite touched when I told him that his Dad's Bislet Games World Record was one of my earliest sporting memories.

Dave Moorcroft was an incredible runner. I still regularly see him running in the park and one day I WILL pluck up the courage to ask to run with him for just a few minutes.

Anyway, I could see a friend going very well ahead and put a little burst in to catch him at 13 minutes in.

A quick exchange of words told me he was already well ahead of his 19:41 PB so I decided enough was enough for me and I would just encourage Matthew round to the end. I'm certain he didn't need my "help" but I wanted to cheer him on, and he didn't seem to mind.

Well Matthew got his PB by around 30 seconds and I have to say that I enjoyed that feeling almost as much as when getting a PB myself. Probably because it didn't hurt as much and seeing him so pleased.

A really great feeling.

So if ever you feel you aren't up to a PB yourself, why not find someone a little slower and help and encourage them to a new PB. It really is the next best feeling.

parkrun Event Anniversaries in May

The parkrun newsletter may tell you about the parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the following weekend, but what if you'd like to know a little further ahead?

Well here is the list of upcoming parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the whole of May, starting with this coming weekend:

Event	Next Anniversary
Lower Hutt parkrun	2013 05 04
Fritton Lake parkrun	2013 05 04
Pontefract parkrun	2013 05 04
Abingdon parkrun	2013 05 04
Medina I.O.W. parkrun	2013 05 04
Belfast Victoria parkrun	2013 05 04
Eastleigh parkrun	2013 05 11
Brabrand parkrun	2013 05 11
Bedfont Lakes parkrun	2013 05 11
Preston parkrun	2013 05 11
Hampstead Heath parkrun	2013 05 11
Amager Faelled parkrun	2013 05 18
Camperdown parkrun, Dundee	2013 05 18
Wanstead Flats parkrun	2013 05 18
Northampton parkrun	2013 05 25
Marple parkrun	2013 05 25
Falls parkrun, Belfast	2013 05 25
Hackney Marshes parkrun	2013 05 25
Crystal Palace parkrun	2013 05 25
Nibe parkrun	2013 05 25
Albert parkrun, Middlesbrough	2013 05 25