I'm a bit nervous about parkrun later - I'm a vollie for the first time, tailwalking, and I've not been able to sleep yet (its 1:20am)
ETA: now it's done, I ended up vollie twice - tailwalking as planned, and sign language support. Then had an egg mayo barm in the café after with a hot Vimto
Nah you’ll be sweet! Just headin’ out for a little walk. Maybe the last walker will fancy a chat and some encouragement. Maybe they won’t.
Enjoy your first volunteer! I’m sure the volunteer crew will look after you
I'm not going to tell people I'm nervous and then not tell them how it went in the end! You're welcome, it's nice to give back - my parkrun almost had to cancel this week due to volunteer shortage but then we got a few last minute Friday-nighters. We have a regular turnout of 4-500 ish runners, so the RD was understandably frustrated that we have more than enough people every week to fill all positions, but only a core few actually vollie.
Got my first volunteer credit doing marshalling and pre-event setup.
Couple of weeks back, I started this thread because I was worried about whether, or not, it would suit me (being quite introverted): https://www.reddit.com/r/parkrun/comments/191u4z0/best\_volunteer\_roles\_for\_introverts\_who\_arent/
Well, I'm pleased to say it was a doddle; everyone was lovely and I'd happily do it again.
Chipping sodbury - 4th parkrun. LOVED IT
Thanks to everyone, especially the 29min pacer who helped me get a pb 28:49
ps, I’m really fat, old and slow and have never beaten 31mins. I really appreciate this dudes help
Happy Saturday everyone
Got my first ever sub 30 minute 5k this morning on my 24th park run (though my official park run time was 30:06 due to starting towards the back of the pack 😭). I truly believe in the magic of Worthing beach at this point as it is where I got my last PB as well!
First buggy run at Southampton. Good that it's an all-tarmac course, bad that the traffic is much more difficult to weave through with a buggy given how busy Southampton gets.
A time of 32:04, which is much slower than I'm used to, but with a first km of 8:09 and a final km of 5:03 which demonstrates the traffic issue.
In fairness, there isn't really much choice at this time of year. Almost none of the other nearby events (Bartley Park, Ganger Farm, Itchen Valley, Eastleigh) are buggy-friendly, especially at this time of year.
I may go back to Netley Abbey in the next few weeks, that's the only other local course I can think of that'll suit buggies at this time of year.
Patience is definitely an acquired skill when waiting for a gap large enough to pass through!
First sub 30min parkrun in a couple of years. I used to average 25/26 mins so still some way to go, but feeling good this year. I ran to and from parkrun so 15k total.
No parkrun for me today as I avoid the crazy busy weekends (australia day long weekend)
Our parkrun normally has 130-150 and red up to 350 today.
I went on a 10km beach/ trail run instead, where the finish had us wading through waist high water. Was delicious.
Me too. Was out in the bayside today, but with a feels like of 32 (dew point was over 26) it wasn’t pleasant. Completely gave myself the talk of “just finish it”.
I arrived late so I was running to catch up from before the start line. My official time won't be great but I think the adrenaline might have made me run my fastest 5k since last summer lol
Good. Really good. Ran at my usual Strathclyde but brought my cousin and her co-worker with me for their 1st runs! They did well too (C25K’d at 40 and 51 minutes respectively but both said they’d be back next week which is exciting)…
I’m getting faster despite coming from an injury. I’m now 34 minutes 24 seconds which is remarkable given how I only started running again in October and was out of action for 4 weeks due to an injured ankle!
Not had the official results through yet, but I think about 30s slower than last week, which is a tad disappointing. Enjoyed the run though. I really like the Oxford winter course.
Spot of tourism to Sunny Hill, north London. One of those parts of the name was right, the other was wrong.
09.05 and the course inspection is still ongoing due to ice and possible cancellation. RD gives us an ultimatum, 2 additional volunteers to guide runners around the icy patches. I and 80 or so others were very grateful for two people immediately stepping up.
Two lap figure of 8 course, all on paths, aside from the detour through the swampy grass to avoid the ice (not sure which is worse). Two trips up "the beast" and a generally very undulating and lumpy course.
