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    Originally posted by Southport Zeb View Post
    I somehow managed to be the first finisher at Southport Parkrun on Saturday. Admittedly it's by some distance the slowest first finish they've had in the eighteen months that the event has been running, but I was still very happy with it. So the obvious way to celebrate is sharing with you my utterly arbitrary ranking of the various Parkrun courses I've done:

    23 - Penrith More playing fields. A few hills surrounding to have a look at and a loop round the outside of the town football ground.
    22 - Carlisle Hilly course on grass that seems liable to get very muddy at times. Not particularly memorable.
    19 - Highbury Fields An attractive enough venue in North London. However loses big points for being a very short course, so you end up doing five and a bit laps. The only course where I've really had to concentrate to make sure I did the right number of laps.
    7 - Wepre Located on the outskirts of Connah's Quay, a tough course but with a good mix of up and down. Starts next to a large earthwork that appears to look like a giant snake.
    Firstly and most importantly congratulations on the first finisher.

    You must have done Carlisle on the 'summer' course, the 'winter' course is all on tarmac but five laps not three (and actually clocks in at 5.2KM). I'm one of the few people that prefers the winter course cos I hate running on grass, particularly long wet grass. However, Carlisle is one of the least enjoyable courses I've done, and I only continue to do it out of discipline and convenience (I live less than a mile away).

    Penrith is at least flat but there is a grassy section and also I never like (at any distance) where additional 'bits' are thrown in to make up the distance, so those little shuttle run sections at Penrith pissed me off.

    Highbury Fields I quite enjoyed, the only one I've done in London and I went and had a look at (and a run round) the Emirates afterwards, before walking back through Islington to the hotel.

    Wepre I'm doing in a couple of weeks with my sister, she wants to do a parkrun in Wales and we are at Cheshire Oaks for the day.

    Others I've done:

    Warrington - this was my first, fairly flat and pleasant enough, round Victoria Park - I went back there last year and did a 15K which was essentially three laps of the parkrun course.

    St Helens - similar to Carlisle without the running on grass element, post race refreshments provided in a bandstand afterwards.

    Stretford - one of my favourites as it was dead flat but varied - once round an athletics track, twice round a park on paths, then another lap of the track - it was also at the time my best ever parkrun but I suspect it measured short.

    Drumchapel - worst ever, like running on an old style BMX track, up and down on forest trails where it was difficult to run the downs as they were so steep. This was however my highest ever parkrun finish, at 14th, on account of only 24 people doing it.

    Delamere Forest - fairly pleasant lollipop route through the forest, I caught it on a nice day but can imagine it can get messy.

    Prudhoe - fairly flat, basically two laps of forest paths, again weather was kind.

    Riverside (Chester le Street) - pleasant setting and flat, but far too busy for a course that was narrow in places.

    Workington - done mainly on cycle paths, fairly rural out & back, so no laps, nice straight finish on tarmac.

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      So, another run yesterday around the neighbourhood, and struggled again on my (slightly hilly) 5k loop. I'm doing this about once every week. It's not enough and my already poor running fitness is headed in reverse.

      Which means I'm on the verge of signing myself up for the San Diego Rock n Roll half again. It's the only half I've done, and the atmosphere's good and course is relatively easy (around these parts, there aren't many flat 13 mile stretches). Only by committing to a half can I force myself to do enough training to get back into shape again. (And by "shape" I mean a 26 minute 5k, and a 2hr 10 half marathon).

      It's been too easy to just go cycling regularly - because that's what I enjoy more. But cycling just doesn't make me suffer as much - and therefore do me as much good - as running does

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        Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
        So, another run yesterday around the neighbourhood, and struggled again on my (slightly hilly) 5k loop. I'm doing this about once every week. It's not enough and my already poor running fitness is headed in reverse.

        Which means I'm on the verge of signing myself up for the San Diego Rock n Roll half again. It's the only half I've done, and the atmosphere's good and course is relatively easy (around these parts, there aren't many flat 13 mile stretches). Only by committing to a half can I force myself to do enough training to get back into shape again. (And by "shape" I mean a 26 minute 5k, and a 2hr 10 half marathon).

        It's been too easy to just go cycling regularly - because that's what I enjoy more. But cycling just doesn't make me suffer as much - and therefore do me as much good - as running does
        Ooh - I'm doing the America's Finest City half in San Diego next August, for which I believe I have to report to Balboa Park no later than 5:30am to get shuttled to the start - an early start being required for obvious reasons for a race in San Diego in August. I didn't think to check the elevation profile.

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          The AFC half starts on Point Loma and finishes in Balboa Park. It's a big downhill at the start from the National Monument, and a lovely start to the run - but your knees and quads have to be prepared for three miles of downhill. Then there's a long flat stretch along the harbour. The trouble is that Balboa Park itself is up on a mesa and you have to get up there at the end of the run, and all the roads up to the top are pretty steep. It looks like that's the only one real uphill on the route, but it's right near the end, around mile 12...

