For the last couple of years I have taken part in the New Year Day Double parkrun- the only day when you are allowed to run two parkruns. Two years ago I did the local double of Panshanger and Ellenbrook Fields, and last year we were in Nottingham so I did Gedling and Colwick (running between them which was further than I thought).
This year as I was home, it was back to the local double, and my dad and brother were going to do them both too. They were going to come back to mine for breakfast after, so we tried to work out the logistics of using only one car (parking at Panshanger gets busy quickly). In the end I decided I would run to Panshanger (4 miles) and meet them there- we’d then run together, drive (in Dad’s car) to Ellenbrook, run that, then pick up my mum and come back here. It all worked out!
Taking a photo whilst running before I realised that I was a bit tight for time!
I left slightly later than planned so had a bit of a panic jog near the end (after stopping to take photos of the llama).
The car park (where Panshanger starts) was rammed with people! I’d never seen it that busy before. Luckily as I’d been running down, I’d seen my dad across the road so I knew what colour top to look out for.
Panshanger was so busy and as we started a bit further back than usual it was a bit stop-start, but we were in no hurry. We ran around together, chatting, and it was very enjoyable. I also met loads of people from my running club who I’d not seen for a while as they tend to go to EF whereas I have been at Panshanger or Jersey Farm recently. At the end there was a queue before the finish line as the funnel was so backed up- the poor funnel managers were walking back and forth asking everyone to move up and keep touching the person in front. When I was given token 475 (32:55) I wondered if they would break their attendance record (500 and something)- looking at the results they smashed it with 681 people!
We walked back to the car and headed off- Dad has an electric car and the heated seats are amazing- they are warm straight away. I was feeling pretty chilly- I think I’d gotten all sweaty from my first run and then because the air was cold and damp I cooled down so quickly. Anyway, once parked at the uni, we nipped into one of the buildings to use the toilets, and then walked to the start.
The photographer took our photo on our way to the start, looking freezing!
Again, EF was super busy and they couldn’t start on time because people were still pouring down the runway. We split up for this run, with Dad heading off more quickly- again I saw runners from my club, and I caught my brother up towards the end.
There were 455 runners there- another record attendance! I finished in 29:14 which I was pretty pleased with seeing as that was around 10 miles run in total. As we walked back to the car Dad got some chocolate biscuits and water out of his bag – this was very much appreciated! We picked up my mum and then got home to baked French toast and lots of tea (for me) and coffee (for everyone else). By the time we got home it was around 11.45 am so it was more like lunch!
After my parents left I had a shower and then got ready as our niece and nephew were coming over for us to give them their presents. We got our niece a cooking apron with her name on it, so I had baked some gingerbread people so she could decorate them (you want to use your present straight away!).
After they left I had a bit of an energy crash- I was feeling OK up until that point but I think I had got really cold in the morning too. As it was too late for lunch by that point, I had a mince pie (Caffe Nero had been doing 2 for 1 and their vegan mince pies are so tasty- lots of filling and not much pastry) so I had one and watched Aladdin.
After all that fresh air in the morning I felt like I needed to lounge about in the afternoon! Anyway, a successful start to the year. I sent my dad a link to the clever new year double map thing (it shows you how many people went from each parkrun, here) so we might plan something different for 2021. 147 people did the same double as us- I thought it might be more. 101 went from Panshanger (undulating) to Westmill (hilly and two laps!)- which was a very brave start to the year!
Did you do a NYDD?