Digested read: Colwick parkrun today for some tourism. It was hot stuff. We were transported to Hawaii. Bagged the North Pacific too. A good morning’s parkrun trawling.
Undigested read:
Put your feet up and get yourself a cocktail, it’s going to be a long one 🙂
I’m still on the parkrun tourism trail for now. Making the most of the longer summer days to go a bit further afield. Smiley Selfie Queen suggested Colwick parkrun for this saturday. It’s within range of Sheffield and also handily starts with a c. This is quite brilliant for getting one sea/ c nearer to completing the Running Challenges Pirate Challenge and with it the prospect of a virtual badge only I will ever see. Sigh, what a giddy day that will be for me, when I have sailed each of those seven seas to complement my already secured arrr!, got that eons ago at Rother Valley parkrun. If I do Colwick parkrun, as long as I don’t forget my barcode, that treasure will be within my reach. For the parkrunning challenges seeker, the pirates’ chest of gold manifests like this:
Pirates! – Run seven Cs and an R (say it out loud).
You can see the appeal I’m sure.
Result. Well worth interrupting the in any case unattainable parkrun alphabet challenge for methinks. Colwick parkrun is it seems the parkrun which just keeps on giving. As if these twin wins of being in reasonable travelling distance and offering up a much needed ‘c’ were not enough, it had even more joys up its sleeve. With just a tad bit of Facebook stalking on my part (don’t judge me, that is what Facebook was invented for), I discovered by happy coincidence, the very day we planned to visit was their Hawaiian shirt parkrunday. This would involve not only the donning of optional(ish) Hawaiian shirts (the clue is in the naming of the event) but also a ‘hotly contested “Tropical Fruit PBs” ‘ contest! I know, don’t you just love the sound of this parkrun? Go on, add it to your ‘parkrun to do’ list right now before you forget. I was definitely up for Hawaiian shirt wearing, and whilst I personally don’t want to introduce any element of competition with others into my own parkrun experience, I can still enjoy watching on in wonder as others find an outlet for their competitive zeal. There is quite a backstory to this contest it seems, and fyi, because it is important, a Colwick parkrun post in the build up to this saturday’s event informed interested parties of the following context in advance of the 2019 gathering:
2017’s pineapple and fruit basket records (set by Steve Shanks and SuperKev respectively) remain unchallenged, as does Dave Greenwood’s contentious watermelon record from the same year (he dropped it en-route and it broke in half!).
Notable 2018 PBs were achieved in the following categories: physalis (Jessica Shanks), double coconut (Steve Shanks), coconut relay (Ashton mother and son), orange (Adam Akbar), pomegranate (Arry Nathan), tomato (Karen Archer, showing excellent knowledge of what constitutes a fruit. Hopefully it didn’t end up in a fruit salad), and date (Claire O’Neill).
The pineapple category was well represented last year with solo pineapple (Lisa Chan), tinned pineapple (Sam Rickett) and plastic pineapple filled with jelly babies (the hopefully DBS-checked Bernard Jarvis).
Also last year, Marlon Dunkley (double apricot) and Lou Read (single cherry) abided by the rules of the sport which stipulate that you run around with your fruit in your hand rather than in your in your stomach, and refrained from tucking in until over the finish line. This rule was less well respected by Graham Moffat and Martin Phillips which saw them downgraded from the bunched grape to the single grape category due to on-course consumption.
The Wards (father and son) dominated the citrus fruit category, and high participation was also noted in the competitive fields of banana (Rupert Killik, Evans father & son) and passionfruit (Jacqui Measures and Hannah Roberts).
I could hardly contain myself. parkrun is a run not a race, but who wouldn’t appreciate the inclusion of a tournament with a tropical twist to further heighten the intoxicating excitement of taking part in this iconic event. That’s the great thing about parkrun, wherever in the world you rock up on parkrunday, as long as you rock up at a parkrun venue at the appropriate time, you are guaranteed a micro-adventure that will set your pulse raising and restore your faith in the world, Fact. wherever in the world. If you don’t believe me, check out some of the cool dudes from last year. This is probably happening at a parkrun near you, and if it isn’t then you yourself can make it so with some minor tweaks to your running kit. Just do it! Be the change you want to see in the world. It can all start with you and your expression of your individual style through parkrun fashion.
