Chris Cutforth's Blog

Lost shoes and Olympic inspiration  Ba ck after several weeks away, mainly due to family holidays. I have to confess I've been pretty lazy these past few weeks (isn't that what holidays should be about though?!), so completing the Endcliffe Park course today was a bit of a struggle - my time was too embarrassing to mention!   I took my running gear to Italy with the intention of doing a few gentle runs with my son and daughter on most days despite the heat. However, these plans were scuppered on day 3 of the holiday when I left my running shoes in a bag at a town market - by the time I'd realised it was too late, they had disappeared - hopefully into the hands (or should I say onto the feet!) of a nice Italian man with size 12 feet who is now using them for their intended purpose. Even better, they could be taking part in one or more of the 5 parkruns that currently operate in Italy - although I would accept that is rather unlikely as the nearest one to where we we...

Rother Valley romp I finally made it to   Rother Valley this week for my 60th parkrun. On the journey there in the car I had a flashback to 2011 when I fell off the pavement outside my house and sprained my ankle whilst preparing for the Rother Valley 10k. Fortunately there were no such mishaps this time so I arrived in peak condition ready to take on the challenge.   About 250 runners gathered at the start - a nice touch by the race director to welcome all new park runners (which was greeted by a spontaneous round of applause) and parkrun tourists including one from Aberdeen, another from New Zealand.  Before heading off I chatted with Helen, one of the volunteers, who told me she was taking it easy today recovering from a 24 hour marathon run in Leeds, Mark for whom this was his sixth parkrun in 2 years, and his partner Sarah who was clearly trying to encourage him to participate more regularly!   Rother Valley is a very flat course - a single lap ...

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 uni...

Hot chocolate and politics My planned trip this week to Rother Valley parkrun was delayed - too much going on at home and no time for the journey there and back, so it was the next best thing - a return to Endcliffe Park for the second successive week. My sole objective was to complete the course without a recurrence of the sciatica and in preparation for the Edinburgh hairy haggis relay next week. That goal was accomplished albeit in a mediocre time of 25.03 - the legs felt quite heavy after a two week layoff which I guess is be expected at my age! Loud and bossy Rachael was waiting at the finish with a token and a friendly smile which was followed by an equally pleasant chat with Fran, the editor of the Endcliffe parkrun Facebook site, as a result of which I am hoping that my blogs will now be read by more people across the city and hopefully bring more smiles to more faces! Joined Fraser in the cafe for a mug of hot chocolate before spotting Nick Clegg doing a spot of...

Rachael - what a star..! After a week off due to injury (mild sciatica - very irritating with the Edinburgh Marathon Hairy Haggis relay just 2 weeks away) it was back to Endcliffe Park this week to offer my services as a parkrun volunteer. Nice chats on my arrival with work colleagues Frazer and Steve before the 500+ runners of all shapes and sizes departed on their two laps of the park. A minor incident occurred at the start in which one runner hit the deck, but thankfully he emerged, a bit battered and bruised, but otherwise unscathed and soon rejoined the pack.  My volunteer role was to help run the funnel alongside  Rachael from Barnsley who, I discovered later, is also a colleague of mine at SHU but whom I had never met - what a small world! Rachael was perfect for the job - a self-confessed loud, bossy lady, she clearly knew what she was doing and certainly took no prisoners, least of all me, but in a friendly way. I simply did as I was told - just as well as the l...

Back to Concord Back to Concord this weekend, mainly so I could recover my daughter's favourite fleece left there last week. A friendly conversation broke out on arrival with Margaret, Dawn, Tom and Ian from Pennistone Running Club who, like Jude last week, were collecting points for their parkrun club competition. All of them confessed to having taken up running in retirement which I thought was pretty cool. Just before the start I looked behind me and saw a gentlemen in the bushes with his trousers by his ankles revealing more than a little of his modesty. He was of course changing into his parkrun running gear. I couldn't help wondering if his name was Harry - flash Harry - but could not pluck up the courage to ask.!  I decided to adopt a more consistent pace this week but felt quite tired most of the way round, particularly on the Concord hill which seemed considerably longer and harder this week. Suzie, a triathlete, kept me company for part of the way which...

The tour continues... Back to Concord this week with my daughter Katie in search of that elusive 25 mins barrier. A beautiful spring day - bright, sunny and cool ("Much like you" I hear you say. Sadly not!!). We arrived a few mins early, just in time for a friendly chat with Luke the A and E nurse who, when asked, proudly told us that he had recently completed the Sheffield half marathon (his first) in a creditable 2 hours 40 - well done Luke! After the normal briefing and a spontaneous round of applause for young Oliver, running his 10th parkrun, we set off at quite a pace completing the first kilometre  in 4:28 before reverting to a more normal and manageable speed. We arrived at the finish in 24:43 with Katie delighted (and somewhat exhausted!) to have achieved her goal - not quite on a par with Roger Bannister at Iffley Road all those years ago, but not far off!!  Brief chats ensured with Angela, the race director, Neil, one of the volunteers and  Jude, ...