          But, actually, it's not as bad as I remembered from last time I looked.

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            I think San Bernardinhault is kind of obligated to run with you, Walt.

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              Thanks for all the parkrun reviews. They may be useful in the future although the only one that I am really likely to do is the boring sounding Highbury Fields one.

              I haven't done the one in Porthcawl where I grew up but I ran the course as part of a 6 mile run I did a year or two back and the coastal route is fantastic if a bit hilly and windy.

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                Originally posted by caja-dglh View Post
                I think San Bernardinhault is kind of obligated to run with you, Walt.

                If I do, Walt will utterly crush me. He trains in Cumbrian hills. My only possible edge would be if I train through a super-hot summer and Walt hasn't seen the sun for 9 months. But even then, it's relatively coastal in San Diego so the temperatures rarely get into the genuinely hot.

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                  Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                  If I do, Walt will utterly crush me. He trains in Cumbrian hills. My only possible edge would be if I train through a super-hot summer and Walt hasn't seen the sun for 9 months. But even then, it's relatively coastal in San Diego so the temperatures rarely get into the genuinely hot.
                  No intent of obligation there, rest assured! I'm not a good hill runner, I've got used to them more but anything too steep just pisses me off. As an example on Sunday I'm driving further, to run further, on a flat course instead of a hilly bastard Lake District course cos its probably my last proper race of the year and I can't face a hilly one to finish.

                  I'll check out the profile, if it's a long gradual rise I'll be ok but if it's steep I'll just have to curse and get on with it. I will struggle in any sort of heat, as documented from earlier in the summer I went through a phase of really warm half marathons and didn't relish them.

                  The AFC should be the final leg of a half marathon triple, one in LA (tbc, but if it falls through I've got a back up) on the first weekend in August, then the Bridge of the Gods half the following weekend (as a 'Wild' fanboy, this is the centre piece of the whole trip) and the AFC to finish. Baseball, theme parks and other stuff filling in the midweeks.

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                    That sounds like a fantastic trip. I'll commit to nothing at this point, but if I'm in town in August, and in half-marathon shape...

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                      Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                      That sounds like a fantastic trip. I'll commit to nothing at this point, but if I'm in town in August, and in half-marathon shape...
                      Cheers its shaping up to be a good trip, just need to sort a few details (not least booking the flights) but I do know we'll be ticking off the Padres on either the Friday or Saturday (before race day) if you are around.

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                        Just back from today's run. It's going to take a lot of work to get in shape for even an easy half.

                        Also, PM for WFD.

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                          Again, I have to ask what sort of monster we have created in WFD. Amazing stuff.

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                            Originally posted by Bordeaux Education View Post
                            Again, I have to ask what sort of monster we have created in WFD. Amazing stuff.
                            That's nothing, you should hear me play piano...

                            Last proper race of the year on Sunday, after which I've got two months off the early morning Sunday circuit (apart from a local Santa Dash). I'll still do Parkrun most weeks, and a single weekly midweek run, but not putting in any longer runs until the Christmas break. Some interesting stuff lined up for next year though.

                            Thanks for all the encouragement along the way, it's all been incredibly valuable.

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                              This morning I did the Preston 10 Mile Race. It's a two lap course, with the first half of each lap being a fairly present run through the villages of Hutton, Longton and Walmer Bridge. The second half is less exciting, being a run up the side of a dual carriageway. First time I've done a race this long and I was happy with my time of 1.11:34. A lovely day for running, a bit cold at the start but it soon warmed up in the sun.

                              Next race for me will be back in Southport for the Mad Dog 10k at the start of February.

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                                Originally posted by Southport Zeb View Post
                                This morning I did the Preston 10 Mile Race. It's a two lap course, with the first half of each lap being a fairly present run through the villages of Hutton, Longton and Walmer Bridge. The second half is less exciting, being a run up the side of a dual carriageway. First time I've done a race this long and I was happy with my time of 1.11:34. A lovely day for running, a bit cold at the start but it soon warmed up in the sun.

                                Next race for me will be back in Southport for the Mad Dog 10k at the start of February.
                                I nearly entered that, this weekend has been the Christmas shopping weekend and I did think about doing it on the way home but instead opted for an earlier end to the season (see above) and a Saturday night spent drinking wine and eating steak instead. Being away also meant missing the Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile race, which I would have liked to have done.

                                We didn't do Wepre park run yesterday, sis didn't fancy a hilly course and we did Erddig instead. It wasn't much of a laugh, narrow and muddy out and back section before a longer loop which opened up a lot more, apart from a narrow path through a wood. Nasty hill at the end. It was a nice setting, unfortunately for a lot of the time you couldn't take it in cos you had to be right on top of where you were putting your feet. Ticked off though, and my sis got a Welsh one done (she's hatching a plan to go to Poland next year to 'get a Z' and complete the alphabet).