Who wouldn’t want to parkrun party with this lot. It was going to be epic!
And yet there is still more! I’m not gonna lie, in my quest to sail the seven ‘c’s in order to secure the pre-requisite number of parkruns beginning with the letter c, to add to one beginning with r and with it the coveted pirates badge, I’ve not previously paid all that much attention to which particular sea each c in seaquence was covered by each respective run. On this occasion though, game changer. There was no doubt about it, Colwick parkrun‘s sea has to be the North Pacific (other seas are available) as the c in question was Colwick parkrun, an they are an Hawaiian themed event, fact. By which I mean that today was their Hawaiian themed event. What’s more as I can confidently report back that at 100% of the parkruns I’ve attended at Colwick parkrun everyone who was anyone was sporting a Hawaiian shirt or clutching some tropical fruit, or at the very least wearing a sunny smile, so that puts it firmly on the map as the North Pacific sea c. Look:
This exactitude pleases me. It’s the first time it’s happened. I don’t know if it achievable at other parkruns, I’ll have to mull that over. I mean Crosby parkrun is at the seaside I suppose, but lovely as it is, not sure the Irish Sea has entirely the same gravitas as those named in the official seven seas. No offence meant, just speaking my mind… it had other qualities. Bare-bottomed statues and sand and all sorts of things. But, bottom line with respect to my Colwick parkrun expectations was that this was all very exciting!
Out of interest, can you name the seven seas? I found it harder than I thought, which is embarrassing…
Anyway, enough of pub quiz question challenges, back to my pre parkrun research, facilities looked good, there’s parking, loos, yep, that’ll do. Oh hang on, I suppose you want to know about the course. You usually do. Well, the course blah de blah on their official Colwick parkrun webpage describes it thus:
The parkrun course at Colwick Country Park is 5km long and is made up of 1 lap of the main lake and 2 laps of the smaller West lake. The route is mainly on informally surfaced paths combined with short road and grass sections. The run starts alongside the Colwick Adventure Centre and the west lake and follows the main path clockwise around the smaller west lake. After approximately two thirds of a lap of the lake runners split off to the left through the woods to then complete a lap of the larger main lake. Following the lakeside path clockwise, runners will reach the main entrance and fishing lodge, proceed along the straight main drive and then continue clockwise on round the south shore of the lake and past the marina. On nearing the Adventure Centre again the route will split left and complete a further whole lap of the small lake before returning to the start.
and it looks like this, which I think is a bit like a chef wearing a hat, just the head and hat bit:
Yep, bit confused about the course descriptor, but sounding like it’s not too much repetition, and so the stars were aligning nicely, this was going to be a cool parkrun. Spoiler alert, it wasn’t cool at all, it was actually boiling hot, hot stuff in fact, but all the better for that as you shall find out if you’ll just stop interrupting me and let me crack on with explaining it all to you.
So the day dawned, over in Colwick Country park it was looking like this – I know this, because Colwick parkrun kindly shared a couple of early morning photos later on. Nice, eh?
Meanwhile, back in Sheffield, I donned my Hawaiian shirt, and pink feather boa, and pink fascinator and pink leg warmers and pink fingerless gloves, as you do. Fortunately my neighbours already regard me as eccentric, so I didn’t need to cover myself with a blanket rushing from house to car or anything. The drive to Nottingham was OK, in a ‘ohmygawd why am I going round and round Nottingham town centre sort of way’. There was one bit, where I followed the sat nav and honestly thought I’d ended up in a Premier Inn carpark as I trustingly followed city-link signs. Thank goodness I don’t drive an HGV, I was having a moment of insight into why big lorries get stuck on hills or end up driving over the edge of harbour walls because of blindly falling into line with what the sat nav said. I didn’t want to end up going viral for a sat nav fail…
Amazingly, it did seem to be the right way, and, as a bonus I got a nice roundabout surprise, not quite in the same league as the centaur en route to Isabel Trail parkrun, but some very nice gee gees that from a distance really did look like they’d just strayed onto the roundabout for a bit of an early morning grazing session.