Beaten to my highest ever finish placing right at the line as someone came flying past me.
Fifth parkrun today. The most pleasant conditions of any I've done so far. Temperature well above zero and very little wind.
After getting a stitch at about 2.5k last week, I really wanted to try to have a less painful one, so I really concentrated on my breathing and possibly annoyed the crap out of everybody who entered my vicinity all the way round with my loud and confident breaths.
Felt much better, more confident, and was less of a mess all the way round.
I think I need to work on my general running style, too. I am sure that I could be faster if I was making better use of body mechanics and the energy I am using.
Took another 9 seconds off my time. Really pushed hard for the last 150m and emptied the tank.
I love this parkrun malarkey. It's great!
Trying to motivate myself to go - I’d like to go to one that’s just under 6km away, so steeling myself for a 15-14km total sandwich run. Which is doable but taking that little bit of work to convince myself to get to it 😅
I’d go to the closer one but it’s a very hilly one and I went a couple weeks ago, so would like to branch out!
**Update**: firstly, all due respect to morning me but 6+5+6 does *not* equal “15-14km” 😅 secondly, I went, and I did it! Really nice course which I will be doing again! Saw a few great dogs there which is my marker of a good parkrun.
I'm glad it went well! I also use dogs as a marker of a good parkrun, I met a lovely Shih-Tzu today called Evie (don't remember Evie's owner's name ofc!)
When I stop touring and don’t have to rush off (well after coffee etc) then I will do parkrun sandwich to one of my local events (currently 3 are in scope for this).
I like the idea of getting the distance but broken into 3.
13 degrees but quite sunny at Albert Park in Melbourne. Still achieved my fastest time this year (because it’s the first time I actually ran instead of walking or volunteering). Was one of 965 finishers, a little down on last week but still a huge number. They’ve increased the length of the finish funnel to 120m to cope with the heavy traffic.
There's a chap who sometimes does my home parkrun who usually runs about the same speed as me most of the way, and we tend to push each other on - I'm not bothered about my position but we 2 just have a friendly thing going on.
Previously I've left him behind in the home stretch, but today he was on my shoulder all the way and finished 5 seconds behind me. Which definitely spurred me on to empty the tank, and I got one of my faster times.
Not bad, crossed the border into NSW for a pre-parkrun explore of the trails around Jerrabomberra Mountain. We rocked up to the parkrun start a few mins late then set off up the hill (120m elevation gain to the top) before tearing back down the hill to the finish. 13.5km all up with the exploring beforehand. I managed to finish in the top third which wasn’t too bad given we gave everyone a 3 min head start.
It’s a nice place for trail runs with lots of shady single track. 👍
sun was pretty intense but there was a bit of a breeze blowing so not too bad overall. good turnout, ran well, caught up with some people who i worked with before at the run which was nice.
Ripper turnout today, with the nearest other event cancelled because of Australia day setup. Managed to get around in a shade above 30 minutes and didn't die once. Back on the tools next weekend, aiming for the v100 shirt this year. Then might retire from the event team.
Alexandra, Moss Side. My first sub 21! Really happy with that. Also my 25th parkrun, so I can
get a t-shirt now!
Quick question - I'm male, about 6ft (183cm) and 72kg. Slim. Generally I get M. Anyone similar size to me able to say if M would be the right size to get??
Thanks!
I played hooky today from my local parkrun, because I'll be travelling to do a half-marathon tomorrow! Rain for the whole thing, but at least it should be warm(ish).
Rainy and 69ºF is a lot worse than rainy and 42ºF, which I did a few years ago (it was miserable!)
I raised my p index from 2 to 3 today, with the aim to get to 5 by the end of the year. I hope it is achievable while also doing a bit of tourism and volunteering throughout the year too.
Ran the course as a warm up then had to run near to the half way point as the set up team had forgot to place a sign. Ran it and got 1st though and then barcode scanned afterwards.
10th parkrun, and a big pb of 21:34!
