 |
| moments after the start of dartford parkrun six [photo: david mote] |
I started near the front of the pack and for the first time hit the first corner with the leading pack. I stayed in fourth position all the way through the trail section of the course and then moved up into third on the far side of the football pitches.
 |
| lime preparing for her volunteering stint on stones corner |
Now that the football season has started, the lines have now been marked out on the football pitch section and if matches take place on a Saturday morning it will be a tight squeeze for runners as they reach the path at Ivy Leaf Corner.
 |
| coming back over the bridge on lap 1 [photo: gary clements] |
So I stayed in third the rest of the way around the first lap and as we passed the start area the three of us were all in a pretty tight pack. However, the eventual first finisher (remember there are no 'winners' at parkrun) put in a surge and created a gap between myself and the second placed runner.
 |
| the wandering volunteer |
As we arrived at Stones Corner, my daughter was standing next to Mick Jagger wearing my jumper (check out this video), waving her arms around shouting 'Daddy, I'm like you'. I smiled and waved as I circled her and Mick, before putting my head down and continuing with the run (remember it's not a race, even though it might feel like one sometimes).
 |
| just about to reach the medieval bridge on lap 2 [photo: gary clements] |
During the trail section on lap two I almost tripped over a dog, but stopped just in time. By the time I had reached the top I was neck and neck with the second placed runner and although I may have briefly nudged into second place, I didn't have the legs to stay there for long.
 |
| #7tea [photo: 7t] |
During the last kilometre, my rival for second place opened up more of a gap which by the end was 11 seconds. However all was not lost as I had run (yet) another course best time. This week I knocked four seconds of last week's time and came in just two seconds slower than my overall 5k personal best.
 |
| 100 metre sprints with a couple of 'lying flat on her face until i shout go' breaks [photo: 7t] |
I had a quick breather before picking up my scanner and hi-vis jacket and getting to work at scanning the barcodes of the other runners as they streamed through the finish line. Everything seemed to go really well and there were fewer people without barcodes, so the message is getting through. Another great thing today was that Richey (ED) finally got to run at the event.
 |
| hanging out at dartford harriers ac [photo: 7t] |
We hung out at the Dartford Harriers clubhouse for a while after and then had lunch in 'Cafe in the Park' before moving onto the playground and then the shopping centre for some crafts and dancing lessons - but not for me, I'm quite happy with my current 'Dad dancing' skillz!
