Discussion
Chipping Sodbury for me again this morning and a cheeky post-run coffee with my parkrun pal from this parish, LastPoster.
Steady unspectacular run but ended in 30:22, well behind my faster friend. Delighted to receive a text saying my actual time was 30:10 but that delight turned to despair a few minutes later when a second text confirmed my watch time was indeed correct. Sodbury's 500th parkrun coming up in five weeks time, will try to ensure I'm there for that one - it's the first parkrun I ever did and even now, almost 50% of my parkruns have been there.
Steady unspectacular run but ended in 30:22, well behind my faster friend. Delighted to receive a text saying my actual time was 30:10 but that delight turned to despair a few minutes later when a second text confirmed my watch time was indeed correct. Sodbury's 500th parkrun coming up in five weeks time, will try to ensure I'm there for that one - it's the first parkrun I ever did and even now, almost 50% of my parkruns have been there.
Since it was pacer week and odd minutes, I knew I wasn t up for trying to hang on to the 23 min one (I don t think they actually got a volunteer in the end) so opted to go with 25 mins and see if I could get a bit in front on the last lap.
Far too busy chatting to Glovermart, so started a bit far back and it took all of the first lap to catch him up. The guy did a great job gently encouraging a few kids and lambasting the adults to go faster. Just managed to get in front on the final lap and pleased to find he was actually going a bit quick so ended up on 24.31. Nowhere near my PB but a good return to trying to go faster as recently I have been focusing on distance.
Far too busy chatting to Glovermart, so started a bit far back and it took all of the first lap to catch him up. The guy did a great job gently encouraging a few kids and lambasting the adults to go faster. Just managed to get in front on the final lap and pleased to find he was actually going a bit quick so ended up on 24.31. Nowhere near my PB but a good return to trying to go faster as recently I have been focusing on distance.
Alex@POD said:
We use our tourism to chase lists, we went to Zuiderpark because we were pretty much driving past in the way back from Germany for example. If I have a choice of hotels at my destination, I might choose one close to a specific parkrun. We also fancy a night away for our wedding anniversary, we're thinking of visiting Durham as it's nice and we can bag a J while we're there and complete the alphabet.
I agree that going to a far away parkrun specifically for the parkrun is strange (amongst other things), but for us it helps us discover different places as we travel around.
Same here, except don't really chase lists, just tend try to visit ones we've not been to before, so when away on holiday we'll try to end up near a parkrun on a Saturday morning. We get people who will get an overnight Flix bus to get to us and then get a bus home in the afternoon, with only a few hours in the country. Seems bizarre to me. I agree that going to a far away parkrun specifically for the parkrun is strange (amongst other things), but for us it helps us discover different places as we travel around.
Mind you we are driving to Germany for Friday so maybe we're just as bad
Bournemouth parkrun was paced today, the last paced event of 2025 here.
I was also unusually organised, so had a bit of time to spare, which allowed a relaxed warm up 1 mile up the hill to King's Park.
One of the bonuses of having time to spare is being able to save the warm-up as a separate activity, and time to set my Garmin watch 'Virtual Partner' target time for the "main event."
Taking advantage of both a 23 minute pacer, and a Virtual Partner set for a 23 minute 5k seems to have done the trick. I didn't quite keep up with pacer, nor my target time, but I managed to set a new course PB for Bournemouth parkrun. 00:23:21 in the end, 16 seconds quicker than my last PB from two weeks ago. My previous PB had stood at 00:23:39 since 24th May 2025.
May was my last "rich vein of form", as far as PBs go. Hopefully I've still got some improvements to take advantage of this year. My wife has booked a hairdresser's appointment in Ringwood soon, so that'll mean a trip to Moors Valley parkrun one Saturday. I'm excited at that prospect, because my one previous attempt there was my fastest parkrun up to that date. With the improvement I've seen at Bournemouth, I'm hopeful I can get under 23 minutes at MV.
