On Saturday I finally completed my 250th parkrun, about 14 months later than planned due to the pesky pandemic but worth the wait!
When I ran my first parkrun on 23 May 2015, I had no idea that it would become a huge part of my life, and that Saturday mornings would never be the same again. I had just completed a Couch to 5K programme and parkrun seemed like a good way to mark the end of the nine weeks of training. But as soon as I finished, I was hooked. After learning to my disappointment that I was too old to earn a 10 parkrun t-shirt, I resolved to earn my 50 t-shirt as soon as I could, which I did 14 months later on 23 July 2016. 100 parkruns followed on 25 November 2017 and then 250 on 10 September 2022, around 70 weeks later than planned due to parkrun pausing during the pandemic.
Over the last 7 or so years, I have consistently taken around 14 months to complete 50 parkruns. Even with the "Julie parkrun law" of never missing a parkrun (either running or volunteering) unless I cannot physically get to one, I cannot do it any quicker. Although I do take every opportunity to find a parkrun if I am away, and my 250 parkruns were completed in 52 different locations in England, Scotland, Wales (well, it started and finished in Wales), Canada, France, Poland, Germany, Italy and Denmark.
So, after so many parkruns you'd probably think that I'd have got hang of them by now? Well, you couldn't be more wrong! 😂 I thought I had, when I got my PB of 28:13 in Guildford on 19 November 2016, but then things went downhill, and then uphill, and then downhill ... in fact, it would be fair to describe my parkrun performance as "undulating"!
To demonstrate the undulations, I made a little graph:
Which brings me to the update part of this blog. Around 6 weeks ago I posted that I had entered the Guildford 10k and that I was planning to lose weight so that I could run the whole thing. An excellent plan, what could go wrong?
Erm, well, the Guildford 10k got cancelled. What a relief, I thought! No more having to lose weight and run further than 5k, I can go back to eating all the food and drinking all the wine - happy days!
Actually, that is not what happened - did you really think it did? Instead I scoured the internet for an alternative 5k, and settled on the Worthing 10k instead. The downside - it is a week earlier than planned. 😨 The upside - it is flat and by the sea! 😎
Since my last blog, I have lost over 3kg, my parkrun times are reducing, and I have completed a 7k training run with no walking and no breaks - it wasn't pretty but I did it! So I think I'm on track, not for a PB (not even close!) but hopefully to be able to run the whole way.
I don't know what the 2022 medal will look like, but the 2021 medal looked pretty great! #bling
With three weeks to go, I have an 8k training run planned tomorrow, incorporating my 251st parkrun - just another 249 to go!
In my next blog, I'll let you know how I got on in the Worthing 10k. Hopefully knowing that I have to write a blog will keep me going when the going gets tough!