I’ve always been a bit sniffy about the idea of a calendar featuring favourite roundabouts of the uk, but I’m beginning to think this is au contraire, a gap in the market just screaming out for an entrepreneur to make it so. No, hang on wait, unbelievably I’m not the first, this is already a thing. Oh well, good to know that the organisation roundabouts of Britain already exists and has a shop dealing in not just calendars, but key-fobs coasters and probably fridge magnets too. Catering for all your British roundabout novelty gift needs, that’s Christmas sorted and we are only just at the end of summer.
Eventually, through late summer mists, I arrived at Colwick park. Oh wow! This I did not expect at all. You dodge down a seemingly urban side street and come upon this lakeside park. It was very impressive. I was greeted by the most friendly ambassador ever on car park shed duty. I’d read on the Colwick Country park website that parking is £2 for the day, and assumed it was an error on the Colwick parkrun page where it said it was just £1.50 but you needed the right change. Anyway dear reader, it turns out that it is just £1.50 as a parkrun special rate, and the reason you need the right money is because the machine is set up for £2 which is the normal charge. This was explained to me by the nice man. He also explained the parkrun route, the park amenities – you can do open water swimming and kayaking and water boarding – no, wait, paddle boarding, which I think is different. There were geese, and a waterside view, and it was all looking great. I was given directions where to go to park and generally made to feel most welcome. I have a feeling I was amongst the first to arrive, so whether or not he was able to keep up that degree of personalised welcome for everyone who followed on after me I just don’t know, but I was impressed. Thank you nice Colwick park car park man,
Incidentally, it was only as I pulled away I remembered I was wearing all my Hawaiian themed regalia and he’d barely registered it, let alone remarked on it, neither of us had. I was increasingly forming the view that the Colwick parkrunners dress in this kind of gear all the time, why wouldn’t they, when it brightens any day. What other possible explanation could there be for his nonchalance, other than having completely desensitised to the appearance of colourfully and flamboyantly dressed parkrunners week after week.
So I trundled down the road really, really slowly past the lake and taking in the sights along the route. A veritable mariner at one point, TOILETS – always a joy to behold in advance of any parkrun, and eventually made it to the car park. There was lots of space, and a few people already gathering. A few minutes later Smiley Selfie Queen appeared with her companion of choice for the morning. It was a weird that we’d not all come together from Sheffield, but she and her running buddy are way faster than me, and were in a hurry to get away after the parkrun, so it seemed the least stressful option was to go separately, but cram in our mandatory selfie shots pre-run if possible.
Pre parkrun proper cometh parkfaff. An important and integral part of any parkrun morning, but particularly so when touristing. It’s a busy time, that pre-parkrun parkfaffing. You know what I mean yes? You aren’t sure? Well, let’s just say that as surely as parkrun takes place on a saturday, parkfaff takes place immediately prior (and post) to it. We all needed the loo, so there was the what to do with our water, where was the start, what are you wearing faff to be conducted and negotiated before we went in search of our pre-parkrun precautionary pees. It was back the way we’d come. Smart parkrunners would have parked up briefly and nipped in the loos before driving down to the start/finish area car parks. However, on the plus side, this would mean we would be having our pees nearer in time to parkrun commencement, always an important consideration on such occasions. Also, the walk down gave us a chance to appreciate our surroundings. It was promising to be a bright sunshiney day, and there was a mist that gave a glorious and magical ambience to everything. Also there was a retro playground horse. Bit of an equine them to the morning it seems. Well, not to the same extent as an Hawaiian theme, but I daresay you’ll catch my drift…
Toilets were adequate, but no soap in the loos and the flushes gave up pretty quickly, but hey ho, so grateful to see them they were minor inconveniences for the conveniences.
We sauntered back to the start, heartened to see other dressed up and fruit-carrying runners arriving and hi-vis volunteers striding out on course set up duties. Exciting!
So then we followed the arrows to the start, and a colourful line up greeted us. A huge climbing tower that reminded me of the rigging of a tall ship towered over us. Hi-vis heroes resplendent with floral garlands milled and chilled amongst parkrunners in their Hawaiian best, clutching optional tropical fruits. It was chatty and friendly, and well organised too. There were boats moored up beside us, the other side of a barrier of rather marvellous bulrushes. It definitely had a party vibe. Oh, and it was easy to find the start from the car park, if you didn’t feel comfortable tailgating the other arriving runners, there was always the directional arrow strategically positioned to guide you.
