Charity and megaphone diplomacy

This weekend’s parkrun came at the end of another busy week in which, apart from the daily dog walks, there had been little time for physical activity - a week when my daughter Katie returned to university (sob sob - we love having her around) and my head had been full of ‘stuff’, spinning the proverbial plates preparing for the new term. Back to the normal routine you could say.

I managed to persuade Ailsa (wife) and Isla (dog) to accompany me to Graves Park today, not that they needed much persuading. Isla in particular would follow me anywhere anytime provided it involved fresh air or food - Ailsa less so perhaps, particularly on Saturday mornings!  

On arrival at Graves I immediately got chatting to Vicky, a delightful young German lady with a hint of an American accent acquired from 2 years living and studying over the pond. Vicky is training for the Brighton marathon in April. Currently running 40-50 miles per week, she told me she had raised £10,000 last year for Motor Neurons Disease through various running events, the motivation for which came (at least in part) from her mother who suffered with the disease. 

Vicky and I ran the whole course together chatting happily along the way. My time was a lot slower this week than normal and I barely broke sweat, but that didn't matter. As the announcer had said earlier: "It’s a run not a race - what is it?" Audience response: "It’s a run not a race". Hilarious! - and of course it’s also so much more than a run in the park.

The Graves Park announcer definitely wins the prize for humour, voice projection and audience engagement, all of which provided ample compensation for the cold and windy weather. Who needs a megaphone when you can speak that well?

Thank you Vicky and that announcer for brightening up my weekend - and good luck Vicky with the marathon training and fundraising.

Until next time, happy parkrunning.

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