Dartford parkrun 26 - an icy morning, my first time as a pacer and an accidental first finishing position

Dartford parkrun event 26 was quite a cold one. The overnight temperatures had dipped below zero, frozen all of the puddles and caused a light frost. After the course inspection, the course didn't seem to have suffered too much so the decision was taken to go ahead as planned.

twenty minute pacer [photo: richey estcourt]

The event fell on the third Saturday of the month which meant that it was pacers day. I had volunteered to attempt to pace at 20 minutes and a few minutes before the run started I had the 20 minute pacer label attached to my back. The pacers were introduced to the runners during the run briefing and we were then sent on our way.

early morning frost and ice [photo:7t]

My plan for the pacing, considering the course is not completely flat was to keep an even effort rather than an even pace, so my rough plan was this;

To start with a 3.59 first kilometre, then as the second kilometre starts with a downhill, let gravity do some of the work and put in a 3.50. The third kilometre is flat so another 3.59 would be perfect. Kilometre four is always my slowest and can sometimes be over 4 minutes, so I planned for this to be a 4.10 split. Then the last kilometre would be a return to the 3.59 pace and an overall time of 19.57.

around the 1 kilometre point adjacent to the football pitches [photo: richey estcourt]

The thing with plans is that they seldom work out. So here's what actually happened...

I got as far as the other side of the bridge and as I turned right to go onto the grass/trail section my feet caught a slippery patch and I found myself hitting the floor with a bump. I was helped up within a second or two and I continued my way along the grassy path - fortunately the only injury was a slight graze to my right shin.

frost and a sign (but no cones) [photo: 7t]

I continued around the trail and up to the football pitches where my Garmin buzzed to alert me that I had reached the 1 kilometre point, the Garmin said 3.55, so the first kilometre was pretty much on target. I was running with the front runners at this stage and we continued together around to the 2 kilometre point which we hit at a pace of 3.59 (according to Garmin). Total time 7.54 (pacing target of 8 minutes).

still on the football fields [photo: richey estcourt]

Before setting off on the run I had advised the timekeepers that if my pacing was going well I should reach them in a time of around 9 minutes and 30 seconds - as I passed them towards the end of lap one I heard a shout of 9.12 - That was a little faster than I had expected due to the feedback from the Garmin, but I thanked them and continued on.

another sign and more frost [photo: 7t]

The third kilometre passed fairly quickly and I found myself back on the grassy trail section (without slipping this time), the Garmin split time for kilometre 3 was 3.55, meaning an 11.49 3km split (11 seconds in front of the target but in line with my plan) but the notification came a touch later than I was expecting.

heading towards the start/finish area [photo: richey estcourt]

Up the trail, across the football pitches for a second time and then it was back down the twisty path and into the main section for a final whizz up to the library and back. My Garmin definitely should have alerted me to the 4 kilometre point as soon as I entered this part but it didn't.

limette the fox-viking-marshal [photo: dani] 

When my Garmin did finally alert me to my kilometre split, it gave me a 4.01 as my fourth kilometre split time, which I thought was great but as it came further down the path than I had expected. The total time according to Garmin was now 15.50 - just 10 seconds in front of the target. However I was now very suspicious that it might not have been tracking the distance as accurately as it usually does.

at the end [photo: richey estcourt]

The last kilometre was a case of just maintaining the pace I had been running for the last 4 kilometres, so that's what I did. I was hoping that I'd cross the line within 1% of my pacing time. A pacing goal of 20 minutes means that a 1% tolerance is equal to 12 seconds, so I had a window of 19.48 - 20.12 in order to stay within this percentage.

frost and cones (final corner) [photo: 7t]

I ended up crossing the finish line in 19.28 (P1) which was 32 seconds quicker than my target time, so I was a little disappointed for not being closer. The Garmin ended up tracking the course a little short and if I had continued running until it had registered the full 5k I would have been very close to the target - So, I'm blaming the technology for my failure!

from l-r gary (in the background), adam (24 min pacer), me (20 minute pacer), ben (30 minute pacer)

Further analysis using the course Strava segments shows that I ran the first 2.5 kilometres in 9.44 and the second 2.5 kilometres in 9.50 (they don't add up to the total official time, but it gives a fairly rough idea of splits). I'm not entirely sure if my pacing actually helped anyone to complete the course any faster, but it was still fun to do. It was great to put another slightly different angle on the event and I'm really looking forward to doing it again.

After the run I did a bit of barcode scanning, helped to pack away some of the signage and then spent the rest of the morning in the Dartford Harriers clubhouse with the rest of the gang... it seems to have been another successful event!

