Category: Running

Rickmansworth parkrun only started in March this year, but it is regularly attracting 300+ runners each week. Since I heard about it (I think at the parkrun volunteer celebration evening) it’s been on my list, and Dad quite fancied it too, so we had penciled in this Saturday as a date we could both do.

Although it’s in Hertfordshire, it’s around the M25 a bit (I don’t think I have ever been there before, I’ve just seen it on signs when I am coming back from Heathrow etc.). As it was on my way I would be picking up Dad, and we aimed for around an 8am pickup, as google thought it was 25-35 minutes away. It was raining slightly when I left, which I wasn’t expecting, but thankfully it stopped as I drove over.

The satnav on the course page took us right to the car park at the Rickmansworth Aquadrome, which is where the event takes place. We arrived at around 8.40am, and despite there being loads of runners, the (free) car park had plenty of space.

One of the lakes- from their facebook page

The meeting point was right next to the car park- very easy to find, and also handily next to a cafe and toilets. It was a bit chilly and we both regretted not waiting in the car for a bit longer.

The new runners briefing started at about ten to 9, and we had a very friendly welcome (as usual)- the lady asked where we were from, explained the course (two laps of the lakes basically, and through some woods), and then wished us well before talking to the first timers. What I particularly loved was that they mentioned this:

(From their facebook page). We didn’t use the cafe as we wanted to get back to see Mum, but lots of people did, and how fantastic that they raise money for charity.

We ended up chatting to two tourists from Longrun Meadows- we commented that it sounded like a lovely place, and it turned out to be in Devon. They asked us where Panshanger was, as they had family close by so tried to visit a different one each time they were up here. A lot of parkruns take the name of the town or city (St Albans, Rickmansworth, Tring) but then so many of them are more specific to the park or the area, so you have no idea where they are from without looking it up.

At around 5 to 9 we were lead to the start, which was a bit further back along the path. Everyone turned and faced the way we had come so we worked our way back a bit.

With 375 runners it did feel a bit congested at the start- we had started a little bit too far back and spent the first mile trying to overtake people as the paths widened. We ran a fairly comfortable pace because of this, and managed a good chat. Dad had been away on a cycling holiday in Croatia, Montenegro and somewhere else, so I enjoyed hearing about it. We also enjoyed the scenery- especially on the second lap when we didn’t have to be constantly looking for gaps between people. He’d said to me that if he felt good he quite fancied pushing it for the second lap. After a mile or so, it did feel less crowded and we picked up the pace a bit, but at the second mile I told him to go ahead if he fancied it as I didn’t think I could go much faster (I had 8 children off in my class on the Friday due to stomach bugs, and I had been up a bit in the night with stomach pains- all fine but I didn’t want to push it too hard).

I did nearly keep him in sight (it’s fairly twisty so often you couldn’t see that much further ahead), and I felt like I slowed towards the finish- I was steadily overtaking people during the run, but in the last little bit a few people overtook me. In fact when I looked on Strava it was a royal flush negative split- 9.45, 8.52, 8.49, 8.11.

I was dripping in sweat when I finished! It was turning into a fairly warm day, an despite it being overcast at the start, it was quite sunny.

I finished in position 158 with a time of 28.43, Dad had managed to finish 21 places ahead of me in 27.42. I double checked later but that was my 19th UK course too- nearly there!

We watched the runners come in thick and fast, and attempted a selfie in front of the cafe to commemorate the tourism.

The parkrun was really enjoyable- I liked running around the lake and through the woods, and because it was only two laps I didn’t get lapped at all. It is a busy one though, so if I was to revisit aiming for a pb I would start a bit further up if I could. It’s so hard to judge though.

The good thing about going to a lapped course for the first time of course, is that you get a “PR” and a second place on all the Strava segments!

After driving home, Mum made us pancakes with blueberries and mango- delicious, and a great start to the weekend.

There are still two Hertfordshire parkruns that we have not been to (Cassiobury and South Oxhey, both around the Watford area) so we need to visit them at some point. There’s another St Albans one starting around August too- the list keeps getting longer!

How many parkruns are local to you, or in your county? Have you visited all of the parkruns in your county? Do you tend to always do the same one or switch between ones that are close by?

