Where is my home parkrun now?

 I was reading a blog the other day about the keys to parkrun longevity and one of the key factors the author wrote was having home parkrun.

"I think one of the big keys to longevity in parkrun is to have a Home parkrun.  You don't even have to go every week and you can mix them in with other challenges.  But really being associated with a parkrun and getting involved in a parkrun is so rewarding. "

Of course this was written by me, 2 blog posts ago lol.

Now you would think someone who writes something like that must have a home parkrun. And the truth is up until this year, there has always been a parkrun which I have run far more than any other.  Up until 2019 it was pretty much Pollok with maybe the odd Strathclyde year. Then 2019 to 2024 it was Queen's.

But what has changed? Well amazingly such a small thing can have such an impact. But Queen's is getting more awkward to get parked at due to a kids dance class taking place at a church right beside the park around parkrun time.  I was getting there earlier and earlier to the point I got there about 8.45 and there was still limited parking left.  

Mix this in with Cuningar loop starting this year and Pollok being easier to get parked its made me go to them instead.  I realise though that I am incredibly lucky to have options I do. All 3 of these parkruns are within 3 miles of me and some people around the UK have to travel miles just to get to 1 parkrun.

But it does lead to the question where is my home parkrun now.  I have run each of these parkruns pretty much the same amount of times this year.  They all have their own character. Queens very hilly, Pollok mildy hilly and Cuningar pretty much flat.  Queen's good views, Pollok nice country park, Cuningar, nice boardwalk sections and wide paths where they need to be. Pollok and Cuningar probably about the same in terms of businesses maybe Pollok slightly buiser, then Queen's still get good numbers but slightly quieter.

If you include volunteering I have been to Queen's twice as much as the other 2. As I just walk, instead of taking the car. But in terms of doing the run as well its a bit too far for me to walk there, run and walk back just now.

Whats happened this year does make me think more about whether I need a home run or not.  Maybe I am just a rotator now.  I hope I can get to the point in my running where I can walk to Queens and back and do the run, but that's pretty daunting given how hard Queen's is without the extended warm ups.

Mid-year review and What the next 6 months hold

 

I don’t usually do mid-year reviews of my running, leaving it all for my end of year. But this year I thought I would and may even make it an annual thing.  The reason being I wanted to reflect on the first 6 months and also look ahead to the next 6 months.

Milestones

In terms of doing what I set out to do I couldn’t really ask for more. I have done 21 parkruns so far this year, so on course to do 42 by the end of the year which is what I did last year.  My aim is to do 40 each year so have a bit of give.  So, I aimed for 20 by midyear and did 21.  I’m now on 383 parkruns so my 3-year plan has kicked in to reach 500, 3 years from now, 40 parkruns a year.  But there maybe a curveball coming which I’ll get on to.  But for now 400 is the aim and I have 17 parkruns to do, to reach that so should hopefully get that by the end of the year all being well.

Challenges and Achievements

One of the biggest goals I achieved in the first 6 months was getting under 30 minutes for 5k which was a Crinan Canal parkrun in April. This has been a long time coming and I am delighted to get under the 30 barrier again.  I didn’t really get close apart from that but out of the 21 parkruns I have done I have hardly been over 35 minutes which is a positive especially since I have been doing a lot of hilly parkruns.  And another positive which resulted in slightly quicker parkruns is that I have ran for the full 5k distance a lot more, even the hilly ones. Running the full way at Queen’s still illudes me but I am running more of it than before.

In terms of challenges, I have completed position bingo which is finishing in a place ending in 1, 2, 3, 4 up to 100.  So, for 1 it can be position 1 but surprisingly I didn’t get a number 1 and would have been 101, 201 or 301 etc.

I have also completed the pirates challenge which completing 7 parkruns beginning with the letter C and 1 beginning with R.

And finally, I completed the Volunteer tourist challenge which is volunteering at 10 different parkruns.

What’s next

Normally when I watch the London marathon, I have to resist the urge not to apply for longer distance events for a week or 2 as it’s so inspiring.  I think because of the number of running you tube channels I signed up for in the last few months this urge has lasted longer and I’m about to buckle.  Obviously, my parkrun goals are still important and I know plenty of people who balance parkrun with longer distances which is what I want to do.  It’s really just a case of getting the motivation to get out there and pounding the streets during the week and I’m going to see if applying for a few 10k races does that. It’s not like I’ve been doing no exercise during the week. As I have really upped the walking after work this year. But I need to turn that into running.