Dartford parkrun 25 - strong winds, a difficult run and some clapping

I didn't sleep very well the night before Dartford parkrun event 25. The wind was howling and every now and then I heard random things being blown over (turned out to be some wheelie bins). The forecast for the Saturday morning was for the windy overnight weather to continue.

It seems Mother Nature was being quite kind because although the wind had picked up, it was accompanied by a significant rise in temperature. So when I left the house at 7.20 to jog over to Dartford Central Park it was around 13 degrees. In January.

deep in thought [photo: gary bignell]

I had heard mutterings of parkrun cancellations on my early morning twitter feed, and while the course at Dartford is fairly well sheltered, there are plenty of trees. My worry was that the wind could have created some tree debris (or even brought one down) on the course.

After a thorough course inspection it became apparent that the course was actually a lot clearer than it had been on many previous weeks - the biggest obstruction I had to deal with was a twig! Further to this the grassy-trail section was a lot dryer than it had been a week earlier (where we switched to the B course) and the trail itself was looking pretty good.

finished [photo: richey estcourt]

Before the run started I noticed that, as promised, a photographer had turned up from the Dartford Messenger newspaper and was floating around getting some shots of the volunteers and the typical pre-run rituals that we all do. I thought it'd be a good opportunity to get some publicity for the Dartford Half-Marathon so I stuck my promotional t-shirt on for the day's run.

The run itself was a tough one for me. The wind was still pretty strong with gusts of 50 mph and even when I was not running directly into it I was still feeling the effects of it on my breathing. This resulted in quite an uncomfortable second lap. I also had some discomfort in my belly and felt sick throughout the last 2 kilometres.

post-run fun [photo:gary bignell]

I still pushed on and out of pure coincidence more than anything else, I completed the run as the first finisher (my fourth time at parkrun and second time at Dartford parkrun) which is always nice (even if there were a few faster runners out there taking it easy in advance of a race that afternoon). The Dartford Messenger photographer noted down my name and running clubs (SLGR and DHAC) - the article was in the 15 January 2015 edition of the paper, a photo of it can be found at the bottom of this page.

After the run, due to sheer number of volunteers, I was not required for barcode scanning so I spent the next 25 minutes or so clapping and/or encouraging the rest of the runners while at the same time playing hide-and-seek with my daughter and her friend (I should add that this was hide-and-seek in the middle of an open grass playing field - reminds me of the time we played it in a swimming pool).

on your march, get set... [photo: richey estcourt]

After the run I headed off over towards the formal garden area to collect some signs only to find that my old buddy, Terry (we've known each other for 15 years now), had already picked up every single sign - even the hard-to-find ones that even I forget on occasion! Everything was packed away by 10am and the results were processed very soon after.

Then it started to rain, so we dived into the Dartford Harriers clubhouse where the post-run chatting and cake eating session commenced.

the article in the dartford messenger 15 Jan 2015

Updated on 20 January 2015 to add the Dartford Messenger photo.

Dartford parkrun 19 - frost, a well paced run and the course in 3D

A few weeks ago, I was pointed in the direction of a website that could take a running route file and display it as a 3D image. So of course, I threw one of my Dartford parkrun files into it and this is what came out. It's really cool being able to see the course this way. You can do the same with any course by importing one of your Strava files into veloviewer.

dartford parkrun course in 3d [image: veloviewer]

So let's move onto what actually happened at Dartford parkrun event 19. The first and most obvious thing was the significant drop in temperature that lead to a frost. We arrived at the park and began setting up the course. There were a couple of patches of frost on some sections of the paths which if dangerously slippery could force a move to the b course or a cancellation, but after some test running and discussions we decided that they were ok to run on and the event was to go ahead as planned.

coming back across the bridges (lap 1) [photo: gary bignell]

We stuck with our usual 'A' course and on the stroke of 9am we were sent on our way by our new run-director-in-training, Anoushka. I had a good run and felt comfortable all the way around - my kilometre splits were fairly even and I really enjoyed my run, which was topped off by being the first finisher of the day.

at the beginning of lap two [photo: gary bignell]

I slipped into my usual role of barcode scanner and once all the runners were safely back, got on with ensuring that the signage was all brought back to hq where it all went into the storage box ready for event twenty. I was then finally able to go inside the Dartford Harriers clubhouse and get stuck in to my bunch of bananas and cup of tea!