I had read about the Wings for Life run a few years ago, when it was held at Silverstone. Last year and the year before I couldn’t make the date, but when I saw it advertised this year I was free for the weekend so decided to go for it.

If you are not familiar with it, I shall try to explain. The Wings for Life charity raises money for spinal cord injury research, and as the event is supported fully by company sponsors, all of the entry fee goes to the charity, which is a major bonus point.

The events happen all over the world (Australia, Florida, California, Chile, Dubai, Norway….), and start at the same time, so the UK one was to start at midday. Basically you start running, and half an hour after you begin, a catcher car starts driving. The car gradually increases in speed, and when it overtakes you, your chip records the final distance that you reached. The person who runs the furthest wins. There are then buses to take you back to the start area. (If you win your country, I think the prize is to do any of them next year, so there were a lot of previous year winners in Australia this year!).

They didn’t send out packs in the post, although they did send out a can of red bull (which annoyingly came the day before our holiday, did not fit through the letterbox, so when I got the note through the door I thought it would be our National Trust membership pack- I was very confused when I opened up a tube and found a can inside..)- not sure why they could not send out the numbers with the can of drink? Anyway, you had to collect your number on the day before 11am. I had originally looked at trains (the 8.30 one got in at 9.30, but the 9.30 one got in at 11.05..) but in the end Andy said he would come with me and drive, so if we could not find parking at least he could drop me off and then find somewhere. We ended up parking fairly centrally and walked to the start (a big park in the middle of Cambridge) at around 10.30.

There was a lot of conflicting information- some said you would need your registration and ID, whereas other info said you just needed your number. The numbers were emailed out, but also they had a large board in the park with all the numbers on it. Anyway, the queues were sorted out by number, although before that you had to queue up and sign a disclaimer (not sure why the sign up didn’t count as this?). Of course they told you not to use headphones, but also in the information they told you that if you had headphones you could keep up to date with where the car was.

I was in a bit of a grumpy mood I am afraid! I think the build up was strange as I wasn’t sure how far I would run, and then I didn’t know what to do about food- I ended up having breakfast at around 8.15am, and although I packed a small nakd bar to eat before the start I didn’t fancy it.

Also, I don’t normally need the toilet before a race (well I do, but I know it is just nerves, and I really hate port-a-loos, so I usually just distract myself and once I start running I am fine). The atmosphere here led me to really panic- it was meant to be “buzzing” and “lively” with a big screen showing the events around the world, but also a person live on a tannoy (which made it hard to focus on one or the other). The queue for the bag drop was huge, and even at 10.45 the guy on the tannoy was shouting about how huge the queue was, and how we had better hurry up, and how we needed to be in the start pens by 11.30, and that the time would go by in no time…. Andy decided to keep hold of my bag (even though he had his own rucksack as he had some work to do while I was running) because we thought that the queues would be equally as long when I finished (correct). I also really felt like I needed the toilet (grrr to the tannoy man). I’d seen some toilets at the corner of the park so we walked back there, but they had a huge queue too by this point. There was a hotel opposite and some guys headed there, but I wasn’t brave enough to be that cheeky. I was totally panicked at about 11.30 when I still had 2 people in front of me in the queue, but of course it was fine and I had loads of time in the pen.

David Coulthard was driving the catcher car, so he was on the start line, and I could hear the tannoy man announcing that he was taking a selfie with the crowd.

The race started at 12 exactly (they had to be co-ordinated as there is a global champion) and as I ran past the car I was a bit peeved that it was empty, only to realise too late that DC was stood on front of it, high fiving people as they ran past.

From their facebook page.

The first section of the race threaded through Cambridge centre, and it was very narrow so it was quite stop-start. Normally with a chip timed race this wouldn’t matter, but of course here if you crossed the line later you would be closer to the car. I was still feeling fairly grumpy at this point, although there were lots of crowds out in the centre of the city which made me decide to smile a bit and try to enjoy it.

As we ran out of Cambridge, it became more rural. Some of the route was on country roads, but it also went through little towns and that was great as there were a lot of people out watching and cheering. I like the races when local people are supportive of it, and it makes it more interesting when you are running too.