Let’s see what happens….

What are the keys to longevity in parkrun?

At time of writing I have now completed 377 parkruns. One thing which I keep thinking about is how long can I keep it for and how I can keep going with it for a long as possible. It can be seen that routine is the key, but there is so much more than that to keep the interest going and I will explore those in this blog.

Milestones

This is a big one and I think is one of the reasons people stick with parkrun.  The milestones in parkrun are very rewarding and with the range of merchandise parkrun offer to commemorate your achievement only adds to the incentive in reaching it.  Parkrun has milestones for both run/walks and volunteering when reaching 25, 50, 100, 250, 500 and 1000, as well as a more milestones for kids doing junior parkruns.

Aiming for milestones is a good way to achieve parkrun longevity. However you will notice that as you go up through the milestones they get further apart.  I have seen people in the past say to me they will reach a certain milestone then stop. For example 250.  This is not uncommon.  One of the ways to get through this is to make up your own milestones.  Often your local parkrun will appreciate this too and acknowledge going up in 50s. 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500, 550 etc.  Basically it puts in smaller goals on the way to bigger goals.  Personally I think the jump between 500 and 1000 is too big and I know I am not the only one.  Its basically 10 years worth of parkruns.  Going up in 100s for official ones seems more sensible, but whether this will ever happen remains to be seen.

Challenges

Challenges have become a big part of parkrun thanks to the Running challenges extension and the 5k app along with various other parkrun apps.  I would say most of the challenges are tourist related. Which are when people do lots of different parkruns. For example in Scotland I completed the Club Alba challenge which is a challenge to complete all the parkruns in Scotland.  This is also known as regionarie and can be completed completed in all the different regions in the UK, eg LON-DONE for all the parkruns in London.  

While initially regionnaire challenge is both a fun way to see places and get the accolades of completing a challenge while doing so.  Everyone has both there travel limits and fund limits.  Think about this. If you want to reach say 500 parkruns, that would mean you would have to do all the Scottish parkruns 6 times over or venture into England constantly.  This is both time consuming and expensive.  Some people do manage this, but I would say very few and kudos to them. But it is definitely not for everyone.  There are other challenges too like the popular Alphabet challenge, the Beegees challenge, Pirates. But again these will only take you so far. You can also start exploring the 20 plus countries in world that have parkruns but suddenly costs go up a lot.  But if you can make part of the journey these will certainly tick off a good few parkruns.

Having a Home parkrun

I think one of the big keys to longevity in parkrun is to have a Home parkrun.  You don't even have to go every week and you can mix them in with other challenges.  But really being associated with a parkrun and getting involved in a parkrun is so rewarding.  Not only will you get to know a course inside out but you will meet lots of people with similar goals to you.  Those people you will see in the good days and bad, and go through life together.  If you are running/walking parkrun every week mixing in with some volunteering is good too.  Not only does it keep the event running. But volunteering allows you to meet new people and learn new skills.  Therefore having a home parkrun is for me one of the keys to parkrun longevity.  

And you may be thinking what about challenges when it comes to your home parkrun.  Well there are a number of challenges you can do. Date bingo - run a parkrun every date of the year. Position Bingo - Finish in every position 1-100 (and you just need the position to finish 01 so so you don't need to finish first you can finish 101 to tick that off).  Stopwatch bingo - finish with a time ending each second.  I've done 377 runs and I have completed none of these challenges but I am very close and I always look forward to seeing how close I am to getting the remaining things I need.  Another one is single and double ton which is completing 100 and 200 runs at one parkrun.  All these challenges are great for having goals if you only have access to one parkrun, like doing your home run, don't have the time or money for touring etc.  

P index

If you like to mix up your parkruns but still like to stay local. Obviously you need to be in an area where there is a bunch of parkruns which you can get to. If that is an option P index is your friend.  This is where you complete says 10 different parkruns 10 times each to have a p index of 10 or 11 , 11 times each to have a P index of 11.  If you have 10 parkruns handy to get a p index of 10 that's 100 parkruns and after that to get 13 you need 169 parkruns.  So the number of parkruns you do climbs rapidly.  If you like visiting different parkruns and have lots near you this can be seen I think as another way to achieve parkrun longevity.  

Staying injury free/ageing

I have had a few injuries in my time which have stopped me from parkrunning only for short periods of time fortunately.  But there is plenty of advice and guidance out there on ways to stay injury free so you can do parkruns for longer.  When you are injured there is always the option to volunteer.  When I volunteer there are always plenty of people there who tell me about their injuries.