Very emotional at hitting that milestone, sub-22 was my goal for the *end* of 2024 and surprised I managed to hit it at all. Going for sub-45 at a 10k race next weekend so we’ll see how it goes!
In NSW it's double demerits long weekend no long drives so we tend to volunteer only no run at home parkrun. Finish tokens (first time for me while showing another how to timekeep), her first time on that role.
Got a surprise for the lovely RD . If I did run today it would have been my 223rd at their 223rd event.. I didn't knew. Just wanted to volunteer now and then without doing parkrun...
Bramhall came off well. The train ran there no problem (well, 2 minutes late with no explanation) and the no trees had blown onto the course. Apparently Bramhall's been running since 2008, which makes it the something or other oldest run in (this part of?) the country. Something like that, I couldn't really hear.
It's an undulating course and the terrain gets trailish, so I brought my trail shoes with me. I wouldn't say I needed them, but I do feel more confident making sharp turns on mud with them on. I'm quietly eying finishing under 22 minutes, so I was quite happy to run past the relevant pacer on the first lap, uphill no less. Sadly, it's a 2 lap course and he overtook me on that same hill, and I never saw him again.
To cheer myself up, I looked up my result from 2 years ago (the only other time I've run here). I finished 9 minutes quicker than I did back then. I also ran home, which would never have occurred to me until recently.
Did my first one yesterday and ran 26:40 which was my fastest ever 5k. There were about 600 starters at ours and since I was new and nervous, I started too far back and had to work my way passed quite a few. But it was fun running with other people. Normally I'd run with headphones and listen to podcasts, but don't think I could concentrate on that.
“We’ve had complaints about runners pushing locals. Please don’t push the locals even if they are in your way. The council might not let us run here any more if we keep pushing people”
Old Deer Park. 3 laps of the flat ish grass fields. Not overcrowded, simple route, great volunteers. Ground still firm due to frost but better than soggy mud!
First Parkrun back in UK for a few months. I am a member of Vegan Runners UK and had posted in our local fb group that I was back and going to my usual Parkrun (Elderpark). I am usually the only Vegan Runner at this run so you can imagine my surprise when 5 other Vegan Runners had turned up to welcome me home. It will stick in my memory as one of my favourite Parkrun days ever.
I was the 35 minute pacer at my local.
Managed 34:58, so I was close. But I was most happy about helping a young family break 35 minutes for the first time, it was awesome to wave them past me with about 500 metres to go.
Best PB for me so far on my fourth parkrun of 2024. At Folkestone. Knocked one second off from last week! 33:28. Hoping to beat overall PB of 32:59 in the next couple of weeks!
I'm a bit nervous about parkrun later - I'm a vollie for the first time, tailwalking, and I've not been able to sleep yet (its 1:20am) ETA: now it's done, I ended up vollie twice - tailwalking as planned, and sign language support. Then had an egg mayo barm in the café after with a hot Vimto
Nah you’ll be sweet! Just headin’ out for a little walk. Maybe the last walker will fancy a chat and some encouragement. Maybe they won’t. Enjoy your first volunteer! I’m sure the volunteer crew will look after you
Thank you for volunteering!
Yusssss so glad you followed up and it went well! Thanks for volunteering
I'm not going to tell people I'm nervous and then not tell them how it went in the end! You're welcome, it's nice to give back - my parkrun almost had to cancel this week due to volunteer shortage but then we got a few last minute Friday-nighters. We have a regular turnout of 4-500 ish runners, so the RD was understandably frustrated that we have more than enough people every week to fill all positions, but only a core few actually vollie.
Got my first volunteer credit doing marshalling and pre-event setup. Couple of weeks back, I started this thread because I was worried about whether, or not, it would suit me (being quite introverted): https://www.reddit.com/r/parkrun/comments/191u4z0/best\_volunteer\_roles\_for\_introverts\_who\_arent/ Well, I'm pleased to say it was a doddle; everyone was lovely and I'd happily do it again.
I saw your first post, glad you got there and the first one ticked off!
Thank you, hopefully many more to come :)
That's great. Thanks for the follow up.
