parkrun #42

It’s nice to kick start Juneathon on parkrun day although I was not in the best condition thanks to a late night of drinking before, during and after the fantastic Iron and Wine gig at the Barbican. I was swaying with the rest of the homeward bound drunks on the Tube as another month of running and blogging started.

I had arranged to meet my friend Dan at Hanger Lange to drive us to Gunnersbury Park parkrun so The Son could challenge his Gunnersbury PB. The Son decided that staying in bed was a better option and I was silently agreeing with him but it was going to take more than a hangover to stop me clocking up another parkrun timed 5k.

We made a last minute decision to switch destinations so Dan could run Wormwood Scrubs parkrun for the first time. The Son has steadfastly refused to return after after wilting in the heat last year and I have been waiting for the ground to dry out as the course pretty much needs cross-country spikes through autumn and winter.

There is plenty of free car parking near the start & finish areas on a Saturday with the start line down towards the car park entrance and the finish line up at the far end of the car park. I was in no fit state to go for any type of decent time today, even with Dan trying to persuade me that running hard at the beginning would flush out my hangover.

The course is mostly on grass with some trail style pathways where the grass has been worn away by Scrubs users. We headed out for the first of two laps around the Scrubs and I was huffing & puffing my way round as Dan streaked off into the distance. The scenery is nice at the Scrubs and this week we passed some horse riders while also watching lots of kids baseball teams turning up for some sort of competition.

I finally made it through the finish funnel and we made out way to the nearby Thames Valley Harriers clubhouse for a hot chocolate and fantastic cake.

Running Dan parkrun result:

• parkrun time: 0:26:17
• Garmin time: 0:26:18
• Finish position: 39 / 52
• Gender position: 36 / 44
• Age category: SM35-39
• Age grade: 51.55 %