parkrunday 9th March 2019
parkrun #62 – Chester parkrun (NENDY)
Time: 23:28
It was really nice to meet Rachel Varnam at Chester parkrun this morning.
Rachel is one of the core team at Billericay parkrun and was up in the North West visiting her brother Matthew who’s a PhD student at the University of Manchester. Last year Billericay parkrun had to cancel and Rachel was one of the main people responsible for organising the trip to run a Gavin and Stacey-themed event at Barry Island parkrun.
blog.parkrun.com/…/2…/11/07/gavin-and-stacey-parkrun
The start was more than a little chaotic. A marshal came along and stuck a ‘START’ marker in the ground so I went to stand next to it with a few others. Then a large group of people came along from the finish location which is where they held the first timers’ briefing (I didn’t know that…).
Frustratingly this meant I ended up starting right in the middle of the pack with lots of slower runners in front of me, including a Couch to 5K group! The path was narrow and it was really difficult to pass as people were spread out across the full width. The grass alongside the path was a quagmire so I avoided stepping off where possible.
We used the B course this morning because part of the main course was under water. This meant running part of the course on grass. I think after today I’m going to invest in a pair of trail-running shoes for those parkrun courses I know are going to be off-road.
I know I’m trying to get as many different parkruns under my belt as I chase membership of the Cowell Club, but I don’t mind adding Chester to my list of events to re-visit as I’d like to run the A course and start at the front!