We kept passing km signs (which also had the miles- eg 6k, 3.7 miles. This didn’t help me, as I much prefer miles. Yes, the kilometres go by more quickly, but seeing that I was still on the same mile for the next sign made it drag a bit.

There was a pace calculator on the website- you could slide along the bar to show the distance, and it would tell you how long you had to run each distance (something like 35 mins for the first 5k, 62 mins for the first 10k)- I couldn’t remember the first few, and when it got to 12.30 and I realised that the car had only just left, my enthusiasm waned a little (told you I was feeling grumpy!). All I could remember was that I had 90 minutes to get to 15k. I’d looked at longer distances but the 20k was something like 1hr50, so I knew I would be overtaken well before then.

Motorbikes kept driving past, some with cameras on them, so you kept looking over your shoulder to see what was approaching. At one point we ran through an airbase, and although it was good to run by fields, there were no members of the public allowed so it felt fairly lonely. Lots of people were running in groups so I listened to the conversations going on- it seemed that a lot of people had run it last year and were aiming to beat their distance.

At around 12 or 13k, we were told that the car was around 800m behind us. I was surprised and decided that at least I had run a 10k so it wouldn’t matter if I didn’t get to the 15k point. However, the car took a long time to catch up. It was weird because some marshals were telling us time (e.g. the car is 10 minutes behind) and some distance. It’s hard to work out as they know the speed of the car, but they don’t know our speed I suppose.

I had a very dry mouth and I was hungry, so I decided to stop at the next refreshment station (which, by the way, also stocked Red Bull, and some people were actually drinking it in the race…)- I was going to have some water and a bit of orange, but I chose the wrong side, so I only got water- it was on a wide bit of the course and it seemed too much effort to cross the runners in the middle to get one bit of orange.

I’d passed the 14k point and thought that the car was right behind me, so I sort of gave up on the distance. However, one of the motorbikes pulled alongside and talked to me (the person on the back talked to me, it wasn’t a Knight Rider situation), saying that I could get to the 15k point if I pushed on. At that point a wave of people started running past me- as the car was getting closer people were speeding up for the end, so I joined with them. I got to the 15k sign, but the car didn’t go past. It felt weird as in my mind I was aiming for that sign as a sort of finish line, but of course the finish  line was constantly moving.  The faster you run, the longer the race takes to finish! As the car went past I tried to take a photo, but as you can see I was a bit slow!

My official finish was 15.17km. I don’t think you get a time but it was around 90 minutes.

Then it was time to find a bus stop. I had passed a couple, and every now and then you would pass a sign saying “nearest bus stop now ahead”. Now, I didn’t think I had seen one of those signs since the last bus stop, but there were so many signs (loads in the air base saying “stay on the route through airbase”, loads about drinks stations), so I wasn’t sure if I had just missed one. Everyone stopped after the car went past, and followed the route forwards. I ended up running fairly slowly, as I didn’t know how far it would be. Annoyingly a bit later I saw the sign saying “closest bus stop now ahead”- I should have trusted myself! I think I was right in the middle though so it wouldn’t have made much difference.

Lots of people were taking selfies next to the signs.

I ended up getting to here (17km) before I saw the next bus stop, so even though my race had finished earlier, I had still run over 10 miles. I was glad of my top then- they had recommended bringing something warm to wear when you finished, and even though I was super sweaty, I started to cool down as it was fairly windy.

There were loads of buses lined up and it was really efficient- as soon as one bus filled up, it drove off and they started loading people onto the next one. Bottles of water were available as you got onto the bus so I gladly took one and had a drink. By this point it was probably around 2pm, and of course the bus had to drive back to the centre of Cambridge. I looked on google maps and it thought it was around 25 minutes away, so I messaged Andy so he knew when to expect me.  The bus ride was rather stinky! Someone joked that they felt sorry for the next people who would use the bus!

Andy had offered to get a drink, and I was fairly warm when I finished so I said some kind of iced drink would be good- he met me at the finish area with an iced tea, but by then the wind had picked off and my sweaty clothes were making me really chilly. I had to queue up to get a finisher pack, but after that we didn’t hang around (I was wishing we had shared a hot drink instead!).

