Back in the groove... 

This weekend was my first parkrun for quite a while. In fact running has taken rather a back seat for me over the past few weeks due to injury and various work and family commitments. 

I decided to take the easy option by toddling off to my local Endcliffe Park event accompanied by my daughter Katie with her new camera. Numbers were high on a beautiful summers day and it was also Endcliffe's 7 year anniversary which was celebrated with a series of awards to runners and volunteers before the start. My time of 25.57 was a bit on the slow side but I got stuck in traffic on the first lap and the legs felt quite heavy on the second after such a long layoff. My parkrun summer goal is to get back under 24.30 - wish me luck...!

I have just returned from a 2 week trip to Tanzania and Zambia on behalf of the University during which I met with government and national sports council officials, sport development organisations and universities, as well as visiting various local sports project. Some of my discussions related to the possibility of developing parkrun in both countries, and I am pleased to say there is real interest in doing this which is very exciting. 

parkrun already operates in South Africa and Namibia and there are also plans to open soon in Swaziland and Lesotho before too long. Developing countries bring specific challenges relating to, amongst other things, cultural difference, technology and funding. However, I believe these issues to be surmountable with effective planning and collaboration. As the saying goes, "Where there's a will there is a way..."

Further discussions are planned over the coming weeks and months. I now consider it one of my lifetime goals to support these developments, but only if the partners in both countries want it and it fits with their broader aspirations. Watch this space for further updates...

Next weekend I plan to venture out beyond Sheffield,  probably Rother Valley which I've been meaning to visit for some time. Then the following week we are off island hopping in the west of Scotland - need to go online and find out if there are any parkrun events up there - dodging the midges no doubt!!.


Until next time - happy parkrunning..! 

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