After roaming about a bit, gawping at the other Hawaiian shirt wearing runners (I wonder if anyone in Hawaii does actually wear shirts like these at all), it was over for the first timers’ briefing. A few of us formed a cheery gaggle, and were given an effusive welcome – signed, FYI, to this special day. We were told that if any of us were without suitable attire and wishing to join the fun, they had a heap of lei garlands from which we could freely borrow. More evidence that they dress themselves up like this every week why else would you have an ikea bag full of lei as part of your mandatory parkrun kit for the core team, along with the defibrillator, hi-vis tabards and inflatable dolphin? Well quite, I rest my case. In any event, the point is, if for some inexplicable reason you’d embarrassed yourself by arriving garlandless, or your dog had eaten your lei, they had some stuff put aside for you specially. A bit like wearing old sports kit in school if you forgot your PE stuff, only much more fun, much more appealing and with less congealed second hand sweat presumably. I can’t be 100% sure about that as I didn’t make use of this resource, but I’m reasonably confident. Anyway, sunshine is a natural disinfectant is it not? It’d be fine. Way better than missing out.
The course was explained, along with the visual aid of a map. Courses never really make sense to me until after I’ve done them. I just logged the key bit of information ‘keep the lake to your right and you can’t go wrong‘. Right, just keep the water to my right, that’s easy enough. Could see the water and the boats from where we were standing. This was going to be a breeze! There were a fair few tourists, but a few ‘real’ first timers, so they stayed behind for an extra parkrun tutorial, whilst the rest of us continued with our parkrun milling and chilling.
Then, it was the Run Director’s briefing. This was signed as well, which was good to see, though I do wish I’d paid more attention to what the sign was for ‘Hawaiian shirt’, bet it was something cool. The RD took advantage of the slope to position herself and she also had a megaphone as well as some hi-vis heroes waving ‘be quiet’ paddles.
It was a cheery briefing, and reasonably attentive crowd of parkrunners which made a change. Inevitably some background babble, but not so much I couldn’t hear what was going on. Welcomes were given and thanks to the marshals. There were shout outs for tourists. Whilst having hailed from Sheffield did get a bit of a cheer, those parkrunners who’d come from Italy won that part of the day. It seemed a really friendly parkrun, just comfy. There were shout outs for milestones and birthdays and cake. Instructions re fruit pbs, and best of all, a presentation to two of their very own parkrun royalty, one Roy, has his own marshal point on the course, and has been absent for a while due to illness, He and Jacqui were warmly welcomed back with a big cheer and a presentation package, which they received wreathed in smiles as well as lei garlands. This presentation brought a bit of a lump to my throat because my mum has Elisabeth’s corner at Bushy parkrun, and she was very ill and missed some months, but was similarly welcomed back with a cheer when well enough to do so. She gets a Bushy parkrun run report mention most weeks which brings me joy. I never thought she’d have made it back to her spot again, it’s great that she’s still there and part of the action week in week out.
I know how traumatic that time was for us. I wondered what Roy and Jacqui might have been through, but know how fab it is to be restored to your parkrun family. Families of choice are the best! They looked happy to be welcomed home!
Yep, I’d say the locals are friendly. It does seem to be that folk generally are friendlier the further north you get. Pathologically friendly sometimes, if you get lucky. I’ve never been more grateful for anything than finally settling in Sheffield. Yes, yes, it is a stereotype, but there is some truth in the one about it being generally friendlier up north, and although it’s perhaps pushing it to call Nottingham ‘north’, even if from a southerner’s perspective it is north of Watford Gap service station which is the generally accepted cut off for the London centric. Personally, now I’m a Sheffielder, Nottingham is basically ‘in the south’ but I still feel they gave northerners everywhere a run for their money in terms of their friendliness quotient. This therefore qualifies sufficiently for me to use it as an excuse for including this video about a northerner terrifying Londoners by saying ‘hello’, because it pleases me. My blog post, I can do what I like. I reckon this Northerner may have been misidentified, could easily have been a Colwick parkrunner instead. I can’t be absolutely positive of course, but they do seem to be that sort of proactively friendly type that couldn’t be trusted not to make eye contact on the London tube…
parkfaff continued briefly, and I noticed others bagging parkrun selfies prior to mustering at the start line.