A quick photo and then off to find something to eat- we’d seen a Nando’s close to the car park (and they validated parking to make it cheaper) so we headed there. Once we had ordered I went to the toilets to wipe my face and change into the top from the finishers pack. I went for a beanie wrap and sweet potato wedges- the wedges were so good, and very much needed as it was probably gone 3pm before we had some food- that toast was a long time ago!

After walking back to the car and driving home, it was about 4.30 before I even got in the shower!

The finishers pack was OK- a weird magazine, Red Bull, bottle, beer token (which I would not have used, and as Andy was driving he couldn’t have it either), a technical top (in fetching yellow), a pretty pants medal and a Meridian peanut butter bar (which I should have eaten on our walk to Nando’s really). But as all of the entry fee went to charity, all of these bits were provided by sponsors so it isn’t too bad. I think it only cost £25, which compared to some races (e.g Brighton half at £37 for 2018) isn’t too bad either. Also, I will get some use out of the technical top, so that’s always a bonus.

All in all, I am glad I did it. I don’t think I would do it again as it felt more pressured than other races (for example when I did the Cakeathon the finish distance was up to you, but if you ran slowly you could still carry on). I think if I lived closer it would be more tempting, but the time made it a bit more awkward too. Pretty cool to see DC in the flesh, and be part of a global running event.

Have you ever run something like this before?  Would you be tempted by it? 

On Friday night, after having dinner at home, we drove down to Winchester (this took longer because it was hard to find out online if the M3 was closed- it was)- we’d booked a Premier Inn in the sale a while back- handily it was about 0.8 miles to the start of the parkrun, so that was my plan for the morning.

After Harrogate-gate (can you have a double gate?) I had checked and re-checked the map several times. The start was easier to find, as it was by a leisure centre, which in turn was close to the town centre.

I got there in plenty of time- I came across a couple of people setting out the markers, and then I had to walk through the car park (I saw lots of runners heading that way) to the actual start in the middle of a cricket field.

I loved their sign too- I have seen these at a few places (we just have a sign on a clipboard, although lots of people notice it).

I had time to wander around and look at the long finish funnel- the cones they use remind me of PE lessons at school, and Sports Day. I also chatted briefly to a first-timer who had decided to join up, and the tail runner who was reassuring all the new runners that they wouldn’t be left behind.

It was fairly chilly first thing (you could see your breath) but I took my long sleeved top off as I knew I would heat up as I started to run, and I wanted something warm to put on after. Andy was going to meet me in town so I messaged him and asked him to bring my raincoat as I thought I might want another layer.

The first timer briefing was great- the guy tried to explain the course (I had thought it was three laps, but it was more like two and a little bit repeated, although I read later on that it was a trial so maybe they were changing it a bit)- it sounded so complicated though as there are four fields that we would run around, doing hairpin bends to join the adjacent field, as well as running along by the river for a bit. Basically, the rule is “follow the person in front” as per usual.

At the start we were reminded to watch out for the “cricket things” (I have no idea what they are called either)- they had marshal standing by them as they are these huge white board things with legs sticking out on either side- you would not want to run into one of those.

I really enjoyed it. Even though it was busy (they broke their attendance record with 373 runners) apart from the first few metres it didn’t feel busy. The course was super flat, going around the edges of grassy fields- at a few points you had to watch your footing as there were roots growing out of the ground, and then you had a little bit on tarmac by the river.

There were some brilliant marshals, including one lady with pom-poms! I shall be stealing that idea and borrowing some from work for next time I am a marshal- it takes it to the next level.

Both feet off the ground!

They had a photographer out on course (all put on flicker) – he was at a few different places so managed to capture people at the start, at the mid way point and going for the finish.

I felt like I had gone fairly fast- I was overtaking people most of the way, but as I had started my watch at the hotel I wasn’t sure of the speed. I had to stop just short of the finish line as the queue was backing out onto the course.

It was still like that after I had scanned my token in- there were marshals and the RD trying to get people to move on, and they have posted on their facebook page that they are going to make the funnel longer for next week- they clearly weren’t expecting such a huge amount of people. I saw lots of people in the Southampton 10k and half t-shirts- I am sure there was a marathon too but I didn’t see any of those. Anyway, someone else commented that maybe it was the “marathon effect”- eg people see London on TV and decide to sign up to parkrun. It’s all good, whatever the reasons.