Rocky Road Trail Race 2014

When I cycled on the mountain bike trails at the cyclopark, I couldn't help but wonder what it might be like to run on these trails. Then, by some strange coincidence, the Rocky Road Trail Series at the cyclopark was announced. It was to be a series of three races with one each in May, June and July. I was out of the country for the May race and the June race was two days after the North Downs Run, and I didn't want to ask any more of my body after running that. Thankfully the July race fell quite nicely and there was nothing to stop me from entering this one.

#teamslgr [photo: dani]

This race took place on a Tuesday evening, which is usually our main club night. But with this event being a one-off, I thought it would make a nice change for any of my team mates that fancied mixing things up a little. So in the weeks leading up to the race, I spread the word on the So Let's Go Running Facebook page with the goal to turn the cyclopark black and orange. In the end, we had a very respectable turnout of 11 of us from our club. I also took the family along and asked the wife if she wouldn't mind taking some photos of us all as we raced. Some members of SLGR registered (£8) in advance, but I waited until the day and signed up upon arrival at the cyclopark.

walking to the start line [photo: dani]

The series was put on by Steve Cable and his wonderful team of volunteers. Steve also organises the free, weekly cyclorun (facebook), which is 5k around the tarmac cycle track every Sunday morning at 8am. Steve was one of the first people that I bumped into and he had just finished marking out the course. I was going to recce it before the race, but time ticked by, people arrived, and in the end it just didn't happen. I did manage to squeeze in a short warmup run on part the trails with a couple of SLGR runners a few minutes before the start of the race.

the start line in the gravel [photo: steve cable]

Race start time was 7.30pm, and a few minutes before that, we were lead from the main reception building to a wider area where Steve marked a line in the gravel - this would act as the start and the finish. The course was a two-lap circuit of the mountain bike trails that run around the outer edge of park - they have different levels of difficulty with the black routes being the hardest. Underfoot the course was a mixture of some gravelly stones, dirt trail, rocky paths, and big rocks (or you could call them boulders). The terrain was mildly undulating and featured some very twisty sections of single track mountain bike trails.

and we're off... [photo: dani]

I lined up at the front, knowing that I would need a good start to avoid being caught up in the crowd once the route reached the single track which would make overtaking very difficult. So I started well, but made the slight error of being too polite as we approached the single track and I ended up out of position with no easy way to move through the field. I stayed patient and held back, then there was an opportunity to overtake on a corner, but again I was too polite and actually lost a place. I was now in 5th place, knowing that I was running at a slower pace than I would have liked and with no easy way overtake. The worst thing was that I could see the leader pulling away from us.

lap one [photo: dani]

I stayed patient as we followed the twisty path through the first kilometre of the course and then I managed to find a couple of points that were wide enough to make some overtaking moves. By the end of the first kilometre, I had made it up into third position, but was again stuck and could only watch as the leader disappeared further into the distance. Then I found an another overtaking point, moved into second place and had the task of trying to claw back some of the lost ground.

at the far end of the course about to enter a black route [photo: steve cable]

I was now 1.5km into the race, and at this stage, the leader must have had a 20-30 second lead, so I just stuck with a good strong pace and slowly I could see that I was gaining on him. As I came back past the main central area (2.8km), I had cut the gap down to about 10-15 seconds. By the 3.3km point, I had caught up with him but the narrow trail paths prevented me from overtaking. So I spent the next 1.5km on his tail waiting for the widest of the overtaking points to appear, and when it did, I took the opportunity to move past.

the final stretch [photo: dani]

I was now in the lead and did not want to lose it. I had a sense that I had opened up a little gap, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough. I was thinking about the team and how great it would be if we could get a win. With that thought in my head, I pushed as hard as I could along the final kilometre. The setting sun was behind me and I could see my shadow stretching out in front of me, I knew that if my competitor was gaining, I would see his shadow before he had an opportunity to pass. However, it never appeared and I crossed the finish line in first position and gave #teamslgr their first proper outright race win! A proud moment.

post-race analysis [photo: dani]

I had finished 22 seconds ahead of the second placed runner. I was really pleased with my efforts to catch him and then to still have enough left in me to pull away through that final kilometre (my gps data). After a few cups of water, I chatted to some other finishers and then got in position to cheer on the rest of the SLGR gang as they approached the finish line. They all looked really strong as they pushed through the last section - hopefully that's a sign that the Tuesday and Thursday sessions paying off!