Ageing obviously increases the chances of injury and slows recovery so patience is a bit more important here.  But I think one thing you need to accept to have a long parkrun life is that you will get slower.  There are ways you can compare your times though to your younger days through age grading you will see in your results.  I have also seen people stop doing parkruns and become full time volunteers for parkrun too which is also an option.

Consistency

I think a big part of parkrun longevity is consistency.  Getting into that routine if you can. The weather can play a part especially in Britain as there can be some nasty weather during the winter. But if you can get to a parkrun that is not cancelled, that's a win.

Adapting

If your wanting to parkrun for a long time, you will undoubtably go through changes in your life which can have an affect on your parkrunning.  Job changes/location changes/marriage/kids etc.  It's all about adapting. Maybe some periods you will have to go through periods that you will have to accept that you need to de-prioritise parkrun. But it will always be there when you are ready to come back.  

Bad days

I think the thing which may put people off parkrun is when you have bad days whether running or volunteering.  In terms of running this maybe where you may be way off the time you wanted, got beaten by your rival or fell over.  In terms  of volunteering you may have messed up timekeeping/dropped the tokens/Slept in for volunteering all together.  Point is we all have bad days but it is how we react and learn from these days. We can either chuck it in and not bother or rise above it and come back stronger.  In sone instances a bad experience may put you off a certain job. But don't worry, if you don't want to do a job no one will force you to. Just put in your email what jobs you are willing to do.  I really think how you get over your bad days is another key to parkrun longevity. 

Getting involved in junior parkrun

This is not only good for parents with kids between 4-14.  This is also great for folk who have time on a Sunday morning and want to volunteer at parkrun. You get the same volunteer credit that you would get at a 5k Saturday morning parkrun and get involved in a great community.  I have met many people through junior parkrun who I have hung out with at 5k parkruns too.

And that's it. Unless you know any more. If so, let us know in the comments....

Will I ever go sub 30 minutes at parkrun again?

 27th August 2022 - The location Largs prom parkrun.  That was the last time I ran under 30 minutes at parkrun. To be precise 957 days ago. That's a long time.  It does make me wonder if I will ever go sub 30 again.  What would it mean to run sub 30 again. It's been a benchmark for me since I returned to running in 2014 and started running parkruns more regularly. From 2014 to 2022 I achieved this every year dipping as low as 25.59.  

But since that day in Largs prom my fitness just hasn't been the same........

............until now!!!

Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes , yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes

I DID IT

Fast forward 957 days to the 5th April 2025. The location Crinan Canal parkrun. And I got my sub 30 again coming in at 29.58. Sneaking under, but my golly am I taking it.

I went up with my folks to Oban the night before and stayed the night there.  The road from Oban to Crinan was actually closed for a time on the Friday due to a landslide. And on that side of the world there isn't that much alternative so thoughts of going to Crinan may have had to be abandoned and go to Ganavan Sands parkrun in Oban instead. But my Dad nipped into the police station on the Friday night and asked if it would be open in the morning and they said yes so we were good to go.

It's about an hour to get down to Crinan and we arrived in plenty of time. Just as well because the main car park is at half capacity at the moment due to construction and Crinan really isn't the biggest place at all.  In fact its single track roads with passing places to get in and out.  So I would recommend getting there before 9 if you want a place in the car park.  In fact I would recommend getting there before 9 if you want a space in the further away car parks too as obviously its further to walk. But while Crinan is small, it makes up for it in character. 

And the parkrun certainly lives up to the hype. 49 of us charged up the canal path, with the canal on one side and the sea on the other on this out and back course. Very picturesque.  And although slightly cold, there was perfect blue skies.  For my first mile I did it in 10.19, so really at this point I thought I was going quite well but sub 30 never even came into my mind as if I did 3.1 miles at that pace I would be nearer 32 minutes.  But I didn't have much traffic (people) round me and was able to up the pace in the second mile coming in 9.19.  I was taken a back here as I haven't had a mile as quick as that for a while. But still sub 30 never even entered my mind.,..

That was until about 2 and half mile point where I caught up with a women and passed a marshal who knew her and she said "Well done ______ , you are on for a sub 30".  At which point I thought, holy smokes, so am I.  So I kept battling away and third mile was 9.06. Then I managed a sprint finish at 7.58 pace.  So voila, a sub 30, 29.58 in the bag.  Delighted and exhausted.