One marshal saw my orange top and asked me how I had found it. I really liked it. I think as it wasn’t straight laps- they were complicated- it added more interest. I also didn’t get lapped- I thought I would, but I think because you did 2 big laps and then one smaller one (or something) it meant I was past the finish line before the speedy ones came in.

It felt very Southern-English, with the cricket stuff going on, and a sort of village green feel. It was nice and flat, but varied scenery added to the interest.

Time for a quick photo before heading into town.

That was my 18th UK parkrun, and I managed to finish in 27.14- pretty quick for me.

Then, not my finest hour. I had messaged Andy and he was already in the Starbucks waiting to get breakfast. I looked at my phone, saw where the town was (I had passed the turning on my way to the park) and headed that way. It was all going fine, but I got to the main high street and could not see Starbucks. I could see a Pret, a Nerro, even a Costa, and I had started mumbling to myself about why wasn’t he in Pret. I got up maps on my phone, and tried to follow the dot, but whichever way I went I seemed to be getting further away. I messaged Andy to say I was lost, and then noticed that on the map the Starbucks was opposite Whittards- I had been stood outside Whittards as I messaged him. So I walked back down, and yes, Starbucks was pretty much right where I was when I messaged to say I was lost. Ooops.  parkrun tourism is making me work harder at using maps, but I am still not great!

We had a little wander around Winchester- it seemed a really nice place- nice and small but with some good little shops.

Then it was a quick walk back to the hotel for me to shower as we were then off to Southampton.

What are those cricket things called? Did you do any racing this weekend or last? Do you know people taking up running or joining up to parkruns?

This week I have eased back into my routine- I did a club run on Tuesday- we had a lovely run down to Stanborough lakes and back. It’s so good being lighter later as we can go off road more.

Yoga wasn’t on, and I had a course on Wednesday which meant a later start (9.30!)- I walked into town first thing to get a few bits, and after staring at a screen all day (how do people with office jobs manage?) we had a walk in the evening as my eyes just felt so weird.

On Thursday I decided to do some hill reps- there is a short but fairly steep hill along the old railway line- so I ran the mile there, then spent time running up and down the same section. The sky was blue when I left but turned black and then rained- I ran my fastest Strava segment on the way home as the rain wasn’t heavy but it looked like it could bucket it down any minute!

I mean, it doesn’t look at all steep here, but it is.

On Saturday some of our new runners were “graduating” at parkrun. I had offered to do the new runners briefing, and there ended up being loads of first timers, plus a few tourists (including one I chatted to who was from Brighton Hove Prom- it’s not often you know of a course that someone else has run as there are so many out there now).

No idea why but I had decided to start my Garmin in the car park- I think I was thinking that if I was doing the briefing at 8.55 it wouldn’t leave much time for it to find the satellite, and I didn’t want it to be beeping through the briefing. It was fairly cold but I knew I would warm up so left my jumper in my bag hanging on the fence by the finish area.

Anyway, after finding out where the tourists were from (Blackhill- they would enjoy our flat course/ Panshanger- very local but still good to try a new one), welcoming the new runners and explaining the course, I headed to the start and chatted to a few of our club runners. I’ve had a sore shoulder this week and when it has been bad, breathing hard has hurt as the pain is sort of in the back, so I wasn’t really expecting anything speedy.

I’d seen one of our club runners (Milena) a bit ahead of me, and we can usually run a similar speed, so I decided to try and catch up with her. She was on a total mission- arms pumping and long legs striding out and going for it, so it took me until the 3km point to catch her. A few of our club were marshals – one who had run Brighton a few weeks ago, and two running London on Sunday, so I’d called out to them on my way past (either have you recovered/ good luck tomorrow).

I’d noticed that as we had started it was exactly 9am on my watch, and as I was going down the runway towards the end the time was 9.24, so I did wonder if I was going fairly fast. I was also completely surrounded by men (apart from Milena who was just behind me at that point). But then I worked out that I had just gone past the 4km point, so that was around 6 min per km, which would equal a 30 min 5k, which to be honest felt wrong as I felt I was going faster. But I know I can’t trust my maths when I run anyway! I didn’t bother looking at my Garmin, even though with hindsight it shows the current average so I think it would have shown how fast I was going.