Right, at the start, keep the water on my right, where’s the water again – oh right, there it is with the boats:
So why is everyone facing the wrong way apart from me? Why am I surrounded by faster looking runners than normal? Something just didn’t feel quiet…
Dear reader, learn from me, at the start point, there is water to the right of you and water to the left. Basically, water, water everywhere – and not a drop to drink on account of the blue-green algae – but more importantly you can’t see the actual lake at this point, because it’s obscured by a big hill with the adventure centre on top of it. Astonishingly, rather than being the only one in the right I was completely in the wrong. Who’d have guessed? Confused, when the cry went up for awf, I was swept up in a stampede of runners, and in amongst them I ran too, at what was for me a fair old sprint.
It was all good natured which was just as well. There was a tarmac path which most stuck too, but as soon as there was a border of grass I moved out of the way and took some photos. Due to my misunderstanding early on, I was even ahead of Smiley Selfie Queen, so got some shots of her as she sprinted by and left me for dust, not for the first time.
So off we went, round the little diddy lake for the first circuit, you go along an open bit, through a tree lined bit, and then there is a turn tighter than a right-angle so you get a great view faster runners streaming ahead towards what I now know to be Roy’s split.
The marshal at the split didn’t look all that much like Roy to be fair, but they were doing their best, and even though only deputising for the main man, the high vis superstar did a great job of directionally pointing, cheering and clapping the parkrunners by. She had big boots to fill, but was doing great. And this was just the first lap, she had to completely reposition herself for lap two! Quite a lot of responsibility to take on here, but dear reader, spoiler alert, she totally nailed it. Bravo!
Obviously, I had to stop to take photos along the way, if I hadn’t I’m sure I’d have pulled a sub 20, but hey ho, priorities. It was ridiculously hot out there, and the sunlight was so bright, even though it looked gorgeous, it was quite hard to get decent shots as everything was just bleached out. Still, you’ll get the gist. Here is a cheering and cheery trio of marshals on a hill for example.
and on we went
resisted the urge for a quick sit-down and a picnic on a handily positioned bench
paused to check out the bat carvery. Not that sort of carvery, you aren’t supposed to eat them, just admire the woodcraft:
onwards, you can definitely see the lake properly on the right now. Follow the run signs, was that a cormorant?
Try not to heave at the stench coming from the water. At least I hope it was coming from the water, it was either that, or a not very well concealed corpse being left to rot by the wayside. Is that a consequence of the blue-green algae I wondered? You know what, it looked lovely, but personally I wouldn’t want to be taking a dip in that pool of water any time soon.
Then after a bit, you emerge alongside the entrance where I met the friendly car-park attendant earlier. More marshals, operating in pairs for safety purposes I imagine. I don’t know if they always do this, or if it was to have a witness on hand in case of any fruit-related disputes in relation to the competition taking place. I daresay they don’t quite have the budget for Video Assistant Referees (VARs) to cover a course of this length, and this is a practical compromise. There was no-one else in sight when I reached this point, so I took this to mean I must be in the lead, which the marshals confirmed for me, so that’s official then. It is of course a run not a race, but each one of us likes to have our little moment don’t we. Like running on a travelator in empty airports so you get to feel like you can harness superhuman speed. We’ve all done that! Haven’t we? Oh, so it really is just me then? Got it. Feel shamed.
Was fun though…
On and on, sweating more than just gently glowing by now, to the next marshal, who could rock a garland as well as an encouraging smile.
Back to the car park, where there was both a marshal and a photographer lying in wait. I had to focus on my ‘seen a photographer’ running pose, so didn’t take any photos of them
Then back to the start/finish area, where I realised that it was in fact only the start area. I’d left my water bottle on the parkrun start post, thinking I could collect it at the finish, and it was there still, in glorious solitude. It would be fine, I’d get it later. Two notable points here, one, this is the first parkrun I’ve been to, where there are permanent wooden posts marking the start and each kilometre on route, and secondly, the finish isn’t in the same place as the start, though they aren’t that far away from one another.
