In 2009 it was suggested that a social run around the Bushy parkrun 5k course a few weeks out from the London Marathon would be a great little motivator for those long runs and also to get to share a long run with people who are running different distances – so not just for the 20+ miler club!  Not The London Marathon was born!  You can read about 2009, 2010, 2011 and the 2012 events elsewhere on this blog.

The ‘rules’ are as follows…

• Start around 9am
• Start at the Bushy parkrun current finish line.
• Run the Bushy parkrun course as many times as you like, looping round the start line and finishing line trees.
• Anyone can join in and run any number of laps at any time at any speed, either alone or in groups.
• No official timing, time yourself if you’d like.
• Friends and supporters congregate at the parkrun finish line to give encouragement and support, or maybe just enjoy an alfresco picnic/refreshments and a social.
• People can run as many laps as they like.
• It’s Not the London Marathon, cos it’s not a race, it’s not a marathon distance for everyone, and anyone can join in anytime.

The date was set for Sunday 10 March and a large number of us (around 50) found ourselves on the ‘old startline’ for Bushy parkrun.  After a quick photograph we all set off to run anything from 3 miles right up to the full 26.2 marathon distance back and forth on the Bushy parkrun route.

The start line - Not The London Marathon 2013

It was chilly, it was windy and at 10:30 we shared part of the route with a 10k race being held in the park.  It was great fun, I ran with friends, we chatted, we laughed, we ran.  Some of us ran a long way!

My run finished up as just under 19 miles.  My pace was pretty much in the range I was after.  It didn’t feel particularly tough.  My right calf feels tight (as it has done for about a month now) but writing this later the same evening I don’t feel particularly battered from this run.

After a 20 mile long run last weekend and 19 this weekend I plan to step back a bit next weekend.

Instead I’m going to treat myself to a 100 mile bike ride!

Photo: Katrin Kroschinski

On 10 June 2006 I took part in the Bushy Park Time Trial, a free 5k timed run at 9am on a Saturday morning.  It was fun, I finished 52nd out of 159 runners and my time was 21 minutes.  I went back the following week.

Since then the event has been rebranded as Bushy parkrun and on Saturday 9 February 2013 I ran my 250th timed 5k run.  I’ve run at 29 different events, as far away as Sydney Australia for a hot sunny 5k run! I’ve run 202 times at Bushy parkrun – which I can safely say is my local parkrun (although there are now three others that are slightly closer to home).

For me it’s not about always running fast – it’s about running and socialising with friends.  I get there early, I leave there late and it often seems to take around three and a half hours all in to run a 20 minute 5k!  This is because the run is just a small part of what makes parkrun.

Before 855 of us set off on Saturday morning it was announced that I’d be doing my 250th run.  All I had to do was get to the finish in one piece and I’d get an exclusive ’250 Club’ t-shirt.  I think this is why I ran my fastest time since September 2012!  I didn’t want to get tripped up.

After finishing the run and cheering on many others who’d come along to celebrate the occasion we all stood around and drunk sparkling wine and had some lovely cake – all provided and served up by Sharon.  It was a lovely touch and great to be around so many friends.  As Sharon isn’t around next weekend I was fortunate enough to be presented with my 250 t-shirt by run director Ray Coward.  It was a great occasion and achievement and one that I’m very proud of.

Photo: Katrin Kroschinski

After finishing off the booze we all went to the pub.  And drank tea and coffee!  I’m sure there’s something not quite right about that…

So, after hurting myself in the second half of September this week I decided to see if I could get on my bike and ride without too much pain.  A week ago I headed on my commuter bike (heavy old mountain bike with skinny tyres) into Richmond Park and clocked up 13.5 miles.  There was no additional pain and actually the most painful part of the whole process was getting onto my bike in the first place (lifting my leg over the stupidly high saddle!).

From here I decided that I’d try and ride into work on Tuesday.  13.5 miles each way.  If it didn’t go well in the morning then I could at least leave the bike locked up at work and get it another day.  Well, other than it pouring with rain the whole way, the ride was fine.  I even rode home that evening (in the rain!).  I then did the same again (in better weather) on Thursday and on Friday had a go on my indoor ‘turbo’ trainer as it seemed far too icy outside first thing to ride.

Sharon and I then went to Bristol to stay with friends for the weekend.  Saturday morning we headed to Little Stoke parkrun which was only a few miles away and I had decided that I’d probably try and run round part of the course with Sharon.  It was a multi-lap parkrun on a good solid flat surface so ideal conditions to test things out.

We ran the first lap, then the second…. then the third and then to the finish.  With a time a little under 31 minutes it was my slowest parkrun to date but I couldn’t care less about the time. I finished it.  If I can go out for a mid-week run and then do a parkrun this weekend I’ll be happy.  Really happy.

Pain wise I can feel something still inside/under/beneath my ribs but I’m of the belief that any break/fracture/crack has probably healed itself and its just other ‘stuff’ that’s causing the pain.  It’s not getting worse (even with exercise) and slowly getting better.  The only real pain I feel today (24 hours after the 5k parkrun) is that my legs hurt like I’ve raced a half marathon the day before!!

Looking at my training log I have done almost five and a half hours of exercise this week.  Brilliant.  If I can slowly build up now then I’ve got a great chance of having a reasonable 2013.  Fingers crossed.

Lets face it, the 2012 Olympics have been awesome.  With over 2,500 hours of competition broadcast by the BBC our digital TV set top box is full to the brim with recordings (but not quite 2,500 hours worth!) from the past two weeks.  This will keep us busy for the next few months and I look forward to it helping with what I feel will be a bad case of post-Olympic-syndrome.