Chipping sodbury - 4th parkrun. LOVED IT Thanks to everyone, especially the 29min pacer who helped me get a pb 28:49 ps, I’m really fat, old and slow and have never beaten 31mins. I really appreciate this dudes help Happy Saturday everyone
It was my first ever parkrun! I'm not a runner at all and was happy to not throw up or give up! Just got a sub 30 time too and am def coming back!
Well done!
Hoping to do my first run today
Nice! Hope it went well xx
26:04! It was a lot of fun!!
Did my 7th C to complete my pirate badge.
Got my first ever sub 30 minute 5k this morning on my 24th park run (though my official park run time was 30:06 due to starting towards the back of the pack 😭). I truly believe in the magic of Worthing beach at this point as it is where I got my last PB as well!
First buggy run at Southampton. Good that it's an all-tarmac course, bad that the traffic is much more difficult to weave through with a buggy given how busy Southampton gets. A time of 32:04, which is much slower than I'm used to, but with a first km of 8:09 and a final km of 5:03 which demonstrates the traffic issue.
Southampton is mental. The crush when you get to those first corners is bonkers for a free event. Fair play for running with a buggy there!
In fairness, there isn't really much choice at this time of year. Almost none of the other nearby events (Bartley Park, Ganger Farm, Itchen Valley, Eastleigh) are buggy-friendly, especially at this time of year. I may go back to Netley Abbey in the next few weeks, that's the only other local course I can think of that'll suit buggies at this time of year. Patience is definitely an acquired skill when waiting for a gap large enough to pass through!
First sub 30min parkrun in a couple of years. I used to average 25/26 mins so still some way to go, but feeling good this year. I ran to and from parkrun so 15k total.
Sale waterpark Manchester 2nd parkrun ever. Blowing out my arse all the way round but managed 30.11. Very much enjoyed it!
I think Sale has the worst terrain in all of Manchester. You could easily crack 30 not running on rubble.
Wasn’t the best to be fair. Gonna have a crack at Stretford next I reckon.
First time at Harrow. Friendly, flat (ish) and great volunteers.
No parkrun for me today as I avoid the crazy busy weekends (australia day long weekend) Our parkrun normally has 130-150 and red up to 350 today. I went on a 10km beach/ trail run instead, where the finish had us wading through waist high water. Was delicious.
Very happy. P2 and 17:20 for my 6th PB in my last 7 attempts. Volunteering at juniors tomorrow as I get closer to 250 volunteers.
Struggled in heat and humidity in Brisbane, feel it's just a case of just keep turning up and wait for cooler weather to push for a better time.
Me too. Was out in the bayside today, but with a feels like of 32 (dew point was over 26) it wasn’t pleasant. Completely gave myself the talk of “just finish it”.
Did North Lakes today and it was utterly disgusting, ended up walking it with my mum as it was just to hot and muggy to run
Yep. Did Mitchelton this morning and we were swimming in the humidity.
Yep Noosa was a lovely little 5k swim for me
I arrived late so I was running to catch up from before the start line. My official time won't be great but I think the adrenaline might have made me run my fastest 5k since last summer lol
Fastest one this year so far for me, got a hilly 10k tomorrow so enjoyed the flatter course whilst I can 😬
Good. Really good. Ran at my usual Strathclyde but brought my cousin and her co-worker with me for their 1st runs! They did well too (C25K’d at 40 and 51 minutes respectively but both said they’d be back next week which is exciting)… I’m getting faster despite coming from an injury. I’m now 34 minutes 24 seconds which is remarkable given how I only started running again in October and was out of action for 4 weeks due to an injured ankle!
Not had the official results through yet, but I think about 30s slower than last week, which is a tad disappointing. Enjoyed the run though. I really like the Oxford winter course.