Off again, just the little lap to do again now. Finally, I understood the course descriptor. It’s a nice course, lots to look at, friendly marshals, and almost qualifies as a single lapper in that the bit you do twice is fairly minimal, it doesn’t feel repetitious at all. In the time it had taken me to get to this point, other events had kicked into gear. I could hear a veritable festival going on with tents and flags and a sound system like it was a jousting tournament or something – not an authentic one granted, doubt they’d have had the same sound amplification. I wondered briefly if all the cheering was coming from the parkun finish funnel, but it was coming from the wrong direction. I eventually clocked them the far side of the river water.
Jogging on, and I could hear the splash of multiple oars working in synchronised harmony. Presumably there was a galley ship in action the other side of the reeds, which were after all extremely tall. Can’t think of any other logical explanation, then again, I do lack imagination. It would fit with the tall ship rigging I’d espied earlier, sticking with nautical themes I mean.
not too many people around as I was looping the second loop. I did swap a few words with a fellow parkrunner who wryly observed that it was just possible we were rocking more of a club Tropicana than authentic Hawaii look, she had a point. Not sure where Hawaiian accessories sit in the casual racial stereotyping/ cultural appropriation continuum. I like to think it’s on the harmless end of the scale, sort of the equivalent of ‘kiss me kwik’ Blackpool tat hats (other depressing seaside holiday venues are available), but maybe that’s just because I’m not sensitive to what I’m doing. The Hawaiian tourist board certainly projects a more sophisticated seaside paradise image… Oh well, no offence intended. Also, Club Tropicana sounds fab!
Round you go, back to Roy’s split, where Roy’s stand-in had cleverly repositioned herself to shoo you the right way to the finish for your final (optional) sprint. Some parkrunners were strolling home, already long finished, but they cheered me in as I ran on by. Well I assume they were parkrunners, not just Colwick locals coincidentally out and about wearing Hawaiian shirts as well. … though if they were, that would explain the earlier incident of apparent desensitisation to Hawaiian shirt wearing I had witnessed earlier. Maybe it’s just what the good people of Colwick Country park do. Like wearing a golfing jumper when playing golf, but way more expressive and fun. If I ever find out this is an absolute truth, I’m going to start packing and planning my relocation to Colwick with immediate effect.
And finally, as if by magic, the finish funnel appears. Just ahead of it another parkrun photographer, on hand to snap you at the very moment of your glorious sprint finish. The finish funnel was fab, not just inherently, because I’m always peculiarly delighted to see that, but because they’d recreated an actual Hawaiian beach there. Not the plastic one, because that would be horrid…
but the one made of the stuff of tourists’ fantasies. There was an actual dolphin, palm trees, a monkey and cocktail drinking revellers getting the party started whilst waiting for the last of us to finish. Fab.u.lous. Also a crocodile, they don’t mention them in the Hawaiian tourist board info, but I feel confident Colwick parkrun know what they’re doing. The truth will out.
There was also a bell for ringing for just about reason at all, which is always welcome, and a trio of dinosaurs, because everyone knows there are always a minimum of three t-rexs at any one time on any one of the many Hawaiian beaches.
I’m glad they kept them in safe miniaturised custody here, under the supervision of the event team. Other courses have been known to let their dinosaurs loose on the course, which sounds like a lot of paper work from a health and safety perspective, but I bet encourages people to get a bit of a wiggle on too.
Desborough Green Space junior parkrun Tail Walkers, I salute you! 🦖 🦖
So time for a bit of post parkrun parkfaffery.
There was quite a party going on with cake and chatter and a lot of laughter too. This just seemed like a parkrun where everyone was sharing the parkrun love. Already finished parkrunners cheered in others still coming in. Fruit accessories were compared and mutually admired. A table groaned under goodies many and varied. They know how to get the party started here!
Aw, I love this parkrun. I love the Colwick parkrun vibe! Friends together, channelling the P S-H spirit ‘it’s all about the coffee’ not literally, but as in the meet up for a run is but a prelude to social bonding.
