A year ago last Saturday, my daughter and I did the thing we’d been intending to do for weeks or even months beforehand. We ran our first Parkrun.
First Parkrun May 2015
We just wanted to try it out. We had no big plans for it to become a weekly thing. We didn’t intend for the rest of our family to join us. We didn’t expect to get addicted.
But we did.
We started slowly at first, in all senses of the word. We ran slowly together and we didn’t do it every week. We did every other week, then we had three or four weeks off. But, before we knew it, we were running most weeks.
I never intended to run it on my own. It was always something I was going to do with my daughter. I could run fast on other days of the week. Parkrun was about running gently and enjoying time with my daughter.
My husband didn’t understand why we were doing it. Until he joined in. And then it got really competitive.
I never thought I’d be running three miles in just over 23 minutes. I never expected to be THIRD woman across the line, out of 400 runners. At my age! I never expected to win my age category whenever I ran without my daughter.
But all of these things have happened.
A year on from that first Parkrun, I’ve run 34, my daughter has run 24, my husband has run 24, my eldest has run 19 and my younger son has run six times. Without Parkrun, none of them would ever run.
We’ve all improved our times and continue to improve them.
Parkrun has given me a new focus. I still desperately want to run a half marathon, but every time I try to run more than four miles, something seems to go wrong. Nothing goes wrong at three miles. If I can never run a half marathon again, I know I’ve still got Parkrun. I love our Saturday mornings, running as a family, trying to beat each other and beat ourselves.
My next big milestone is to get my 50 runs Tshirt, hopefully sometime in the autumn, then for my family to start getting theirs.
I’m so glad we went along to our first Parkrun a year ago.
Parkrun May 2016
May 26, 2016
Well done you all 😉 I am in awe. I’ve tried to start running so many times but I just can’t get into it, I wish I could x
May 27, 2016
Thanks very much! I think running isn’t right for everyone, but it is such an easy, free form of exercise that I’m glad it works for us! x
May 27, 2016
Ah that’s fabulous! I can’t wait to do park run again and I look forward to coming over to do yours with you too.
Nat.x
May 27, 2016
It will be brilliant to have you over running it with us 🙂 x
May 27, 2016
Excellent, congrats! And I hope you’ll get the 50 T-shirt soon :).
Do you do any other activity other than running? This would be my first advice to start training for a half marathon – add some yoga and some strength training – you need strong joints and muscles for this. Good luck and thanks for visiting my blog. If I can help with anything, just let me know.
May 28, 2016
Thanks very much! I don’t do anything other than running and I know I really should! I need to find myself a yoga class.
May 27, 2016
I signed up to parkrun about 3 years ago, but I’m yet to go. The nearest one isn’t that local and at the moment I can’t run. It is such a great thing. I love how many people run together across the country
May 28, 2016
You’re one of the 193,000 women who got emailed last week? They were trying to encourage all the women to give it a go for the first time. Hopefully you’ll be able to give it a go soon. It really is a fantastic experience.
May 27, 2016
This sounds AMAZING! Well done you. Will have to investigate and see if we have anything similar locally. Would love this x
May 28, 2016
Thanks very much! They do run them in a lot of areas, so you will probably find one nearby. x
May 28, 2016
Well done!! You’re not too far off the big 50…the it’ll be 100! I know I’ve said it before but it feels like you’ve been doing it for much more than a year!
May 29, 2016
Thanks very much! I’m definitely on track to get my 50 Tshirt in the autumn and hopefully my 100 Tshirt by the end of 2017 🙂
June 2, 2016
I know it’s been a great family experience for you all. It’s a great way of getting people running for fun.
June 3, 2016
It really is a great way to get people to run. Without it, I know the rest of my family wouldn’t run!
June 2, 2016
Firstly congratulations on the run – it’s always something I’ve wanted to get into but haven’t but this ParkRun sounds like a good way to dip your toe in. I think it’s also great that you have something to do with your daughter that’s competitive but also bonding. Overall it sounds like a really amazing experience for you & your family esp now as your hubby is involved.
Best of luck trying to push yourself to the half marathon stage
#LoudnProud
June 3, 2016
Thanks very much! It really is a great family experience for us all. You should definitely give it a go! There are people who walk it all, people who jog a bit and walk and bit and people who run really, really fast! It’s very inclusive. I’m really hoping I can get over that barrier and do another half marathon 🙂
June 3, 2016
I love this and love how it has got the whole family runnong and enjoying it together. Really inspiring xx
June 3, 2016
Thanks very much 🙂 The rest of my family wouldn’t run if it wasn’t for Parkrun, so it’s been really good for us. x
June 7, 2016
Fantastic! You’re all getting so much out of your park runs and that 50 tshirt will be yours before you know it!
Something I’d love to do but need to get my pesky double feet surgery out of the way this summer first!
Thanks for linking up with #SSAmazingAchievements