Parkrun
Tue, Jan 19, 2016
I have a confession to make. While I have publicly supported the parkrun initiative for some time and I wholeheartedly believe it is a great idea, I have never actually ran one myself. There have been many excuses from family conflicts at the weekends to blaming the weather but this week I thought I would actually ignore all of this and partake in the spectacle. I chose the closest event, which for me was Southwick Country Park in Trowbridge and arrived before the customary 9am start time. Nearly 300 people turned up to run the wet and muddy course and despite not knowing anything about the logistics of Park Run (you pick up a finishing token at the end and have that scanned with your personal parkrun barcode) I mingled into the crowd ready to run.
The course itself was great. 3 laps around a semi-gravelled path with some sections completely covered by 6 inches of rain water. The first lap around I tried to avoid the water but this this only pushed you onto the slippery surrounding mud so for lap 2 and 3 it became obvious that the best option was to just get your feet wet.
I did not manage any personal bests but that was not the point; the event itself was great fun and the volunteers were excellent. This may have been my first parkrun but it is definitely not my last, I will be there again this Saturday, 9am, ready to do it all again.