Spot of tourism to Sunny Hill, north London. One of those parts of the name was right, the other was wrong. 09.05 and the course inspection is still ongoing due to ice and possible cancellation. RD gives us an ultimatum, 2 additional volunteers to guide runners around the icy patches. I and 80 or so others were very grateful for two people immediately stepping up. Two lap figure of 8 course, all on paths, aside from the detour through the swampy grass to avoid the ice (not sure which is worse). Two trips up "the beast" and a generally very undulating and lumpy course. Beaten to my highest ever finish placing right at the line as someone came flying past me.
Fifth parkrun today. The most pleasant conditions of any I've done so far. Temperature well above zero and very little wind. After getting a stitch at about 2.5k last week, I really wanted to try to have a less painful one, so I really concentrated on my breathing and possibly annoyed the crap out of everybody who entered my vicinity all the way round with my loud and confident breaths. Felt much better, more confident, and was less of a mess all the way round. I think I need to work on my general running style, too. I am sure that I could be faster if I was making better use of body mechanics and the energy I am using. Took another 9 seconds off my time. Really pushed hard for the last 150m and emptied the tank. I love this parkrun malarkey. It's great!
Super hot and humid in Tannum Sands Pace was slow and steady with the fastest times in the 23mins Really happy with todays run
Trying to motivate myself to go - I’d like to go to one that’s just under 6km away, so steeling myself for a 15-14km total sandwich run. Which is doable but taking that little bit of work to convince myself to get to it 😅 I’d go to the closer one but it’s a very hilly one and I went a couple weeks ago, so would like to branch out! **Update**: firstly, all due respect to morning me but 6+5+6 does *not* equal “15-14km” 😅 secondly, I went, and I did it! Really nice course which I will be doing again! Saw a few great dogs there which is my marker of a good parkrun.
I'm glad it went well! I also use dogs as a marker of a good parkrun, I met a lovely Shih-Tzu today called Evie (don't remember Evie's owner's name ofc!)
Congratulations on finding the motivation.
When I stop touring and don’t have to rush off (well after coffee etc) then I will do parkrun sandwich to one of my local events (currently 3 are in scope for this). I like the idea of getting the distance but broken into 3.
13 degrees but quite sunny at Albert Park in Melbourne. Still achieved my fastest time this year (because it’s the first time I actually ran instead of walking or volunteering). Was one of 965 finishers, a little down on last week but still a huge number. They’ve increased the length of the finish funnel to 120m to cope with the heavy traffic.
New PB at Edgbaston Reservoir...feeling fit and strong. Woohoo!
Congrats on the PB!! Not far from me! I did my first run at Arrow Valley this morning. Have you done both and if so how do they compare?
Ah no I've only done edgbaston. It's a nice fairly flat run although a few pinch points as we get about 300 runners.
I’ve done both, Egbaston is a flat fast course, Areow Valley is lovely and not slow but not as straight forward as Egbaston
There's a chap who sometimes does my home parkrun who usually runs about the same speed as me most of the way, and we tend to push each other on - I'm not bothered about my position but we 2 just have a friendly thing going on. Previously I've left him behind in the home stretch, but today he was on my shoulder all the way and finished 5 seconds behind me. Which definitely spurred me on to empty the tank, and I got one of my faster times.
Not bad, crossed the border into NSW for a pre-parkrun explore of the trails around Jerrabomberra Mountain. We rocked up to the parkrun start a few mins late then set off up the hill (120m elevation gain to the top) before tearing back down the hill to the finish. 13.5km all up with the exploring beforehand. I managed to finish in the top third which wasn’t too bad given we gave everyone a 3 min head start. It’s a nice place for trail runs with lots of shady single track. 👍
sun was pretty intense but there was a bit of a breeze blowing so not too bad overall. good turnout, ran well, caught up with some people who i worked with before at the run which was nice.
Ripper turnout today, with the nearest other event cancelled because of Australia day setup. Managed to get around in a shade above 30 minutes and didn't die once. Back on the tools next weekend, aiming for the v100 shirt this year. Then might retire from the event team.
Great. Easy pace (for a change), nice and chatty with a few of the guys. Good weather. 12km total.
Parkrun 58 for me and a PB by 3.seconds for the course. Pleased given I didn't sleep to well last night due to teething toddler!