A 24 hour escape and totally worth it. Cheers to the folks for the company.

Although this is my first sub 30 this year, there have been signs of great improvement.  With 31.08 at Largs and 31.18 at Cuningar loop. While at Queens I got down to 33.25 and Pollok today I ran it in 32.06 with no walking. Which I think must be the first time I have gone a whole hilly parkrun without walking in a long time too.

Thing is I've not even been doing running midweek but I have been walking a lot more. Averaging about 10,000 steps a day which seems to be making all the difference.

With Crinan Canal parkrun starting I was due to become an Albateer (complete all the Scottish parkruns) again. But parkruns have started in Nairn and Aberfeldy with a new one in Aboyne imminent. So I've got those to look forward to later in the year.

350th Volunteer - Extract from Rouken glen parkrun page

 Recently I did my 350th Volunteer at Rouken Glen, and event director Stephen did a very nice piece on it along with some of the DofE volunteers for the webpage

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/roukenglen-juniors/news/2024/12/22/event-307-22-12-24-first-milestones-and-a-very-big-milestone/

Here's my bit:

Now on to our very big milestone achievement from today. Stuart McBeath achieved is 350th volunteering milestone this week. Which I'm sure you'll all agree is a very impressive figure, even more so when you consider that the 350 covers 482 roles as he will do multiple roles any given week.

Now, you all are pretty much guaranteed to know Stuart's face as he is our tail walker every single week, in fact I wasn't actually able to find a picture of Stuart on my phone that doesn't have him in orange hi-vis. But that's not the full story. Stuart started volunteering back in July 2009 at Pollok as Finish Token Support and became a fairly regular volunteer at Pollok for the following 8 years with the odd stint at Strathclyde. But in 2017 Stuart started volunteering at Rouken Glen Juniors mainly sticking to Marshalling, Funnel Managing, Number Checking and of course Tail Walking. This lasted for about a year or so and then Stuart's volunteering at Rouken Glen follows a similar pattern Tail walking, Equipment Storage and Delivery (the AED from the vets when we used to share) and coming back to the cafe for Token Sorting.

I should of course point out that that is just with us, Stuart still volunteers on a Saturday at the 5km events like Queens, Pollok, Tollcross, Strathclyde, Victoria park, Elder park, Drumchapel and even up in Inverness.

Actually travelling (or parkrun tourism as it is known  ) is something Stuart is very adept at. Stuart has completed every Scottish 5km parkrun event, and has 360 parkruns at 83 locations under his belt, which includes the brand new one Skinadin up in Skye which he ran at their 12th event in October this year. If you want to know anything about parkruns, Stuart is definitely the man to ask.

But to you Stuart will be the tailwalker, the one who makes sure no one gets left behind, supports our slower attendees, and also lets the marshals know their stint is over so they can head back to the finish area to hand in their Hi Vis until next time.

     

2025 plans

 As the new year is once again upon us it's time to start making plans for 2025.  Last year was pretty much a go with the flow year, with slower times but still had a lot of fun.

This year I think will pretty much be the same but I am looking to do a few more trips this year.

Milestones

In terms of milestones, last year I said it was a stepping stone year as I hit 350 with a view to the big one in 3 years of hitting 500.  I realise now that maybe that is not the way to go.  I mean that is a long time to go without acknowledging a milestone.  Just think if and when I get to 500. Does that mean I have 10+ stepping stone years till I reach 1,000?  I don't think so. So I think I'll celebrate every 100. And guess what I am now on 362 runs so hopefully this year I'll pass the 400 milestone.  38 required to achieve this.  Now if I do the tactic I have done in previous years where I volunteer at 5ks every 1/2 months, it won't be till the end of the year till I hit 400 and may even spill on to 2026.  But if I forgo volunteering at 5ks I should easily hit 400.  That I haven't decided yet.  I have liked volunteering at Queen's but I also have to appreciate that I kind of need to do parkruns to get fitter.   Think I'll literally play it by year on that one.

Home parkrun

Now I have said one of my long term goals was to reach 100 Queen's parkruns. But their may very well be a curveball coming next year in the shape of Cunnigar loop parkrun starting. Of course I don't know whether it will or will not start next year but have read it's pretty far down the line in terms of getting things ready.  This park is only 2.6 miles from my flat and is very flat.  Of course nobody knows how popular it will be. Initially of course it will be as it's really easy to get to for folk in Glasgow and everyone will want to try it out.  I will wait till the initial rush is over and see what it settles down at in terms of numbers, then I'll give it a go.  Flat parkruns are generally a lot more popular than hilly ones so will be interesting to see how many this attracts.  Whether it becomes my new home parkrun remains to be seen.

