Parkrun Win!

Just a few things to report today.  First, Runuary is still going well, for me at least.  I've heard from a couple of people who seem to be developing a few niggles.  I hope for their sake it isn't serious and that they are both sensible about how they proceed.  Over the first week of Runuary I completed a total of 42 miles, which I'm happy with, considering I was tapering towards marathon number 1 of the year, which takes place tomorrow.  My longest run in the first week was 12.5 miles, and my shortest run was 4 miles.  I experienced just about every possible type of weather imaginable, and on one occasion all during one run, from unbelievable sunshine in January to high winds, heavy rain and hail.  But I would still say it has been fun.

Today was the 1st birthday of Wimpole parkrun.  I've been meaning to try out the Wimpole 5k for some time, but hearing that there would be free birthday cake afterwards was all the incentive I needed to make today my debut.  It would seem I wasn't alone as the turnout today was 207 people, compared to 122 the previous week.

The Wimpole run is a very different experience to Milton.  Milton is completely flat and entirely on a well trodden path, although this can get very muddy after heavy rain.  The Wimpole run starts on a tarmac road for about 1km, but then is almost entirely on rough grassland with very little evidence that anyone has every walked or run there before.  The ground seemed completely water logged and very slippery in parts.  Many fools attempt to run in these conditions in road shoes.  I was also told that some people tried to avoid the puddles!  The ground was so wet that maintaining dry feet just wasn't going to be an option.  The other big difference to Milton is that Wimpole is hilly.  I don't just mean Cambridgeshire hilly.  I'm not talking about a pimple on an otherwise flat landscape.  At about the 2km point there is a proper hill that saps the energy out of your legs and has your lungs working to near bursting point.  

I was in first position at the start of the hill, but was then overtaken by a whipper-snapper towards the top of the climb.  I kept him in my sights and found myself overtaking him again on the descent the other side.  He never came anywhere near me again.  The landscape tilted upwards again at about 4km, but the second rise wasn't so steep.  I then turned the corner to run downhill past Wimpole Hall to see ahead of me two friends who cheered me on at the tops of their voices.  Thank you Paul and Shelley.  After passing Paul and Shelley I probably had about 500m to go to the finish, which was quite possibly the hardest 500m of my life.  As I turned the last corner I looked over my shoulder and knew the runner in second place wouldn't catch me.  And so, at my very first appearance I managed to win the Wimpole parkrun, which is only my second ever parkrun win.  Ruth reckons the usual winners probably expected lots of newbies like me to turn up for the anniversary run and so stayed away.  That's a measure of the respect I get from my partner!

Start of the 1st anniversary Wimpole Estate parkrun

Yours truely with the finish in sight

With about 200m to go and a young whipper-snapper about 10 seconds behind me.

Race director, Richard Lyle, cutting into the birthday cake.

Enjoying tea and cake with friends after a run,
what more could you want from life?

The last thing I have to report is that I have decided that this year I will be raising funds for the British Red Cross.  Given that I plan to run 26 marathons or ultra marathons I feel that this is a significant enough challenge to warrant the collection of a few of your pennies for a good cause. I thought long and hard about who I'd want to raise money for this year. For some reason I kept thinking of the ongoing troubles in Syria and also about the recent typhoon that has devasted parts of the Philippines. I wondered if I could somehow help raise money for both causes. Then it struck me that whenever there is a catastrophe anywhere in the world then the British Red Cross are always there to help. So it seems fitting that I should be undertaking my biggest running challenge to help an organisation who help others who are often left homeless and with no possessions as they have had to either run away from conflict or from a natural disaster in order to save their lives.  If you'd like to read about the seven fundamental principles of the Red Cross you can do so here: http://www.redcross.org.uk/principles.  Now all I need to do is set up a JustGiving page.