Your Cart is Empty
Today our co-founder Keil is sharing his experience of taking part in a ParkRun.
I have always been into running, whether that’s on the treadmill or outdoors. In the past, I’ve run 10K’s & a half-marathon but recently I have been focused on other aspects of my fitness & done less running.
I guess due to the New Year & wanting to mix up my workouts I decided to try out a ParkRun. ParkRun is a free 5K event open to anybody. Before you turn up on the day you need to register. You then get your own barcode which you can print off (I laminated mine) which you get scanned at the finish line to give you an official time.
I had seen a couple of months ago there was a new ParkRun in Bingley, which is local to me so I decided to give it a go! For my first run, I went to the meeting for new runners, where they described the course (4 laps around Myrtle Park) and explained how the event was run. Then it was time to go!
Being early January the weather was cold & this course is run on both grass & the paths so I wasn’t sure what to expect. There were over 200 people there but once you get going everyone spreads out and you can easily get into your own rhythm – The really fast go on ahead & those taking it slower or walking settle into their pace. You can take kids or dogs as well!
The key to the ParkRuns is it’s not a race but I am sure some people treat it like one. For me, it’s more a race against myself! I am very competitive so although the idea is to run & not worry about the time I do like to challenge myself and try to beat my previous times, as I discovered the week after when I completed my second ParkRun!
When you finish your run you get a ticket which you then get scanned along with your barcode which officially logs your finishing time, without your barcode you will not get a time given so make sure you remember to take it to each event! A few hours later you receive your time and finishing position via text message. You can also log onto the ParkRun website to see the times of others.
I did the ParkRun the week after & knocked 40 seconds off my time, even though the weather was much colder & my legs didn’t feel good! I said I was competitive…everyone loves a PB!
If you haven’t done a ParkRun before I would highly recommend them. From what I can gather the Bingley course is quite challenging compared to others. You can join in on ParkRuns all over the world so next time I am travelling I will keep an eye out for them!
I definitely intend to add a few ParkRuns each month to help me switch up my routine & keep my fitness levels up. Have you tried a ParkRun before?
