parkrun conversations Back to Sheffield Castle today - Mr Forgetful needed to pick up that item of clothing left behind last Saturday, a mission successfully achieved. This time I was without Isla who was at home recovering from 'the op' which finally took place during the week. No puppies for Isla I'm afraid! I received the normal friendly welcome from Diane, resplendent in her trackie and Race Director's bib and fresh from a tour of the park depositing cones at strategic points to prevent numpties like me from taking a wrong turn and causing chaos. I interviewed Diane along with all the other local parkrun race directors a while ago. During the interview I asked her how she first got involved in parkrun. Her reply was legendary - it went something like this: "I don't like running and I don't like technology - how the bloody hell I got involved in parkrun I'll never know..". I felt a little stronger this week - that ...
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parkrun changes lives Back to Sheffield Castle this week - after the warm welcome I received a fortnight ago it seemed the obvious thing to do. No volunteer pacemakers this week but I had my own pacemaker in the form of my pet Labrador, Isla. I arrived early so there was plenty of time to chat. I began by striking up a conversation with a lovely couple, Zoe and Matt (photo attached below), who were celebrating their first wedding anniversary (congrats both!). They spoke about the importance of parkrun in their lives, in particular how it has helped them cope with Matt's mental health challenges - a really heartwarming story which once again demonstrated the power of parkrun to do powerful things in people's lives. Isla and I then proceeded to follow Matt and Zoe around the course - towards the end I encouraged Zoe up the final hill enabling her to post a personal best time which she was clearly delighted about! Then it was off to the community hou...
parkrun never disappoints After a busy week, when the alarm sounded on Saturday morning at 8 it was very tempting to drag the duvet back over my head for another hour's sleep. Instead I decided to drag myself out of bed - a wise decision it proved to be as yet again parkrun Sheffield did not disappoint. Hillsborough was my chosen destination today - not been there for a while and the relatively flat course was appealing as I am still recovering from that mild bout of sciatica, so did not want exert myself too much. On arrival I noticed the volunteers handing out pacemaker bibs to yet more volunteers. There were roles for people with different finishing times ranging from 20-35 minutes, providing encouragement and support for runners of all ages, genders, sizes and abilities - an interesting initiative which I had not come across before. John, the Race Director, a pleasant man with an air of calm authority, provided a warm welcome for one and all and then proceeded to introd...
Injury has its compensations So much to write about this week, so this one's a bit longer than normal... A spot of sciatica has returned, so being a finely tuned athletes with Olympic aspirations (move over Mo, I'm coming to get you..) I decided to offer my services as a volunteer this week instead. Hopefully it's nothing to do with the new running shoes, otherwise that was a complete waste of £60. My daughter, a member of the Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds Running Club, doesn't think they are running shoes at all simply because I didn't buy them from a proper running shop - come to think of it she may have a point.. Travelled to Sheffield Castle (Manor) with my dog Isla to be welcomed with a friendly bear hug from Diane, the founder and Race Director, who immediately thrust a scanner into my hands with the words: "There you go, that's your job." What is it about parkrun and bossy women..?! Whilst the 50 odd runners did their thing and I...
People make parkrun... Today was my 62nd parkrun - not bad but insignificant compared to Dominic Wright who reached the 250 milestone today and celebrated by taking it easy as one of the tail runners. Great job Dominic - here's to the next 250..! I was joined once again by my lovely daughter Katie, both christening our new running shoes - how flashy we looked and how exciting! You know what they say.. if you can't play, dress up!! Before the start I got chatting to Andrew who told me he was recovering from a short stay in hospital with a back problem and before that a triple heart bypass. A former sprinter in his younger days, Andrew's parkrun goal is to walk the 5k course unaided by Christmas. Go for it Andrew..! Then a few words with Andy Ireland, former headteacher at Westfield School, who starts a new job on Monday at the Sheffield Inclusion Centre after a difficult period over the past year. Good luck Andy.. Then with Tom Downes who c...
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 ...