I have let the parkrunday posts get away from me, so I’ll make each parkrun recap brief! But quite a lot has happened in my own personal parkrunworld since I last updated…
Jesmond Dene #171
On the 10th of August I headed to Jesmond Dene, as I hadn’t given it a proper go for a while. Conditions were great and I managed a nice course PB of 25:54, sneaking under 26 minutes for the first time there.
Town Moor #631
Bit of a blast round Town Moor on 17th August – a nice consistent effort meant another course PB, just under 24 minutes with 23:59.
Town Moor #632
I never usually run the same parkrun two weeks in a row, so I hoped there might be a chance of getting the ‘Groundhog Day’ achievement (run at the same parkrun twice in a row and get the exact same time)! I was a few seconds out, but I wasn’t going to complain about another course PB – 23:54.
Agnew #169
Oh my goodness, Agnew parkrun. I might be less brief with this one if you’ll indulge me.
I visit this parkrun once a year for a fast effort. Last year I took THREE minutes off my then-usual time. It is very much a PB course. I brought my Vaporflys and put my serious face on.
Geth was still recovering from his injury at this point and was taking it easy. ‘You might win this,’ he said, looking around the field at the start. I would not allow such thoughts to enter my head. Besides, I had already spotted one fast lad in carbons, so I knew it was unlikely.
Bang, off we went, and for a minute there was only the aforementioned fast lad in front of me. Another fast lad soon joined him. But nobody else did.
At the turn of the first out and back, solidly in third place, I glanced at the other 58 runners stretching out behind me. Could I really hold them all off for a whole parkrun? I didn’t know.
But I was going to give it a good go.
Agnew parkrun is three laps with a lot of out-and-back sections, so you’re very aware of where everyone is. It’s a good thing I’d done it a couple of times previously and knew the route, as the two fast lads were completely out of sight by the end of the first lap. At every turn I was glancing at the following runners, analysing how far behind they were. I was running on pure nerves and adrenaline, surprising myself by how badly I wanted to keep my placing.
This must be what it really feels like to race. (Don’t let anyone tell you parkrun’s not a race!)
Halfway through the third and final lap, the fourth place appeared to be gaining on me a little… and so I found a burst of speed and energy out of absolutely nowhere. I ran for my life and by the final out-and-back he was far behind, but I kept pushing and pushing and gave it absolutely everything up the final stretch. I hadn’t even been thinking about my finish time, only about holding people off, but it was a new all-time PB for me. 23:21. A time that would absolutely NOT get you third place overall at the vast, vast majority of parkruns, but it’s all about who shows up on the day!
Over three months later I am still buzzing about this result. One of my best running moments of 2024.
Jesmond Dene #175
The following week it was GNR weekend, and so I did my usual volunteer stint at Jesmond Dene – funnel managing this time. Jesmond Dene always smashes its attendance record on GNR weekend (due to lots of runners in town for the race taking the opportunity to bag their ‘J’ parkrun) and this year was no exception, with 547 over the line (more than Town Moor that weekend!). It can be absolute madness at the finish funnel but it’s my favourite parkrun of the year. Loved it as ever.
Town Moor #635
I took it fairly easy for the post-GNR parkrun (I always like to go to Town Moor the week after and be part of the big GNR t-shirts group photo!) but still did a nice consistent 25:26.
Rising Sun #347
21st September was the first weekend with a bit of a nip in the air, so out came the long sleeves and trail shoes for Rising Sun parkrun. I took it fairly steady and Geth kept up with me most of the way. Not quite a course PB but close, with 25:22.
Heaton Park #650
My sisters-in-law have recently moved to Greater Manchester, so on our first visit to their new place we scouted out their new local event (and took my sister-in-law along for her first parkrun!). It’s a very busy event and I made the mistake of starting a bit too far back, so it was really congested for the first stretch – but I managed 25:09, which I was pleased with given the hills on the course.
Town Moor #638
It was pacer week at Town Moor on the first weekend of October and I hadn’t done it for a while, so I signed up to pace 30 minutes and ended up pacing one gentleman to his first sub-30 following a serious injury. Bumped into him again at Yorkshire Marathon a couple of weeks later. Pacing is really rewarding when you can help somebody out! I was nearly bang on pace too, finishing in 29:56.
Jesmond Dene #180
I fancied another go at Jesmond Dene the week before the marathon, but kept it a little steadier as I didn’t want to go too hard that late in the training. Still a decent result with 26:27.
York #520
We’d intended to do our pre-Yorkshire Marathon shakeout at Heslington parkrun, but realised the night before that it was a bit further out of town than we’d thought. We ended up at York instead in an absolute downpour with about 800 other people (including our friends Jack and Ann from the Benchies)! Could barely see in front of us but we got the job done and I finished in a comfortable 29:59.
Town Moor #641
Took it a little steadier than some recent attempts for the post-marathon parkrun effort, but I still found a bit of pace and came in at 24:53.
Denton Dene #70
I started November off with a return visit to Denton Dene alongside some of the Benchies. Managed second lady this time round (I couldn’t have caught the lady who came first even if I were on top form!) with a nice consistent 24:05.
Jesmond Dene #184
Back in the Dene the following week, finally feeling fully recovered from the marathon, and managed my second fastest time round the course with a 26:03 – which is pretty good considering Geth and I are now doing parkrun sandwiches (running there and back) every week as part of training for our next big race!
No photo for this one.
Heaton Park #657
We visited my sisters-in-law again and returned to Heaton Park. I started a bit further up and knocked a few seconds off my course PB as a result, finishing in 24:49.
Fælledparken #613
I’d wanted to do a continental Christmas market trip for years, and this year we finally managed it, spending our 12th wedding anniversary weekend in Copenhagen! Ticking off a Danish parkrun was also a must and I’m glad I chose Fælledparken. It was covered in snow but the underfoot conditions were crunchy and not too slippy, and we had beautiful blue skies (unlike back home in the blizzard caused by Storm Bert!). We took it easier due to the snow, finishing in 29:35 – but it’d be a nice fast course in the summer as it’s really flat.
Town Moor #645
Finally, this last weekend we returned to Town Moor. We’d intended to do Rising Sun but found out the night before that it was off for a Christmas event. A nice easy-ish trip round the Moor instead following some long training days, finishing in 27:33.
Whew! What an epic – summer to winter. I won’t leave it that long again (I hope).
Finally, though, I want to pay a quick tribute to my Saucony Endorphin Speed 2 shoes, which you can see in most of the photos above. I have had these shoes for over two years and they have been my constant speed training companions, netting me more parkrun PBs than I can count. Sadly, however, they ran their 500th mile at Town Moor parkrun last Saturday, meaning it’s time for them to move onto a new life as driving shoes. I have laundered and relaced them accordingly, and to be honest am quite looking forward to wearing them in non-running life as they’re really funky-looking! I have got some Endorphin Speed 4s ready to take their place, so we’ll see how I get on with those.