#teamslgr [photo: dani]

Team SLGR results (overall position / name / time):

1. Steven Stockwell - 23.56

9. John Annett - 29.00

10. Aaron Bardoe - 30.14

16. Gary Clements - 33.02

17. Dave Reid - 33.05

18. Chris Preston - 33.07

19. David Cooper - 33.53

23. Stephanie Ham - 36.29

24. Janice Munday - 36.49

25. Rachael Bignell - 38.01

30. Stephanie Mills - 40.37

my winners' medal [photo: dani]

The prize giving ceremony took place on the patio area outside the cafe. I knew my result, and was very excited to collect my winners' medal from Steve. But there were also team prizes up for grabs. We had taken quite a large group down and I was hoping that we would be in with a good chance of another prize. In the end it turns out that we won the mens and the womens team prizes with our top three finishers of each gender picking up a bottle of wine each. The full results can be found on the cyclorun facebook page.

a perfect end to a brilliant evening [photo: dani]

This was a really good trail race - the terrain was much rockier than what you would usually find on a typical south east England trail race. The rocky nature of the course made this more like a mountain-style trail race but without the huge inclines. I really loved it and I'm already looking forward to next year's series.

To top it all off, the amazing sunset really did turn the cyclopark black and orange... What a great evening for #TeamSLGR!

Bluewater Baby Race 2014 (buggy running)

I entered this race mostly because I wanted to run a race with my daughter in her running buggy. The event was mostly a fund raising event for the Tommy's charity. As part of the entry process I was required to set up a fundraising page, which I did. I'd like to say a very big thank you to everyone who sponsored me. By the way, my fundraising page will remain open for a while longer so any additional contributions will be very gratefully received.

running buggy assembled and ready to go...

On the day, I turned up at Bluewater and made our way round to the race hq area. It was all quite informal and there were balloons being handed out to the babies and children - one of which we attached to the buggy. There were also a few mascot-type people around. I spotted a bunny, a bear, a pirate, and a boost drink cup. Just before the race was due to start, there was a sensory session for the kids and then a proper warm up for the adults.

the pre-race activities

For those of you that are not aware, Bluewater shopping centre sits in the centre of a 240 acre former chalk quarry. Adjacent to the shopping centre are 13,000 car parking spaces. At the outer edge of the site you can see white cliff faces where the quarrying stopped. There are also numerous water features throughout the site which create some respite from the hustle and bustle of the shopping centre itself.

start line

When I received the final race instructions by email, I spotted that there were prizes on offer for the top three finishers (with buggy) and top three finishers (without buggy). The prizes were in the form of vouchers to spend in Bluewater and were £100 for first place, £50 for second place, and £25 for third place. As I've been running fairly well recently, I wondered if it might be possible to get a podium finish.

and we're off

As it was a fundraising event, the theme was to dress in bright or neon colours. However, I didn't see this until it was too late to buy something so I did my best by wearing my bright orange socks and my So Let's Go Running vest, which has bright orange panels at the sides. I felt that I might have overdone it a bit by wearing my running group vest to a charity event, but it did the job nicely.

#teamslgr

At 8.30am, I lined up at the front of the start area, knowing that it was extremely likely that I would be one of the faster runners and didn't want to be caught in the crowd. After a countdown we were sent on our way. I immediately headed to the front and followed the well-marked route. Most of the marshals were surprised to see me reach them so soon and cheered us as we passed.

just after crossing the finish line

It wasn't long before me and my daughter had left everyone else behind and were running completely alone. Still we pushed on at a decent pace along the two lap route around the outer edge of the quarry. We passed the half-way point after around 14 minutes and not long after this we caught up with the walkers who were still on their first lap. Overtaking with the buggy wasn't easy and we had to take to the grass to get past which made it slightly harder work.

photo call

The course had initially been advertised as an 8k route. This was then updated to a 7-8k route. In fact it ended up being a 6.8k route, which was absolutely fine with me as I had already decided to run with the Bluewater Sweatshop Running Community immediately after and it meant my legs would be fresher for that. We eventually arrived back at the start/finish area and crossed the line in first position.

arrrrrrr

We were handed a goodie bag and our £100 voucher for finishing first. We then went back to the finish line to have some photos taken by the official photographer. Our time for the 6.8k course worked out at about 28.10, which was fairly decent and after reviewing my splits it looks like we set a new 5k buggy running personal best time of 20.36 in the process. I'm pretty sure a sub-20 5k buggy run might just be possible so we'll have a serious crack at it pretty soon.

a quick hug from the mama

We had a great time at the event. As always, my daughter loved being pushed in her buggy. As far as she is concerned 'the faster, the better' applies and she was thrilled to be the winner of the race. There were no medals or anything at this race, but we did use a few of the money-off coupons that were in the goodie bag after the run while we were in Bluewater, and our prize money was spent faster than it took us to run the race - all on things for her bedroom, which she loves. A good day!