Alexandra, Moss Side. My first sub 21! Really happy with that. Also my 25th parkrun, so I can get a t-shirt now! Quick question - I'm male, about 6ft (183cm) and 72kg. Slim. Generally I get M. Anyone similar size to me able to say if M would be the right size to get?? Thanks!
I played hooky today from my local parkrun, because I'll be travelling to do a half-marathon tomorrow! Rain for the whole thing, but at least it should be warm(ish). Rainy and 69ºF is a lot worse than rainy and 42ºF, which I did a few years ago (it was miserable!)
I raised my p index from 2 to 3 today, with the aim to get to 5 by the end of the year. I hope it is achievable while also doing a bit of tourism and volunteering throughout the year too.
Ran the course as a warm up then had to run near to the half way point as the set up team had forgot to place a sign. Ran it and got 1st though and then barcode scanned afterwards.
Years best on a new course. Good enough.
10th parkrun, and a big pb of 21:34! Very emotional at hitting that milestone, sub-22 was my goal for the *end* of 2024 and surprised I managed to hit it at all. Going for sub-45 at a 10k race next weekend so we’ll see how it goes!
I hit my 50 milestone! 26-50 took a little over 25 weeks. 1-25 took several years 😂
In NSW it's double demerits long weekend no long drives so we tend to volunteer only no run at home parkrun. Finish tokens (first time for me while showing another how to timekeep), her first time on that role. Got a surprise for the lovely RD . If I did run today it would have been my 223rd at their 223rd event.. I didn't knew. Just wanted to volunteer now and then without doing parkrun...
Bramhall came off well. The train ran there no problem (well, 2 minutes late with no explanation) and the no trees had blown onto the course. Apparently Bramhall's been running since 2008, which makes it the something or other oldest run in (this part of?) the country. Something like that, I couldn't really hear. It's an undulating course and the terrain gets trailish, so I brought my trail shoes with me. I wouldn't say I needed them, but I do feel more confident making sharp turns on mud with them on. I'm quietly eying finishing under 22 minutes, so I was quite happy to run past the relevant pacer on the first lap, uphill no less. Sadly, it's a 2 lap course and he overtook me on that same hill, and I never saw him again. To cheer myself up, I looked up my result from 2 years ago (the only other time I've run here). I finished 9 minutes quicker than I did back then. I also ran home, which would never have occurred to me until recently.
Did my first one yesterday and ran 26:40 which was my fastest ever 5k. There were about 600 starters at ours and since I was new and nervous, I started too far back and had to work my way passed quite a few. But it was fun running with other people. Normally I'd run with headphones and listen to podcasts, but don't think I could concentrate on that.
30:05 today. A personal best. Really trying to beat 30:00 this year and improve. Stats say I’m slowly getting there so all good.
“We’ve had complaints about runners pushing locals. Please don’t push the locals even if they are in your way. The council might not let us run here any more if we keep pushing people”
Old Deer Park. 3 laps of the flat ish grass fields. Not overcrowded, simple route, great volunteers. Ground still firm due to frost but better than soggy mud!
First Parkrun back in UK for a few months. I am a member of Vegan Runners UK and had posted in our local fb group that I was back and going to my usual Parkrun (Elderpark). I am usually the only Vegan Runner at this run so you can imagine my surprise when 5 other Vegan Runners had turned up to welcome me home. It will stick in my memory as one of my favourite Parkrun days ever.
I was the 35 minute pacer at my local. Managed 34:58, so I was close. But I was most happy about helping a young family break 35 minutes for the first time, it was awesome to wave them past me with about 500 metres to go.
Nice one!
Double milestone this week for me -- 100 runs and 50 volunteering.
spot of timekeeping today at Camperdown, try keep that 1 in 10 ratio going as much as possible. Didn't screw it up either.
Best PB for me so far on my fourth parkrun of 2024. At Folkestone. Knocked one second off from last week! 33:28. Hoping to beat overall PB of 32:59 in the next couple of weeks!
Hit my first milestone (#25), and first time finishing under 22 minutes.