Shrewsbury Parkrun #50

Before yesterday I hadn’t done a Parkrun since around April! I can’t actually believe where that time has gone.

It was to be the day of Shrewsbury’s 50^th Parkrun and also a Halloween special. We got up for the morning with the full intention of dressing Isabella as a bat in her pram (cruel parents I know!) but there was a definite chill in the air so we instead wrapped her in her coat and pink cat hat. Lee and I were both wearing our Shabba tops and boosts of course.

Getting to the start line, it was clear there would be a lot of people running. We bumped into Fi in her devil ears and Gavin who would be running. Fancy dress ranged from pumpkins to ghouls to devils. It was nice to see people had made an effort.

The start of Parkrun is definitely the best, the community feel is so lovely and its great to see familiar faces from Twitter and the town in general. We all clapped the first timers, the birthdays and the RMR’s and the claxon sounded.

Rewinding slightly, on the way to Parkrun Lee decided for me that I should go for a PB. How kind of him! I was a bit apprehensive about this as I’ve never felt that 5k is ‘my distance’. I find I normally take a couple of miles to get into my stride and find it difficult to start quickly. Deciding I had nothing to lose, we agreed Lee would start near the back with the pram then catch me up and pace me through what was left of the course.

Setting off I straightaway headed off the track and onto the grass to get ahead and save weaving through people. As the start is a downhill I made the most it and let me legs carry me down. Getting back on the pathway, the numbers had thinned and I started trying to find my pace glancing at my Tomtom now and then to check I was on course.

Lee soon caught me up and we were pacing just below 8mm. Completing the first mile Lee gave me a thumbs up and we ploughed on. Having done a few sets of hill sprints in the weeks before, I found I didn’t lose much pace on either of the climbs we did and had a lot more control of my breathing.

The second mile went by, slightly slower I thought but we hadn’t lost much time.

We completed the final lap and headed onto the straight to the finish. Approaching the bridge near the end Lee told me there was a 100 meters to go. I kicked and went into a sprint taking over someone just in front. Lee caught me up and I pushed again. As I caught sight of the finish flag my legs started burning but I carried on sprinting all the way to the end stopping my watch at 25.08! I was over the moon! My last Parkrun PB had been 26.36 so I’d shaved well over a minute from my time.

Heading on our slow walk back we bumped into some fellow runners for a chat and Isabella stopped to clap as some more finishers past us heading to the line.

We’ve decided to try and go most Saturdays now; not just for the run but the community spirit on a Saturday morning is just fantastic.