Today my Dad ran his first ever Parkrun/ first ever 5 km! After only deciding to do this last night (well, he mentioned he might like to think about doing it, so I signed him up, so then he had to), and therefore doing no running training (unbelievable!), he smashed it, and finished in 30.19 minutes! Very proud of him! I feel I need to repeat, but louder, HE DID NO RUNNING TRAINING since November! Although he keeps very fit from other exercise, I still think this is quite astonishing. Nice one Dad!
We took a trip to Preston, to do the parkrun in Avenham Park. Oooh it was a very nice parkrun, top marks to the course, and the people, very friendly! One of the marshals even had a tambourine.
When I asked my Dad afterwards how he had found it, he said he felt OK until the last 400 yards when it started to feel 'a bit tough'. I feel I need to point out that at 400 yards from the end, I had spotted a small fluffy dog and had taken my eye of the race, just for a second. When I looked back Dad had sprinted off and overtaken 5 people and I had to seriously leg it to catch back up. I pointed this out, as perhaps as possible explanation for why it started to feel a bit harder. He said he hadn't noticed that he'd done it. Ah ha! You have the symptom common to all runners when they spot the finish line. It's like instant memory loss - all the miles/ pain you've run through suddenly disappear, and all that matters is you, the finish line, and getting there faster than a cheetah on espressos. You are a runner! A parkrunner!
Well done Dad! And thank you Preston Parkrun!
Stats
Total days: 92 days
Total miles: 939 miles
Yes, another rash ,didn't think it through remark ! I hadn't appreciated that I hadn't run since last November when I had given up a very short running "career" because of repeated calf cramps - didn't want to jeopardise my walking "career". So the day dawned - yikes 5k, 5,000m, 3.1miles ! But hey - no cramps, good fun and good atmosphere helped by my inspirational running buddy and daughter. Hope it wasn't a fluke as we are doing it again next Saturday.
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