It was all very heart warming, and very much in the parkrun spirit, though to be honest, I was already warm enough. Did I mention it was scorchio running in the heat, and quite uncomfortable at times. In fact I was mafted. Mafted is a new word I learned yesterday, and it means ‘too hot’, as in absolutely boiling hot. Known in Hull apparently. See, parkrun is always educational, even just reading about it. Isn’t your life the richer for knowing that? Unless you already knew it of course, in which case respect. Your northern heritage can never be disputed. I feel about being mafted, the way I do about being nesh, enlightened, now I know what the words convey, and delighted, because isn’t language a wondrous thing? Still, we weren’t being delighted and full of wonder, we were being burned. Still, let’s keep things in perspective. Me being a bit burnt by the sun because I chose to sport a pink fascinator over a sensible running cap is as nothing compared the discomfort we will all feel further down the line now the rainforests are all burning down. The phrase ‘hell in a hand cart’ springs to mind, but on the plus side, we can enjoy temporary distraction with the fine people of Colwick parkrun, Hawaii. Try not to think about the fact the plumes of smoke can be seen from space. You head will implode at the horror of it. It’s going to take more than me and hopefully everyone else creating a wildlife friendly area in my garden to counteract this, though I hope people will still do what they can, at least it shows we care…
It was welcoming, but I didn’t avail myself of parkrun cakery as places to go people to see. As I was leaving I had the privilege of meeting Colwick parkrun royalty in person. They were on their way to join the party.
This is a happy place. Full of inspirational people.
Other running related inspirational people are available. Take for example Jennifer Smith. JFDI as we say at Smiley Paces. Anyways, she is the heaviest woman to complete a marathon, well, they say she is, I reckon there will be others who have quietly plugged away at it and achieved similar goals but without notify the Guinness Book of Records people, but I’m still going to celebrate her achievement and her tenacity, and yes, I do find such stories inspirational, She picked a multi-lap event taking place over many hours, so she could achieve her marathon distance without being timed out, this is why she has a cheer leader with her at Lap 9 of 12, with a sign to give encouragement, if not altogether practical advice. I think it was more a question of running than swimming, but you’ll get the idea. Bravo though, and good on ya!
On the subject of swimming, (yes we were), maybe that was the point of the sign, and the error was in the choice of venue not the sign composition. It was a random child, not associated with her brought into the picture, and they’d rocked up in the wrong place, and were meaning instead to support the other super woman of the week, Sadie Davies, who has just become the first woman, and only the fourth person ever, to swim from Hartland to Lundy Island. Hooray for her too! That’s 15 miles.
That’s a lot of swimming. In a forwards direction too! I mean, I’m brilliant at floating, my body fat comes in handy for some things, but I have more of a natural aptitude for bobbing about where the current takes me, rather than for actually progressing in the direction of my choice. I am in awe of swimmers, particularly those that take on the open water, or take up synchronised swimming. Genius.
But a late arrival at the run celebrants ball is this woman. A big cheer for Karly Tardiff please, she may have a seemingly made up name that makes it seem like she sprung from the imagination of script writers for twin peaks or something, but nevertheless, she’s hardcore. The co-leader of the Badass Lady Gang run group kicked off her wedges before taking up the chase and running down the thief who’d tried to steal her bike wheel. High five and great kudos to her please.
what do you mean I’ve digressed? Surely you want to hear today’s random ‘strange but true’ feature is this, on the fierce competition to secure No.1 Customer status in a Melbourne coffee shop. You’re welcome. And I thought expressing loyalty with tattoos was just a parkrun rather than an espresso thing! How little I knew…
So, the point I’m trying to make, is that there are little patches of joy in the world, you just have to keep your eyes peeled for them. One such joyful place was Colwick parkrun earlier on today – I defy anyone to be miserable in the company of such a proliferation of Hawaiian shirts. No wonder the mood lifted and it was party on! That (biodegradable) confetti cannon at the end was an absolute blast! (see what I did, hilarious). Here are just a few of the bystanders cheering the runners through the finish tunnel at the end. That confetti cannon was an absolute blast in every sense!
Yep, that’s right dear reader, if you weren’t there, you missed out. Sad but true.
And that was that. All done and dusted, time to go home. Just a last look at that climbing rig. Amazing.
