Sunday 27 May 2012

Riddlesdown parkrun fifty (my first full year)

After running the first ten or so events at Riddlesdown, I set myself the goal of maintaining that throughout the first 50 events. On the 26th of May 2012, at event 50, I achieved that goal.

Coincidentally, the day also marked the end of my first year of parkrunning. More about that at the end.

Jenny pulls my 50 t-shirt out from under her clipboard!

This was the first truly warm parkrun this year, and the first that I was brave enough to ditch the long sleeved t-shirt in favour of one of its short sleeved cousins. I had a bit of trouble selecting my first summer top of the year, and in the end went for one of my favourite adidas tops.

The top that I had selected made it to the start line and that's as far as it got because...

Nicki looking very pleased that her plan is working out nicely!

... Nicki and Jenny had a cunning plan to embarrass me in front of everyone. So, during Jenny's pre-run announcements I was identified as the only runner that had completed all 50 Riddlesdown parkruns and subsequently called out of the safety of the pack. She then proceeded to pull a brand new, shiny 50 club t-shirt from behind her clipboard and presented it to me.

The ladies!

Of course, I was then told that I had to change my shirt in front of the 100+ people that were gathered at the start line. Slightly embarrassed I handed my keys and phone to Nicki and quickly swapped the shirts - I'm sure there were all sorts of noises and whistles coming from the crowd of runners. :)

Off we go!
Mrs7t was the official photographer and managed to capture the whole thing on film (well, the digital equivalent). 

The run was started shortly after, and I headed off with a big smile across my face.

The End

I wasn't in the mood to attempt to push the pace, so I went round fairly comfortably. There were a couple of moments where I increased my pace to overtake, but I kept things fairly under control. I crossed the finish line in 22:42, almost identical to last week's finishing time.

Post-run with Pete and Matilda

The next Riddlesdown goal is to complete the full first year without missing an event, that means getting to the end of June without breaking the streak. Just six more events to go.

After the run I was given a training session in results processing, which went pretty well.

Then another exciting thing happened.. Last week, Chris H had offered to lend me his mountain bike, and had brought it with him to the Horseshoe. After a bit of luggage reshuffling and seat modification we managed to squeeze it in the car. Later this week I'll get started on a bit of cycling cross-training.

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My first parkrun year stats (28 May 2011 - 26 May 2012):

Number of parkruns: 54
Number of venues: 4
Breakdown of runs at each venue:
  • Riddlesdown 50
  • Banstead Woods 2
  • Roundshaw Downs 1
  • Frimley Lodge 1
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My parkrun photo of the day was...

Special delivery!

... and just before I go, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Nicki for all the parkrun related string pulling she did in order to get my t-shirt to Riddlesdown in time for the 50th event!

Steve.

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