11 May 2024
Peel
Who switched
the heating on ? I missed my first parkun
last week in goodness knows how long for
a bout of the lurgy and all of a sudden, summer has arrived.
I’ve really
got into doing run reports lately, touring round Northwich, Clarence, Alexandra,
Pennington Flash etc and as I have said in other reports, we are so lucky in
the North West having such a variety of parks on our doorstep. The muddy banks of Clarence, the Up n Downs
of Northwich, the fast and flat speedster in Alexandra to the beauty of the
student inspired Peel.
I don’t tend
to know much about parkrun politics, so the ‘Bring Back the Cats’ (or something
like that ) has passed me by. What is
exciting is how parkrun is expanding, latest is Uganda. How incredible is that ? People in different parts of the world brought
together by the simple joy of a toodle round a park. Run, walk, jog, whatever you want to do. It doesn’t matter. People from all over the world brought
together by a common, simple love of being out in the fresh air
Today was
parkrun number 497 and my second run at Peel, first being a cold day in April
last year where the grass on the course was a little bit….well…not grass.
Anyone who
is visiting Peel for the first time is in for a massive treat. It really is a hidden gem, 130 events in and
the ever incredible marshals have it running like clockwork. As it is an event closely aligned with the
Uni, you can park for free at Irwell Place Car Park, opposite the park (as long
as you display your barcode, and leave by 12 I think) and it is a short trot into the park. You can have a sneak preview of it by having
a look at Nicola Forwood’s youtube run Running Peel parkrun,
Salford, Greater Manchester. parkrun Tourism. Stunning, Fast, Flat 2 lapper.
(youtube.com)
When you
walk into the park, head towards the massive statue of Joseph Brotherton where
you’ll meet the team and is also where the run starts and finishes. If you’ve not done parkrun before, you’ll be
given a first timers briefing (wait till someone says ‘go’, stop when you cross
the line that says ‘finish’, take a token, stay in line, get it scanned and
drop it in the bucket and go a brew)
before your start your run
481 headed
off this morning, the start is a little bit congested, but it very soon spreads
out. The 1st mile or so in
along the beautiful River Irwell and I am glad to say that following Nicola’s comment
on the amount of rubbish when she ran it, it seems to have been cleaned up a
lot.
You then
turn left and head deeper into the park, which gave a welcome relief from the
heat, and a downward slope through the trees and passed the Abba/Eurovision music
coming from various marshals phones (wonderfully Cheesy) before setting off on
your second lap which take you on a slightly higher path) along side the canal
again before finally making a dash towards the end and having a lie down on the
grass to recover.
No matter
where I go for parkrun, irrespective of where in the country, no matter what
the course you find the same thing.
Running for free, people doing it for many, varied reasons. It has become such a mainstay of my Saturday,
be it racing it, using it as a long run, or part of a recovery, it is only when
you can’t run like last week do you realise how you miss it and what a
wonderful event it is. Peel parkrun
ticks every box. It’s beautiful, its
flat, it’s varied and attracts a big field with times ranging from 16 minutes just
under 53.
If you are
reading this and you are thinking that parkrun isn’t for you, may I suggest you
come along and have a look. You’ll be
surprised. It caters for everyone,
doesn’t matter your age, your fitness, parkrun is ‘all in’. It is not a race, you will not be last, you
will not annoy anyone if you think you will be too slow. That is not what this wonderful event is
about. I can guarantee, once the parkrun
bug bites, that bugger doesn’t let go.
I’m a old
veteran of parkrun. What excites me
though is people like my mate Greg, who’s just starting his parkrun
journey. It was his second parkrun today
and he smashed his PB of last week by well over a minute. Well done, waiting for the inevitable day
when he strolls past me.
After the
run, we went over to the ‘Old Fire Station’ café for a sandwich and a coffee.
Really nice, very much recommended (tip, get there early as it gets busy)
Not sure
where I’m going to next week, probably my NENDY (Nearest Not Yet Done) at Pheonix.
Love parkun
John
Richards A20692
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