parkrun #63

One hour rule, late start, narrow lanes with bridges to be conquered, you spin me right round and the messy bacon roll.

I now have my very own parkrun rule for attending inaugural events: if I can drive there in 60 minutes or less then it’s fair game for me to attend. The Son now also has his own rule as well: if any parkrun means getting up earlier than normal on a Saturday then he hereby reserves the right to stay in bed.

This week I was up early to pick-up Other Dan and his partner from the Polish War Memorial before making the less than an hour drive to the Aylesbury parkrun. We arrived with plenty of time to spare but the teeny-weeny car park was already full but thankfully there is plenty of free street parking nearby.

The normal tourists were present & correct plus a lot of local runners and local(ish) running clubs. Everyone milled around the finish area while an early run briefing was being held for all those new to parkrun before the crowd was led down to the start line. This took a while as the pathway narrowed and the runners backed up, which meant that the run didn’t start on time but that’s all part of the parkrun experience.

The route is an out-and-loop-and-back-a-bit that looks a bit like a tadpole on my Garmin map. It also looks something that also looks like a tadpole and swims around a bit as well. Something a bit more personal… time to move on methinks.

I had a great run as I can start to feel my fitness improving and the speed returning to me legs. It’s been a tough few months coming back from injury and trying to match previous runs when the head is willing but the body isn’t.

The event director was so enthusiastic and I loved her approach to the day as she cheered every last runner home. This is a nice course with a great core team in place.

After the run we sauntered over to the nearby playground with me and Other Dan had dopey grins on our faces as we spun each other round on a piece of equipment. I have no idea what this thing is called but it involves two people hanging on to a bar above their heads and a central beam spins both people round. It’s great run as one side is higher than the other so you go flying around in the air. I think we giggled like little kids the entire time.

No café available here but they had a temporary drinks / burger style fan in the car park so we finished off parkrun morning by munch on a bacon roll each. We did warn Other Dan that the sauce leaks everywhere but he just wouldn’t listen. Mr Sauce-on-Shorts for the drive home.