Parkrun - Fun, friendly, free and fabulous :)

Today we attended our first Parkrun!

 

These are weekly, timed runs hosted throughout the country. The main runs are 5km but there are also junior runs which are 2km.

I've been trying to coax Miss P for a while and she finally relented and gave it a go today with the help of some friends to run alongside her.

The sun was shining, which definitely helped the horribly early start (8.30am on a SUNDAY!)

The first thing that happened when we got there was the organisers asked if it was anyone's first time, and everyone gave a round of applause. What a lovely way to welcome new runners!

There were awards for those who had participated in certain numbers of runs, then the kids all went off to warm up. (The photo is from https://www.parkrun.org.uk/news/2015/07/page/2/, I forgot to take any!)

And then they were off! The route was 2 laps of the park, so it wasn't long before the first ones came flying past us. The event was really well marshalled, and all the volunteers and parents clapped and cheered for all the kids who ran by. By the second lap there were a few that were flagging, but you could see that the encouragement they got really helped them to power through to the end.

My nephew bolted round and got a fantastic 11 minutes on his first ever run. Our girls all stuck together, from very-nearly-4 to almost 14, they brought up the rear, but it really didn't matter. The focus is not really on who you beat, but setting your own time, and then through persistence and practise, bettering that. However, you can go on-line and see how others did. Including whether they achieved a new personal best, and how often they've done the runs. The winning time this week was 7 minutes 50 seconds! Amazing!

I'd wholly recommend giving it a go. It's not often you find such well organised regular activities for free. And it felt like such an inclusive activity. I'm sure there is some competition, especially in the top ranks, but it's obviously designed to be something that anyone, regardless of ability, can join in with.

We'll see if we're still there when it's cold and raining though!

Do you have any other sporting activities to recommend? Or have you done the parkrun? How did you find it?