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                                  Originally posted by Southport Zeb View Post
                                  This morning I did the Preston 10 Mile Race. It's a two lap course, with the first half of each lap being a fairly present run through the villages of Hutton, Longton and Walmer Bridge. The second half is less exciting, being a run up the side of a dual carriageway. First time I've done a race this long and I was happy with my time of 1.11:34.
                                  Well done, excellent time for a first 10M!

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                                    Doing the "run in the dark "here in Dublin tonight, miserable weather but might thin out the crowd, 9000 people signed up for a 5k and 10k which is a ridiculous number to let take part, hopefully I can get a clear run at it anyway

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                                      Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post
                                      Doing the "run in the dark "here in Dublin tonight, miserable weather but might thin out the crowd, 9000 people signed up for a 5k and 10k which is a ridiculous number to let take part, hopefully I can get a clear run at it anyway
                                      Good luck - if we had that round here this week we could have ran it at noon and still met the description...!

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                                        Thanks, I'll let everyone know how I got on

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                                          Originally posted by elguapo4 View Post
                                          Doing the "run in the dark "here in Dublin tonight, miserable weather but might thin out the crowd, 9000 people signed up for a 5k and 10k which is a ridiculous number to let take part, hopefully I can get a clear run at it anyway
                                          Well, if it's really dark, you could always take a shortcut through the woods or something (get a ride off a motorcyclist?), that’ll dramatically improve your time. Like this guy did near me:

                                          A marathon runner has been forced to hand back his medal, after witnesses spotted him catching the bus to the finishing line.

                                          When I did my military service in the French air force* nearly 30 years ago, during the training period (which lasted 5 weeks) one day, all fucking day, we had to do this really long (25 kms?) and complicated walk in the country side while carrying a heavy rucksack, with some workshops along the way, and (thank God for that as it turned out) some sort of military orienteering challenge where they left you to your own devices for a few hours with a compass etc. and you had to make your own way unsupervised to a checkpoint, a bit like in the programme Survivor.

                                          That day happened to be a cold, rainy autumn day. I was with two "aviateur" colleagues ("aviateur" was the name of your rank as a conscript in the French RAF, it sounded very fancy, very Papy Boyington or Antoine de Saint Exupéry-ish, but you never were allowed anywhere near a sodding plane unfortunately, maybe just a Transall if you were lucky – those big military transport aircrafts – if you happened to be near an empty one, and that was just to seek shelter if it rained or have a crafty no-filter Gauloises, because you were too fucking skint to afford proper tabs like Gauloises avec filtre), anyway, it wasn’t even mid morning and we were already seriously narked with all that pointless military walking shite, so the orienteering thing was a godsend for us as it was a golden opportunity to shirk and cheat. We soon ended in a bar in the middle of nowhere, a customer then gave us a lift towards the next "workshop" checkpoint, where we had to shoot at targets with a Famas (French assault rifle) in a military camp in the woods.

                                          I remember getting to that checkpoint quite tipsy, missing every target and unintentionally pissing off a particularly vile sergeant major who had a right go at me, and my friend quietly said something funny to me at that point, it gave me the giggles and the fucker (this sergeant major) thought I was taking the mick, he stuck his face to mine and shouted at me like a demented nutcase, something like "Where the hell do you think you are Aviator Kev7? Do you think you’re on a holiday camp here?" (the October contingent of conscripts was full of students, and some sub-officers (warrant officers?) really disliked students – unpatriotic softie lefties/commies to them –and gave us grief, but most were perfectly fine with us though, however those sub-officers who were crackers seemed really off-the-charts deranged).

                                          Anyway elguapo, good luck in the dark (and do take that opportunity to cheat if you have one, you may never run in the dark again).



                                          [*Well, a very truncated military service as after 2 months, I pretended I wanted to commit suicide and they discharged me pretty chop chop, after sending me to a military hospital for 4 days of observation. Funny thing is, I didn’t mind my military service at all, well, I mean the training period for 5 weeks, in fact it was good fun most days, it really wasn’t very strict (the actual army were much harsher on conscripts, and you were often sent to Alsace-Lorraine and all these cold places as, logically enough, there were loads of army bases and installations there but the air force was pretty soft), it was mostly classes in proper classrooms, theory about defence stuff, a bit of practice on how to march for the end of training official military parade in front of our families, a few light military and shooting drills, the odd football tournament etc. Whatever physical stuff there was, it wasn’t very taxing, there was none of the punishing assault courses and crawling in muddy fields that conscript friends of mine in the territorial army had to do in the middle of the night.

