Tuesday 1st January 2019
parkrun #51 – Princes parkrun
Time: 22:15
My second ever parkrun was on New Year’s Day 2018 at Princes. I was still new to parkrunworld and didn’t know about the New Year’s Day Double (or NYD Double as it’s shortened to!).
New Year’s Day Double
On special occasions parkrun HQ allows events to take place on days other than Saturday (if the event teams are up for it and the landowners give permission). On these days the Event Director is allowed to set a different starting time ranging from 8.30am through to 11.00am. Because the times of neighbouring parkruns are staggered it’s possible to run an early one then jump into the car and get to another one in time to run that too!
On Christmas Day this is discouraged and you’re only allowed to register one result. If you cross the line a second time at a second Christmas Day event your result will be removed from the system and your time won’t count.
On New Year’s Day, however, you’re able to officially register two results. This means there are lots of parkrunners who get up early on New Year’s Day to run one parkrun then race to another in time for the start. Some NYD parkruns in London are close enough to run between them!
My first parkrun of New Year’s Day 2019 was 9.00am at St Helens, and my second one was at 10.30am at Princes. For some strange reason I managed to run my second 5K of the day faster than the first!