I was pushing hard for the final half km, and still managed to overtake a couple of people. With the finish line in sight (maybe 20 metres to go) I decided to go for it and went past another guy. I was place 51 but that is hard to work out if it’s good or bad- it seems high up the field (and it was still mainly men finishing) but who knows. (It turns out I was 6th lady which must be one of my highest placings, and 2nd in my age cat- all those speedy runners are probably running London and so having a rest today!).

I saw a few of the runners from the briefing at the end- the guy had come from Blackhill it turns out was down because he was running the London marathon on the Sunday. I think with regards to the course we are lucky- I’ve been to quite a few now and lots of them, while being perfectly nice, as still really city centre parks closely surrounded by roads and buildings. Both Ellenbrook and Panshanger are wilder and more like countryside running- really pretty scenery.

Back to my time- My Strava gave me a clue- the first mile was 10.40 but that included walking and doing the briefing, the others were 8.46, 8.34 and then 8.30 for the final 0.4. Strava also thought I did one mile in 8.15 which sounds ridiculously fast.

Anyway, after going to the post office, having a shower and having a breakfast of hot cross buns and tea, I got my text through- a new course pb! 26.33! It’s a good 30 seconds quicker than my previous Ellenbrook pb, and only 4 seconds behind my all time pb set at St Albans back in 2013 (26.29). This time of year must be good for my running- nice and cool, solid ground (no mud). I was so pleased!

I have recently realised I can sort my results by time, so I could see I have now managed three beginning with 26, but the other two were both at St Albans in 2013.  I’d been inching closer to a sub 27 minute 5k for a bit, but this totally smashed it!

In effect running without my Garmin was interesting because I think sometimes I can see a fast number and then worry that I can’t keep it up, whereas this one was honestly run on feel- I should trust myself. Or maybe it was luck as it has only happened once!

We had a lovely walk around Panshanger later on, admiring the bluebells. I just need two Saturdays in a week so I can parkrun at both places.

Later in the afternoon I had some work to catch up on, and also went through my blog emails- I found out that I had been chosen as one of the Vuelio top ten running blogs here– how lovely. A few blogs that I enjoy are also on the list (A Healthier Moo, The PhD Runner) and there are a few that I haven’t read but I always like to find new blogs to read so I’ll be checking the other ones out.

On Sunday I had an 8 mile out and back run and then watched a bit of the London marathon- I happened to be watching it as they were following a guy who was massively struggling to get to the finish- his legs had totally seized up and I really felt like the camera should cut away as he didn’t look good. Amazingly another runner wearing a Swansea Harriers vest stopped to help him (they were under the 3 hour finish time and so were all rocketing past him)- it was pretty emotional to watch. At first you could see the runner talking to him, pointing to the finish line and clearly telling him that he could do it. A marshal then came out and they draped his arms over their backs and helped him for the last few hundred metres- it just encapsulates how fantastic the running community is- I don’t think I would notice anyone in the last bit of a marathon, being so focused on just keeping the legs going and getting to the end, so the fact that this guy not only noticed him but stopped when he was so close himself to help someone else out was just fantastic. (BBC story here)

Which running blogs do you like to read? I much prefer blogs that are more in a personal diary form- ones with magazine style articles don’t tend to interest me as much.

What is your favourite volunteer role and which one have you benefited most from doing? I was so nervous before I did the first new runners briefing that my knees were actually shaking- I really hate public speaking. But doing a few of them has really helped (and I think going to other parkruns helps as you listen to the same briefing and realise that people just want to know about the course, no-one is being critical)- and probably this has helped my confidence when I have to do that sort of speaking at work too. I still don’t relish public speaking, but I don’t worry about the briefings any more which must be a good thing.

Did you watch any of the London marathon? (Or watch the Southampton/any other) Or were you running a marathon?  I did think that the guy who finished third in the men’s race looked pretty trashed by the end, whereas often they run so smoothly it looks fairly effortless. I had to rewind as by the time I had started watching the women’s race had finished- some impressive times recorded, and some great performances by Aly Dixon and Charlotte Purdue, although it was a shame that Jo Pavey didn’t finish. I still don’t think I would like to run London personally- the huge crowds really put me off, but it is an inspiring event to see on the TV.