I'm happy with my progress, but today was about more than just running. A friend who also moved from Farnborough to Bournemouth was there, and while he (and his little dog) passed me at about 3.5km, I managed to catch him up in the last 500 metres, and finished ahead of him. Then, over Macmillan Cancer Care cake (it was their Coffee Morning parkrun takeover) I got to catch up with loads of regulars.
Happy days, really. And I'm still enjoying my running, it's a far distant, fading memory of the last time it felt like a chore...
I was also unusually organised, so had a bit of time to spare, which allowed a relaxed warm up 1 mile up the hill to King's Park.
One of the bonuses of having time to spare is being able to save the warm-up as a separate activity, and time to set my Garmin watch 'Virtual Partner' target time for the "main event."
Taking advantage of both a 23 minute pacer, and a Virtual Partner set for a 23 minute 5k seems to have done the trick. I didn't quite keep up with pacer, nor my target time, but I managed to set a new course PB for Bournemouth parkrun. 00:23:21 in the end, 16 seconds quicker than my last PB from two weeks ago. My previous PB had stood at 00:23:39 since 24th May 2025.
May was my last "rich vein of form", as far as PBs go. Hopefully I've still got some improvements to take advantage of this year. My wife has booked a hairdresser's appointment in Ringwood soon, so that'll mean a trip to Moors Valley parkrun one Saturday. I'm excited at that prospect, because my one previous attempt there was my fastest parkrun up to that date. With the improvement I've seen at Bournemouth, I'm hopeful I can get under 23 minutes at MV.
I'm happy with my progress, but today was about more than just running. A friend who also moved from Farnborough to Bournemouth was there, and while he (and his little dog) passed me at about 3.5km, I managed to catch him up in the last 500 metres, and finished ahead of him. Then, over Macmillan Cancer Care cake (it was their Coffee Morning parkrun takeover) I got to catch up with loads of regulars.
Happy days, really. And I'm still enjoying my running, it's a far distant, fading memory of the last time it felt like a chore...
Master Bean said:
New one in Newbury starts tomorrow. I've never done an inaugural and I know it's frowned upon but it is close. Decisions.
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/victoriaparknewbury/cou...
347 finishers. I was not one of them as I was marshaling at my local one. https://www.parkrun.org.uk/victoriaparknewbury/cou...
RizzoTheRat said:
Alex@POD said:
We use our tourism to chase lists, we went to Zuiderpark because we were pretty much driving past in the way back from Germany for example. If I have a choice of hotels at my destination, I might choose one close to a specific parkrun. We also fancy a night away for our wedding anniversary, we're thinking of visiting Durham as it's nice and we can bag a J while we're there and complete the alphabet.
I agree that going to a far away parkrun specifically for the parkrun is strange (amongst other things), but for us it helps us discover different places as we travel around.
Same here, except don't really chase lists, just tend try to visit ones we've not been to before, so when away on holiday we'll try to end up near a parkrun on a Saturday morning. We get people who will get an overnight Flix bus to get to us and then get a bus home in the afternoon, with only a few hours in the country. Seems bizarre to me. I agree that going to a far away parkrun specifically for the parkrun is strange (amongst other things), but for us it helps us discover different places as we travel around.
Mind you we are driving to Germany for Friday so maybe we're just as bad
towser44 said:
Didn't realise about the 5k app being taken in house, but noticed today that it took a while for mine to update today once the parkrun result had come in, previously it was much quicker.
Someone told me 1 Dec is the first day the developer starts working for HQ and presumably that's when it'll go in house, so maybe today was just a glitch - we checked the app just after we submitted results and it was up to date.We had another trial run of the Real Double Funnel, which with 600 was so slick it was dull! That's it for trials, the next time it'll be for real on 25/12 when we might have around 1500
.Next weekend is Aachen on Friday (Unity day) and Maastricht Saturday (yes, I know, completely pointless but no more than going to wherever to watcha Grand Prix!)