Saturday morning (11 August) at Bushy parkrun as I stood on the start line I saw a real life Olympian toeing the line.  I had hoped that we might have had a ‘speedy boy or two’ at Bushy after seeing an earlier message on twitter.  Well, what a treat we had in store for us.

Stood on the start line (kitted out head to toe in New Balance sportswear) was Andy Baddeley.  He’s a local chap who’s competed in the Beijing Olympics, and multiple other world championship athletics events.  He’s had a busy few days as he took part in the 1500m event in the London 2012 Olympics where he ran 3:40:34 in the first round and then 3:36:03 in the semi-finals – but unfortunately not progressing to the finals.

However, with all that pent-up speed in his legs surely the best way to get it out of the system is a little run around Bushy Park, and when better to do than at 9am on a Saturday morning.

During the pre-run announcements Andy was introduced to the ~900 runners to which there was an amazing round of applause, that just went on and on and on.  It was something I’d not seen in my 230+ parkruns to date.

As the start signal was made I watched in awe as he just opened up a gap between himself and everyone else and just kept running further and further away from us.  I had a good strong run, although my legs were feeling tired from a long run the day before but found myself with a few other runners of similar speed and worked hard till the end.  I finished in 17:58 and was happy with that.  I just need to be able to go ‘comfortably’ sub-18 minutes.  Today it was not comfortable!  My run was certainly more comfortable that others, as I saw one chap (who was much faster than me) being sick after finishing.

As soon as I finished I wanted to see how Andy did and word was spreading round that he finished in 13:48, which is 12 seconds faster than the previous Bushy parkrun (and overall parkrun) record.

The first time I attended a parkrun (well, Bushy Park Time Trial as it was known at the time) was on 10 June 2006.  That morning I watched Craig Mottram run 14 minutes exactly and get a new parkrun record.  That record has stood until today.  I was even there in October 2011 when Justina Heslop got the all time female record of 15:58.  Some of these amazing performances must surely be rubbing off on me.

In 2006 I ran exactly seven minutes slower than Craig Mottram.  This time I managed to run four minutes and ten seconds slower than Andy.  If I keep this progression up I should be battling for the fastest time in about 12 years!

After his run Andy headed off to continue his run and came back to the finish area shortly before 10am.  Quite a few of us were still around chatting in the sun and it was lovely to talk briefly with him and of course pose for a photo or two.

Zoe (a fellow parkrunner), Andy (a rather fast parkrunner), Sharon and David. Photo: Suzan Baker

What a legend, what a morning, and from the round of applause he got before he even broke the parkrun course record I’m sure he’s inspired a number of people this morning to keep running.

This was the third year running of this event and it would be rude not to give it another go, especially after having a great time in 2011.  This is what the event is all about…

“Started in 2010, the idea is simple – On the first Sunday after the longest day of the year, to visit as many parkruns as possible. But while the potential total distance is quite large (35km or 21.7 miles), this isn’t a heavy duty running event, it is first and foremost a social day – there’s no official timing, runners can turn up at as many (or as few) of the runs as they want, and do as much of the courses as they want.”

The weather was much cooler than in 2011 and after getting my heavy old mountain bike ready for the day (i.e., clean and oil the chain and pump up the tyres) I was at Bushy Park at 8:40am.

In a weeks time I’m doing (yet another) ironman distance triathlon so wanted to make sure I took it easy today.  I wanted to run (slowish) and steady throughout and together with the cycling between runs would treat it as a very long training day (but not quite as long as the triathlon!).

There were so many people there this year (well over 50) which is understandable as parkrun gets more popular.  Lots of us were on bikes (I counted about 15 at one point) so it was good to have a group of likeminded parkrun addicts to spend the day with.

Bushy was first, followed by Bedfont Lakes, then Old Deer Park.  I only just got to Old Deer parkrun with about three minutes to spare before the midday pre-run briefing.  After this parkrun we headed to Richmond Park where we had plenty of time to relax before the 1:30pm start.

Just as soon as we started at Richmond it started to rain so as we ran past our bikes I took a super quick detour and adjusted my rucksack so that it wouldn’t get rained on too much.  Then it was back to the running.  We then got bombarded by a very short but intense shower.  The rain actually felt cold.

After Richmond is was off to Wimbledon Common.  This is where I reached into the rucksack I’d be carrying all day and pulled out my trail shoes.  They felt like new shoes after having the running shoes on for so many hours.  Wimbledon was muddy and slippery in places but no trouble with these shoes.  Good decision.

We then headed to Kingston parkrun where I kept my trail shoes on.  This was another pretty wise decision as some parts of the course were really wet and muddy.

Finally we all ventured back to Bushy Park for the final run of the day at 6pm.  There was still a great crowd and we had a couple of photos before the run of everyone who’d run all seven (or was about to) and those who’d cycled in between them all as well.  I was one of the ten who rode between every parkrun and completed the 5k distance.

They say an interval session is only as good as your last interval so I decided to push pretty hard in the final run, finishing in 19:40, nearly five minutes faster than my slowest run of the day.

So, the scores on the doors….

1. Bushy parkrun – 24:13
2. Bedfont Lakes parkrun – 24:16
3. Old Deer parkrun – 24:34
4. Richmond parkrun – 24:11
5. Wimbledon Common parkrun – 23:24
6. Kingston parkrun – 23:28
7. Bushy parkrun 19:40

The Longest parkrun is a great event.  When you cross the finish line you normally hang around and wait for every last runner to finish (who you cheer on) and then you head to the next run.  The timings are perfect to allow this to happen.

Just under 22 miles were run and with over 30 miles on the bike I’d call that a good days exercise!  Now I just need to recover quickly in time for my ironman race…