Other Dan suggested Black Park parkrun this week because:
- It’s close enough to allow us extra time in bed.
- It was pacer day and he was going to try and help a friend go sub-20.
- We’ve run here before and we like the course.
At 8am The Son casually mentioned that he would like to parkrun with me. I ran to the window to see if hell had frozen over but the world seemed to be spinning on its normal axis. I wondered if checking his temperature for signs of sickness might spook him so decided to take him at face value and nonchalantly reply that it would be nice to run with him again.
Next thing I knew we were both on our way to meet Other Dan and then onto Black Park. It wasn’t my best day for giving directions. Neither of us could remember the way so I whacked Black Park into Google Maps on my phone and we were promptly taken to Pinewood Studios. Close but no cigar. I also managed to direct us the wrong way on the way home *sigh*.
I ran near the back with The Son while Other Dan cracked on with his sub-20 attempt. It rained a bit but that didn’t bother me as I was busy chatting away to The Son. These are fleeting moments, when your teenage son is in a chatty mood and not looking cynically at the world, so I’ve learned to embrace them and enjoy our time together. Around 3km he decided to put on a burst of speed so I followed him until he realised that he isn’t parkrun fit and then we walked for a while before running through to the finish.
Other Dan and his friend didn’t hit their sub-20 goal. The conditions weren’t great (mud & rain) and the pacer went out a bit fast for the first km.
