We ventured further afield today to attend the inaugural Walthamstow parkrun. A 30 minute drive around the North Circular lead me to the wrong site (lesson learnt – do not just rely on you satnav!) and after a quick loop of the surrounding roads we found the correct entrance to the Peter May Sports Ground. Unfortunately I then misjudged the turning and did not leave enough space to make it through into the entrance road without stopping before I hit a small wall. The call immediately behind was not too impressed and neither was the car behind that who then squeezed through so I could then reverse back and make the space. Not my best driving.
There is plenty of parking at the sports centre although I suspect things might get a bit tight if there are football matches going on at the same time. The parkrun course consists of 3 laps around the surrounding sports field, which I have to admit did not appeal to me at first glance. However, the route offers a few deceptive surprises that make the course a lot more interesting. The first is an uphill slope just after the start that feels a lot steeper than it looks, especially on the second and third passes, and strangely does not seem to give back with a downhill section of the same incline on the opposite side. I know it must but it certainly does not feel like it.
The second is a berm that saps your legs with a short sharp incline up and then down to a small loop close to the car park. Conditions underfoot today were extremely wet and muddy and I made the rookie mistake of not taking my trail shoes with me. My XC spikes would have been a lot more useful as I slipped along parts of the muddier sections and they certainly would have been suitable. Nearly all the course is on grass with only a tiny concrete section as you cross the corner of the car park.
There were plenty of parkrun tourists running today, which is always the case at an inaugural event, but it looks like Walthamstow has a nice little parkrun course and site. The Son joined me for parkrun this week and it was the first time that he took on the 5k by himself. He insisted that he would be able to run without me so I went off by myself and left him to it. I was able to keep bit of an eye on him thanks to the layout of the course and it was good to see him giving it a good go this week.
Running Dan parkrun result:
- parkrun time: 0:24:03
- Garmin time: 0:24:02
- Finish position: 19 / 63
- Gender position: 19 / 43
- Age category: SM35-39
- Age grade: 56.34 %
The Son parkrun result:
- parkrun time: 0:32:22
- Garmin time: not taken
- Finish position: 50 / 63
- Gender position: 39 / 43
- Age category: JM14
- Age grade: 47.27 %
Janathon 2013:
- Exercise completed today: running
- Distance run today: 3.05 miles
- Distance run so far: 115.88 miles
- Weight change so far: -1kg
