Dartford junior parkrun 27 (Christmas 2016)

My daughter, Matilda's love of parkrun comes and goes throughout the year and in 2016 she has mostly decided not to take part. As an alternative she has spent quite a few Sunday mornings training at Dartford Valley Rugby Club, plus she has also taken part in a few Obstacle Course Races (OCR) which were great fun. In the last few weeks, her attention has, once again, turned to junior parkrun.

Despite being a little on the tired side, the lure of a Christmas-themed event and a few hours with the great core team of volunteers was enough to tempt her out of the warm and cosy bed for a couple of laps of our local park. The weather was really mild for the time of year, so that also made it easier to get up and out.

merry christmas [photo: renee-marie young]

We managed to get out of the house in good time and wandered over to the park where we were greeted by the festively dressed volunteers. Matilda wore her Santa suit (probably a tad on the small side now, so we'll buy a new one next year) and I did my best with a red running top, a santa hat and my favourite festive socks.

Matilda decided that we would continue our Formula 1 themed junior parkrunning, but as it was Christmas, it was mixed with a bit of festive spirit. We spent a good deal of the run with Adam, who was tail running. We did pit-stops every now and then and there were lots of jingling sounds coming from our jingle bells and from Adam's festive jumper.

we were red bull two one this week [photos: renee=marie young]

We had already made plans to go for breakfast in the local Wetherspoons after the run, and it worked out that the core team had also decided to do the same. So we all went over to the pub where we were joined by the third member of our family.

The official results were online a few hours later and Matilda had completed her 29th junior parkrun in a time of 16.06. This was a little slower than her last run, but it was still a decent time for her - the only stops were for a quick breather during the pit-stops. So with 2016 all done, I'm eagerly awaiting what type of sport/activity takes her fancy in 2017. I suspect the OCRs will feature heavily once they start up again, but whatever it is, we'll do our best to have as much fun as possible doing it!

Dartford Junior parkrun 24

Over the last six months or so, my daughter, Matilda, has not really been interested in running at junior parkrun. However, when I suggested we could pop over to Central Park for Dartford Junior parkrun's 24th event, she said that she quite fancied it.

So we made a plan to take part in the parkrun and then go to the pub for a father-daughter breakfast. After what felt like an age of faffing around, we finally got out of the house 21 minutes before the run was due to start.

warm up...

Arriving at the start just a minute before the warm-up was due to start, we got changed out of our coats and Matilda went over to get loosened up while I sorted out our bag. A few minutes later we were at the start line and ready to go.

As soon as we started, Matilda decided that we should play Formula 1, so we picked Red Bull as our team and got to work on our first lap. We had a few slower moments where a rest was required, but by large we kept moving at one speed or another.

junior parkrunner and her v25 t-shirt

High-fives were being handed out left, right and centre by the fantastic course marshals. By the time we reached lap 2, we decided to bring on some F1 themed pit-stops. So every couple of hundred metres one of us would pull into the pits and the other would change the wheels and then release us back onto the track.

I had no idea how much time we had taken to go around the course because I had forgotten to take my stopwatch. We soon reached the final straight and Matilda took the chequered flag while I peeled off onto the grass next to the finish funnel (adults are not allowed in the finish funnel).

finishing token

It turns out that Matilda [parkrun profile] had managed to knock three seconds off her all-time junior parkrun personal best. Her new PB stands at 15.18, which of course, she's not overly fussed about because, well, she's six years old and was more interested in playing with the other children.

I, on the other hand, was very excited about her new PB, especially as it had been six months since she last took part in a junior parkrun. We continued our morning, as planned, with a visit to the pub for some jam on toast and a drink before heading back home to watch the final race of the Formula 1 season.

Dartford junior parkrun 1

It was inevitable that after the success of Dartford parkrun a junior event would eventually follow. Conversations had been ongoing ever since the full 5km event started, but it just needed that one person to come forward to be the event director before it could really gather some momentum. I seriously considered taking it on myself, but decided against it.

Fast-forward to 22 May 2016 and the Event Director, Angela O'Sullivan, along with her fantastic core team were ready to go live with their inaugural event, which takes place in Central Park, Dartford.

[photos: bruce li / 7t]

As with all junior parkruns, this is a 2km event which takes place every Sunday morning. Remember that times do vary between junior events, but this one has a 9am start time. I imagine that most people attending this event will be local, but for anyone travelling here, Dartford train station is about 5-10 minutes away from the park.

All the local buses that stop in the town centre will get you with a few minutes walk of the start line. If travelling by car, there are some public car parks in the town centre and as I understand it, parking is free on Sundays. Bike racks are situated outside the cafe.

[photos: bruce li / richey]

The run itself starts outside the 'Cafe in the Park' which is located within the children's playground. Just head towards the white, wooden building in the centre of the park and you'll be in the right place. The course is made up of 2 laps on a mixture of tarmac paths and grass (the grass section is quite short). The course is flat apart from one teeny, weeny bump at the end of each lap. 

So on the day of the inaugural event, we wandered over to the park and arrived in good time for the start. It was always my intention to volunteer at the event, but my daughter wanted me to run with her, so I did that and my wife volunteered as a marshal.

[photos: dani]

The standard junior parkrun warm-up took place and this was followed by an opening speech from the leader of the council who has been very supportive to both parkruns in Dartford. With the runners in place at the start line, the signal was given and the first Dartford junior parkrun was underway.

It was a lovely, sunny morning and two laps later Matilda crossed the line to complete her 26th junior parkrun and her 11th different junior parkrun venue (it was also the 6th inaugural junior parkrun that she had been present at - however only 5 of those are logged as completed runs as she had a DNF at Medway juniors).

[photos: bruce li]

It wasn't one of her greatest runs as she didn't really seem to be into it this week, but she stuck with it and had a smile on her face when she crossed the line where she was handed her finish token by her favourite 'silly guy' Adam. We hung around for a bit to chat but we soon had to head off for our 15 minute walk up the hill to the rugby club where Matilda was due to continue her morning's activities.

The core team have a great deal of experience between them so it was no surprise that the results were processed at lightning speed - in fact we received Matilda's results text message before we had even arrived at the rugby club. The roving parkrun photographer, Bruce Li, was at the event, and as well as taking some great photos he also knocked up an incredible video from the morning. You can find it here: Dartford junior parkrun #1 (video)

A perfect start to what is another great addition to Dartford's running community.