22 said:
Gah! Go on then. Registered today. After running 5k on a machine and properly borking my legs - I'm going to plod slowly. Amersham is my local let's see if it sticks! Rowed (machine) 15k metres today and then ate 15k biscuits because I'm an idiot. Something new won't hurt right?
Is that the Church Mead one? I did that in the summer as we were staying at Beaconsfield services for a Beyonce concert in London and that is one bloody tough Parkrun! Also, we had our first case, maybe the first in the world, of VUI (volunteering under the influence). I missed all the excitement, but apparently he was looking a bit wobbly at his marshal point, then was seen lying on a bench and became abusive when one of the team offered to relieve him of the role and HiVis.
Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
towser44 said:
22 said:
Gah! Go on then. Registered today. After running 5k on a machine and properly borking my legs - I'm going to plod slowly. Amersham is my local let's see if it sticks! Rowed (machine) 15k metres today and then ate 15k biscuits because I'm an idiot. Something new won't hurt right?
Is that the Church Mead one? I did that in the summer as we were staying at Beaconsfield services for a Beyonce concert in London and that is one bloody tough Parkrun! markh1973 said:
Always go away with a couple of friends for a weekend every year. Next weekend we're off to Cologne - two different parkruns- one Friday and one Saturday.
Rhinepark? I think that's were we saw Coypu on the run a few years back!We're heading to Dortmund where I'm going to have to try and learn how to pronounce "Pferdebachtal parkrun"
My Mrs messaged me about 2 hours after I picked up my new car to ask if I fancied driving to Germany for Unity day. She has impeccable timing 
john2443 said:
Also, we had our first case, maybe the first in the world, of VUI (volunteering under the influence). I missed all the excitement, but apparently he was looking a bit wobbly at his marshal point, then was seen lying on a bench and became abusive when one of the team offered to relieve him of the role and HiVis.
Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
Yikes, bit of a tricky one, hard to say no you can't volunteer because I think you're drunk.Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
22 said:
towser44 said:
22 said:
Gah! Go on then. Registered today. After running 5k on a machine and properly borking my legs - I'm going to plod slowly. Amersham is my local let's see if it sticks! Rowed (machine) 15k metres today and then ate 15k biscuits because I'm an idiot. Something new won't hurt right?
Is that the Church Mead one? I did that in the summer as we were staying at Beaconsfield services for a Beyonce concert in London and that is one bloody tough Parkrun! john2443 said:
Also, we had our first case, maybe the first in the world, of VUI (volunteering under the influence). I missed all the excitement, but apparently he was looking a bit wobbly at his marshal point, then was seen lying on a bench and became abusive when one of the team offered to relieve him of the role and HiVis.
Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
parkrum?Waiting to see what HQs response is to our incident report!
Milestoned??
Volun-beer???
towser44 said:
I would definitely wear trail shoes if you have them, especially if it's been raining. 95% of the course is muddy, rocky trails and it involved around 500 foot of elevation. I didn't realise it was soooo hilly down South lol!
The Chiltern Hills! Pretty sure I have some trail shoes stuffed away somewhere. I'll arrive early for the first-timers chat (guess I'll park in Tesco and walk).
Is my 'time' from when I cross the start line to the finish or the moment everyone starts? I have a smart watch, although I've never used it to time anything of note (just useful for heart rate and stuff).
Anything else I need to know for my first one? I have no expectations for time, but I should have the fitness to 'not walk' any of it, but this will be a gentle plod.
It's from the time everyone starts to the time you finish. Assuming you've already registered and got a personal barcode (on your phone is fine, you can also get apps to show it on your smartwatch), when you finish they'll give you another barcode for your finish position. Take both to the scanners and that's what links you to your finish position. Make sure you hand the finish token back, far too many of them go missing. Most places do a first timers briefing about 8:50 that covers that kind of thing, and then a main briefing with any course specific stuff. That's about all you need to know really.
Most parkruns go for coffee or breakfast afterwards, which is worth doing if you want to get to know a few people.
Most parkruns go for coffee or breakfast afterwards, which is worth doing if you want to get to know a few people.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Sunday 28th September 11:04
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