                                          However, my big beef was that after the 5 week-long training period I seriously objected to being paid a pathetic £10 a week for doing a very boring full-time job on the air base whilst so many professional air personnel did little and pranced about (after the training period, you were given a F/T job on the base, it could be anything, it vaguely depended on your professional competence, you could be asked to do the cooking, or be a hairdresser, a mechanic, an accountant etc.). Mind, a skinhead university friend of mine at the time only lasted a few hours at the pre-selection stage (where you first go to for 1 day when you're 18-19, or older if you're a student, they assess you, you do cognitive tests etc.). That nutty friend of mine simply told them, very calmly: "I don’t mind doing my military service at all, I love discipline and I admire army people but I have one request though: I need to be on my own in the base with a few army people because I really really can’t stand groups," He was immediately subjected to a more psychological examination that morning and instantly "réformé P4" by the base doctors, which basically stood for "psychiatrically unstable", i.e that guy must absofuckinglutely be exempted from military service or we will have a serious problem Houston]
                                          Last edited by Pérou Flaquettes; 22-11-2017, 20:37.

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                                            So I did the run, bloody shambles tbh, as I said earlier they let too many people enter so we started 15 minutes late leaving those of us who turned up at the right time to hang around in the cold (it had stopped raining thank fuck , that and the relentlessly cheery dj was getting on my tits when hundreds of late arrivals turned up just before the start, here I'll explain; there were four corrals for starters based on estimated finish times, white for the elite runners, yellow for 40 to 50 minutes, red (my group ) for 50 to 55 and blue for the walkers and the rest, unfortunately the most convenient area to start from was the yellow group so everyone charged in there meaning you had hundreds of people starting way above their ability. Long story short I spent the first 5 kms dodging through human traffic giving me a final time of 51 minutes, well outside what I can do. Goody bag was shite as well

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                                              I have no adventures to report, 2018's racing campaign starts early, so we'll get there in due course (no pun).

                                              I'm digging up the thread purely to alert Southport Zeb to a new parkrun starting in Dumfries next week. This is significant for parkrun tourists in that it fills in a big geographical gap where previously there wasn't a parkrun within an hours drive.

                                              It's also on the Crichton campus (and I think they are calling it Crichton parkrun rather than Dumfries), where I worked for many years and a great setting. Should be entirely on tarmac and, while not flat, it'll be pretty.

                                              Me and my sis are aiming to do the inaugural next week, I'll report back if we do.

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                                                Oh, that reminds me - I just about did my 50th parkrun in my 50th year. Completing my 51st in my 51st year should be easier.

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                                                  Did my last run of the year today, it was enlivened by passing an arguing couple (complete with three kids in tow ), as I did she shouted "you're fuckin useless " directly into my ear, I presume it was meant for the gormless looking mouth breather with her but it could also be a critique of my running style, I didn't stop to ask

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                                                    Being for the benefit of Mr Zeb (and any other parkrun tourists who might find themselves in this corner of the country).

                                                    As planned, did the inaugural Crichton parkrun in Dumfries. I worked on the Crichton estate for many years, so it was all a bit George Bailey, running past my old offices, eating places and old lunchtime walking routes. It is a great setting though, particularly at this time of year with the sun just coming up behind the trees. Route was a bit fiddly, and quite slopy (the whole estate is built in a hill, so this was inevitable, unless they opted for a multi lap route of the flatter bit. Anyway, recommended, and a little coffee bar not far from the finish.

                                                    Then driving back my sister said you know they are starting a new one in Whinlatter Forest next week, I said oh really, shall we do it, and she said I'm working but you go and scope it out. Well for fucks sake. 730 feet of climbing, mainly in the first two miles. Large outer loop, and smaller inner loop, with some of the terrain on the inner loop being a bit too dangerous for my liking - and then the surprise of runners coming towards us on narrow forest paths. What had happened was that the first half of the field got sent the wrong way by mistake, compounded by the other half being sent the right way, and we all met in the forest. The marshall involved was mortified and everyone laughed it off but it wasn't a great start for a new run. Oh and the finish was higher than the start. One for the hardcore, might be a way of getting the local fell running community more into parkrun, but I'll not revisit much.

                                                    Finally, having got used to getting up a bit earlier on a Saturday, I went to Keswick parkrun for the first time, and this was more like it. Out and back, up and down but very scenic, following bits of the old Keswick to Threkeld railway line. Another gripe at Whinlatter was that it was £2.90 to park, and because the card reader wasn't working, I had to put four quid in, with no change. At Keswick I was expecting to pay two quid but the machine wasn't working and there was a notice saying no ticket needed.

                                                    I'll return to Carlisle for a couple of weeks but I'm fairly sick of it so will go on tour again soon. They got their record turnout last week while I was at Whinlatter, 287 - good stuff and can't knock it but it's too many for that course, particularly on the winter course.

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