Normally not a fan of short-distance races. That kind of speed just hurts too much. And I'm not sure I've ever actually run a 5k before either. 2 miles? Check. 10k? Check. Half-marathon, Marathon, ultramarathon, 100 miles? Check, check, check, check. So I guess it's high time I filled a blank spot in my distance gap (ignoring the fact that my daily run to work is almost exactly 3 miles, after all I'm not racing THAT).
The Harrogate Parkrun is in its 6th event already, and over 100 runners were there at the start. The 3 laps course was partly trail, partly tarmac, with a section rerouted to protect the sprouting crocuses and daffodils. These flowers make the Harrogate Stray look amazing right now, by the way.
The parkrun craze is sweeping the UK, and cities all over are starting up these grassroots runs. No entry fee, no prizes, no fuss. Just register, show up and run, get your barcode scanned at the finish and compare your results to others online. If you want to, anyway.
I wasn't even that coordinated, as I hadn't even bothered to register. I showed up with a properly barcoded friend, ran the distance, then just melted out of the finish shoot to no fanfare.
25:33 isn't going to be an award-winning time in anyone's book, but then again it got me out for a run on a day when maybe I wouldn't have. Plus I now have a slow 5k PB that I should be easily able to beat in future parkruns. (Especially as I've been struggling with anemia, so curing that should give me some free speed :)
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