a double dose of Bristol parkrun on New Year's Day, followed by a swift chaser at Hull 3 days later . .

Little Stoke parkrun 60 and Ashton Court parkrun 135 New Year's Day, Hull parkrun 200, 4 January 2014

The New Year began pretty much as it seems to have continued for the past week . . wet, wild and windy . . and cold . . a complete contrast to the final day of last year.

New Year's Day is the one day of the year when, if you're fortunate enough to live close to more than one parkrun, you might be able to run two in a day. Here in Bristol, for the first time ever, we were amongst those fortunate folk, as there was a Little Stoke parkrun at 9am, and one at Ashton Court at 10.30, with an easy 20ish minute drive between the two (despite which, Rich Cranswick and Ian Shepherd just kept on running, from the first finish to the second start line).

Little Stoke parkrun gets the New Year off to a great start . .

And so, in really vile weather, 143 of us took part in the 60th Little Stoke parkrun. We couldn't have done it without the wonderful volunteers, who as always ensured that yet another parkrun took place without a hitch. I found the run hard work . . despite the course being flat I struggled with my breathing yet again and was slower than I wanted to be. I spent a lot of the run wondering if I'd be able to cope with a second 5k, up and down Ashton Court's big hill. My cameras were in the car, in case I decided that one parkrun was enough and wanted to take the soft option and record the morning's second run. But I'd been looking forward to running two parkruns for the first time for so long and I wasn't going to pass up on the opportunity . . and besides, it really wasn't good photography weather.

how would we ever manage without our wonderful volunteers?

Geoff sets a new pb for a quick pre-parkrun briefing . .

Having completed one parkrun in a disappointing time . . but nevertheless having loved that warm parkrun feeling, I made my way over to Ashton Court where the weather hadn't got any better. There were 152 of us who listened to Geoff rattle through his pre-run briefing quicker than ever before, in the rain and wind and cold. 77 of us had run at Little Stoke, so we were already soaked to the skin. I can't praise the volunteers enough, they were simply amazing, enabling us to run in such awful conditions.

the start of the second leg of Bristol's first parkrun double . .

The run started and once again, I soon became breathless. The field seemed to spread out quite quickly, and as I crossed the golf course near the top of our parkrun, with the leading runners already charging down the hill, I looked around and it seemed to me to be as bleak a running experience as I could recall. I've been running for almost 30 years, in all sorts of weather, in all sorts of places. One of the worst occasions was the Taunton Marathon in 1998, where we ran all 26.2 miles in heavy driving rain, it just never let up and completing the race was a triumph over the weather as much as the distance.

the Taunton Marathon 1998 . . quite possibly the wettest event yet . . until today . .

I reckon that this 5k parkrun was as bleak and as testing a run as any I've ever done. I made it to the turn around point, wished Dave Engledew who was marshalling there a Happy New Year, turned round and just as I had the previous Saturday, whizzed down the hill to the finish almost as fast as I've ever done. Still a bit slow, mind you.

So that was two parkruns in one day. Hard work for everyone in any conditions but especially on the first day of 2014. Looking back though, extremely rewarding,

3 days later, on a regular parkrunday, and I was at my birth town parkrun, at East Park in Hull. I've run there 16 times before, but had somehow not visited at all during 2013, and it was good to be back, despite having brought the wind, the cold and the rain along with me.

It was a special occasion too, being the 200th Hull parkrun, Di's 150th parkrun, and the morning when, for the first time, one of Hull's under 14 parkrunners took part in their 100th event. Congratulations to all!

Much to my surprise I ran well this day. I set off faster than I'd intended, I managed to keep my breathing in order, and not only did I not slow down very much but I ran the final kilometre in the same time as the first. And finished in under 30 minutes for the first time in a long while. Almost a week later, and I still can't quite believe that I managed to run as I did. One thing perturbed me though . . the large number of male runners with their legs wrapped up warm. I of course wore shorts. I realise that it's no longer Grim, but are they getting soft up north?

Finally, after a brief warm down, it seemed that most of the 285 parkrunners found their way to the cafe, for a hot drink, plenty of cake, and much laughter and amusing conversation. I'm looking forward to returning in a couple of parkrundays' time . .

where there's a parkrun there are smiling faces . .

5k x 365 + 365 x 10k = very tired . . Tuesday 31 December 2013

That was a busy week, the one when we crossed from the old year to the new, with work, an extra day off, more work and then a weekend 234 miles from home . .

Monday and Tuesday were routine until suddenly in the middle of a telephone conversation with my boss, he said I could take the rest of the day off. It was "only" 2pm. Like a fool I asked if he was quite sure, and when he told me he was I switched everything off and bolted for the door before he could change his mind!

This was great. It was a gorgeous day, full of sunshine and blue sky. I'd missed the culmination of Big Kev's year of 5ks at Ashton Court, but I could still share the finale of Jim and Neil's year of 10ks, round the corner from Ashton Court at the Dovecote pub.

Dashed home, got changed, sorted out my cameras and jumped in the car. As I drove under the Suspension Bridge it dawned on me that Jim and his tribe would be crossing the Bridge . . a unique photo opportunity. So I turned round, went back up the hill, and parked close to the bridge.

 

I didn't have long to wait for the first group of runners, those intent on completing the entire 46 mile circuit of Bristol. By the time Jim and his entourage reached me it had begun to get dark (and cold) but Jim looked great as he led his friends across the bridge, and there were plenty of smiles on the faces of the runners behind him.

A little while later, it was a privilege to witness those first few runners complete their ultra . . and then, soon afterwards, be there to see Jim and Neil complete their amazing "minimum of 10k a day for 2013" challenge. Once we got into the pub, Jim soon found his way to the fire to thaw out, and many of us enjoyed a drink and a chat before we made our way home, or to a pub, or a party, to see the New Year in . .

more about Big Kev

more about Jim, Neil and Alfonso