Southwark parkrun trial run

On Wednesday 5 September 2013 I headed over to Southwark park to help out as a test runner for the newly formed team of volunteers at Southwark parkrun. I arrived pretty early and found the event directors Cat and Mike setting up the finish funnel. After saying hello I went off round the park to take some photos and to avoid distracting them.

My wife, mum and daughter had met me at the playground in the park, and just before the scheduled run time I left my bike with them and went off to find the parkrun team again. They had just started a walk-round of the course and were taking advice from the 11 runners and event directors from Mile End and Burgess parkruns as to where they could position direction arrows and where they would need marshals.

Once back at the start area we were ready to give the course a good testing, so with the test volunteers ready Southwark parkrun event 0 (can I call it that?) was started. I won't give a full course description in this blog post because that'll be part of the inaugural event blog post which will follow. What I can tell you is that the course is flat and it is all on tarmac - if you've checked the course map and seen the section that goes onto the grass on the far left hand side you can ignore it, it's definitely all on tarmac!

Do you know what happens when you mix flat and tarmac together? You get an extremely quick course! And although I didn't iniitially set out to run a fast time, I actually ran my fastest 5k since last year's Movember race in Battersea park and my fastest parkrun for almost two years, so I was well chuffed.

Even though it's not a race and even though it wasn't an official event you can't help but smile when you're given the first finisher position token as you cross the line. It's only the second time I've been handed that number token so it's still a novelty to me - I certainly won't be anywhere near that when the inaugural run comes around and the big boys and girls come out to play. Although as I got so close to running sub-20, I might have to have another go at breaking that magical barrier at the inaugural event!

Post run the wife came over to the finish area with the bike as the park keepers were talking about locking the gates soon and wanted to encourage everyone to leave. It was at this point that I volunteered her as a marshal for the inaugural run. So she's going to get up bright and early and come with me to a parkrun - it'll be like the old days again!

The park is looking glorious these days - a lot of work has been done here in recent years to return it to its former glory. So if you're not sure where to parkrun this Saturday morning and are in London, head over to Southwark park to welcome the newest parkrun venue to the family.

Barking parkrun

Please note that there is a new, more comprehensive write-up for Barking parkrun, here:

Link: Barking parkrun 2023 write-up

If you are on this page to read the 2012 blog, please continue...

- - - - - 

This was the last parkrunday of 2012, which meant that it was my last chance to attempt to get back into the sub-20 parkrun club before the end of the year. (I have run a sub-20 5k this year but it wasn't a parkrun).

So after way too little sleep I dragged myself out of bed and twenty minutes later entered Westminster tube station to head into East London, this time I took the District line to Barking.

Upon exiting the station, I headed off in search of Barking park. It's not hard to find and within 5 minutes I was strolling along its paths wondering how I would pass the next 50 minutes (it was 8.10am).

The park is a tad deceiving. From the road all you can see are the open grass areas and a few buildings in the distance, but once you get into the heart of the park you find tree lined meandering paths and a boating lake. Apparently there is also a light railway in the park but I didn't spot it.

Anyway, shortly after arriving in the park, I bumped into a lady called Vicky, who was putting out the course signs. We walked part of the course and talked about parkrun (of course). At 8.45am I headed off to get changed before joining the rest of the runners at the registration area.

At 9am we were lead to the start line and then sent off to get our parkrun fixes for the day. The recent rain had fortunately decided to take a break, so it was dry. However, this was replaced with strong winds (not ideal considering my goal for the day).

The route takes you towards some allotments. You then swing a left and run almost the entire length of the boating lake before a few twists and turns in the traditional Victorian section of the park. Lastly you go around the edge of the playing fields and back towards the registration area. As it is a two lap course, you then do it all over again.

The course is as flat as they come and all on tarmac. In addition to the normal parkrun course signage, the organisers also draw arrows and other helpful things such as 'HW' at the half-way point in chalk on the ground.

Back to my goal of the day - sadly, I didn't manage to break 20 minutes (20:03). However, I was the first finisher, which was very nice indeed.

I spent a bit of time at the finish area chatting while the rest of the runners came in and before I knew it it was time to leave. I was almost tempted to go along to the post-run coffee and results, but I needed to get back home to get ready to go out with the ladies.

In summary, this is a very friendly parkrun with a great community and brilliant volunteers. The course was a pleasure to run and I would definitely like to return in the future.

Official event report