They'd told me about Parkrun earlier in the week and it sounded like a cool idea, so I agreed. Sitting on the train this morning after a few too many drinks and some shitty sleep (thanks to the hottest day on record yesterday in Sydney--it was still over 90 well past midnight last night!) I was somewhat regretting my decision.
I'm so glad I pulled it together, though, because it's such a cool concept. Essentially Parkrun is a volunteer run organization that puts on a FREE 5k every Saturday morning. That's right-- no $30 absurd entry fee for the pleasure of running at a ridiculously early hour on the weekend.
Parkrun uses preprinted barcodes to track results. I am interested to see how their timing matches up to my Garmin, but at the end of the day if it's off a few seconds you can't really be upset. After you register on their site you get a barcode to print off, and after you cross the finish line, you are given a second barcode. A volunteer scans your finish barcode (numbered from 1-however many people run that day) and then scans your personal barcode. All of the information gets uploaded and sent to you so you can see where you ranked in the field and your time. And they track your historic results, too, so you can see if you're getting better!
You just print out the barcode before leaving your house and you're good to go!
I have 12k on the training docket for tomorrow, but I was still interested to see how fast I could run "just" a 5k. What is it about the 5k distance that makes me think I'll be able to knock out sub 8 miles all of a sudden? Yeah, keep dreaming. While the park was beautiful there were also a number of hills, including one that would rival Heartbreak Hill in Boston.
Not ashamed to say I took that puppy head on.....by walking. Mad thanks to the volunteer at the top snapping pictures. I can't wait to see myself not hustling amongst all of the people who were.
I still managed to do ok even with the big hill and another quick walking break (seriously, what? I can't remember the last time I walked TWICE in a 5k- I'm blaming the booze).
It broke down like this: 8:03 for the first mile, 9:01 for the second (big ass hill walking included), and 8:35 for the last mile. I'm still trying to figure out how to stop my watch and indicate I'm finished with the workout, so I kept starting and stopping the watch after I'd finished. Smarty pants right here.
I wanted to die when I finished, and I pretty much looked like it, too:
Don't worry, I'm working on the double chin. All in good time.
Parkrun is all over the world, but oddly enough only has one club in the US. It's in a random city in Michigan, so doubtful you've ever heard of it. I'm not sure what it takes to get one started, but there are over 2,000 clubs across the world so I'm guessing it's not too difficult to get it started.
I'm excited to go back to try to conquer the hill and I hope to start volunteering as well. It was a lot of fun, and a great way to kick off the weekend!
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