It was pleasing though watching the inflatable dolphin swim by in the car park though as the volunteers too started to disperse and marine animals were presumably returned once again to their natural habitat until next year*
*You don’t seriously believe that do you? This ‘it’s only the once a year’ trope they were wheeling out. There was just too much evidence to the contrary. The parkrun man who didn’t react (like the mysterious incident of the dog in the nighttime – the dog who didn’t bark remember), the happening to have a shed load of spare garlands, the Colwick parkrunner sporting one in Canada… that’s a lot of evidence. Oh I haven’t told you about that last one yet. Well, basically, even though they were trying to make out it’s just a once a year thing, it clearly is more of a Colwick parkrun uniform, bit like the Tralee parkrunners on tour who always sport their distinctive fluourescent TpoT beanies. Tralee parkrunners have their bright orange hats, why shouldn’t Colwick parkrunners have their Hawaiian shirts. Sometimes it’s good to know you belong. And if you are dubious dear reader, well, how else can you explain the fact that one of the Colwick parkrunners on holiday in Canada was running at a parkrun over there in Hawaiian shirt and clutching a mango? You can’t. Exactly. I rest my case.
I don’t know why they are coy about it. It’s completely splendid, commendable, and to be celebrated. Don’t be shy Colwick parkrun it’s your parkrun USP. Somerdale Pavilion parkrun has its curly wurly, Woolacomb Dunes parkrun has its, erm, well dunes – the clue is in the name.
You at Colwick parkrun however, have an aloha Hawaiian welcome and a tropical vibe that would warm the cockles of the coldest hearts at any time of year.
Take it from me, if you are going to Colwick parkrun, put on a Hawaiian vest whatever the date, you’ll fit right in! 🙂 They’ll take you for a local, and into their hearts, or your money back. Actually, you will get a very warm welcome whatever you rock up in, but I guarantee they will love you for ever even more ardently if you are in an Hawaiian shirt, particularly if accessorised with a flower garland and you have thought to bring along a brace of coconuts to carry with too. Go awn, go awn, you know you want to!
So thank you lovely Colwick parkrun people, you were/ are fabulous. It was a great event and a lovely welcome too. I’ve stolen taken some photos from your most excellent Colwick parkrun Facebook page and used them in the blog post which I hope you will see as a flattering tribute and reflection of how much I hold you in my esteem rather than crude plagiarism on my part. Thanks in anticipation 🙂 Any objections though, please let me know!
I can’t conclude though, without giving a special shout out to this man, who the photo suggests, single-handedly correctly folded up the parkrun pop up sign. This is basically a super power, there are very, very few people out there who have the particular mutation that allows them to perform this task. It isn’t just a skill, it’s a miracle. He must be some kind of savant. Well done. Superstar indeed!
I wonder if he got it into its bag as well, or if he is still standing there, arms aloft in triumph still, but smile flagging a tad by now.
You can read the official Colwick parkrun run report for their 422 event here. Think of it as a way to triangulate my version of events, and therefore legitimate parkrun related research, not unnecessary faffing at all, rather mandatory parkfaff, it is the parkrun way.
Oh wait, wait, come back! Forgot to tell you the best bit! When I got home and got my result it also wished me Happy parkrun Anniversary! Yep, get that, get me, it was my parkrun birthday, that’s so exciting. I got an Hawaiian themed birthday party courtesy of all my new best friends at Colwick parkrun! Can’t think of a better way to have spent it. Thank you parkrunners all, for sharing the parkrun love!
Happy parkrun anniversary Lucy!
Congratulations! On 2013-08-24 you took part in your first parkrun and during the past 12 months you have finished 49 parkruns, bringing your grand total to 218 completed – that’s pretty awesome!
Actually, I’ve done 219, they don’t count Hasenheide parkrun Germany one for some reason, but there’s no way I’m going to forget that adventure – that’s where I first properly encountered the TpoTs and their flourescent beanie hats, once seen, never forgotten!
By the way, if you are feeling bereft of parkrun stories right now, or just need to procrastinate a bit longer before taking the bins out or doing something about tea, you can read all my parkrun related posts here. Or not. It’s up to you. You’ll need to scroll down for older entries though. Your choice. Choose wisely. 🙂
Remember:
“The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance, and a small soy flat white.”
That’s all folks.
#loveparkrun
Running Scared 
Pingback: Seeing what’s the sea at Clifton parkrun. | Running Scared
Pingback: The Spirit of Bushy parkrun. 15th Birthday Brilliance at Bushy parkrun. | Running Scared
Pingback: Delightful Dalliances at Delamere parkrun. Kicking of the NYDD parkrun challenge for 2020 | Running Scared