Tourism

My cousin Rachel who lives just north of London is up for doing a Y for her alphabet chasing and I need a Y too so hopefully we'll get that done in 2025.  No plans for Z yet but you never know.

There are a few other challenges which I'm close to completing which I may go for next year.  For example, the stayin' alive challenge which is 3 parkruns beginning with B and 3 parkruns beginning with G.  I have 2 B's and 3 Gs so just need a B.  There are no more Bs in Scotland I can do so a trip down south would be required.  Also the Pirates challenge which is 7 parkruns beginning with a C and 1 with an R. I just need 2 C's to complete this one.  This one I should do as I haven't done Crinan Canal yet and if Cunnigar loop does start up, voila.  Others include Compass challenge and Full ponty but they would require a lot more trips and organising.

In terms of keeping up with Albateer, I still only have Crinan Canal to do.  But there are a lot of rumours of new ones starting in Glenrothes, Aboyne, Barra, Aberfeldy and as previously mentioned, Cunnigar loop.  I don't have any insider knowledge though of how far along these ones are though or even if they will actually happen.  I am tempted to go on a few trips to Newcastle just to get in some new ones and maybe even trips up north just to get away some more.  Time to start booking time off.

Times

In terms of times I would be delighted to go sub 30 again but getting to a lot start lines I'll settle for.

2024 - A year in review

This year was really a stepping stone year in terms of parkruns rather than achieving any big goals.  I reached 350 runs and by the end of the year, finished on 362.  I was aiming for 360 which would mean 40 parkruns done in the year so 42 gives a bit of a cushion for next years target which I think will be 40 again.  

But how did it all play out?

Distribution of parkruns - Here is where I went and how often:

14 - Queen's, Glasgow

6 - Linwood

4 - Pollok, Erskine Waterfront

3 - Palacerigg Country, Elder Park

1 - Strathclyde, Springburn, Victoria, Drumchapel, Auldcathie District, Lochore Meadows, Whitekirk Hill, Skinadin

So one of my longer term aims is to do 100 parkruns at Queen's and with 14 added this year I'm now on 62.  I'm actually a bit surprised that I did 14 different parkruns this year as I didn't aim to do lots of different ones, it's just how it panned out.  In terms of hilly versus flat courses it works out at about 24 hilly to 18 flat (ish).  

Average time for the year compared with other years

2017 - 31.04 (35 runs)

2018 - 31.52 (46 runs)

2019 - 30.33 (44 runs)

2020 - 31.40 (64 runs) - (8 actual parkruns, a lot of not parkruns)

2021 - 30.59 (16 runs) - (only included actual parkruns which started up half way through the year due to covid)

2022 - 33.21 (35 runs) - 2 tailwalks not included

2023 - 34:48 (36 runs) - 1 tailwalk and 1 park walk not included

2024 - 36.24 (41 runs) 1 tailwalk not included - Also Pollok Christmas day parkrun time adjusted as finished in 36.03 but parkrun time was 39 minutes as due to 900+ people running, it took 3 minutes to cross the line.

So my slowest year to date but I did expect it.  The usual not going out during the week, hampering any chance of improving my times.  But I still love getting out on Saturday morning regardless.  I'm also pleased to record my 3rd highest number of parkruns ever in a year and most since 2019.  I think that shows my health and maybe the weather has been better this year.  Fastest time this year was 32:00 minutes at Erskine, which was only 18 seconds slower than my fastest time last year. No sub 30 this year but I'll keep trying, it's nice to have that carrot dangling in front of me.

Challenges

One of the challenges I contributed to at all this year was the Albateer challenge (completing all the Scottish parkruns). 2 new parkruns started this year - Skinadin in Skye and Crinan Canel. Skinadin I did complete and it was a great trip. Crinan is still on the list to do for next year.  The other challenge I upped was the P index - Doing x number of events, x number of times.  This year I moved up to 8, thanks to a trip to Drumchapel. Other than that I've just been enjoying going on road trip to various parkruns with Douglas, Jo, Craig, Mhairi, Susan and the folks.   Along with hanging with folk when I get to parkruns including doing volunteering at Rouken glen on a Sunday.

So overall a decent year and looking forward to next year already.