Hadleigh with Alex, Andy, Catherine, Claire and Lucy
That heading is the first time I’ve written anything quite like that – with the exception of the WLR gang at the Reading Half in 2010, I don’t think I’ve had more than two people known to me at a run. When I’d met with Catherine and Alex at Harlow, we’d agreed we should do it again soon with Lucy along too; it was also a little while since Southend parkrun in June when Lucy and Claire had run together; and with Andy having done some volunteering recently, it was to be his first run.
This was my fourth Hadleigh parkrun, and my slowest yet – I’m probably the heaviest I’ve been at Hadleigh, and not at maximum fitness either, but it was an enjoyable run, and I pushed myself hard enough to run all of it (having walked a little one at least one of the earlier, quicker, attempts).
After getting my breath back and my token scanned, I had a couple of bits of celebratory cake (it being Hadleigh’s 100th run), then I jogged back to find Lucy, Catherine and Alex. On the steep zigzagging section downhill, it was a bit of a challenge trying to run while keeping out of the way of those making their way slowly uphill. I passed Andy who was doing well, despite his slightly unconventional running kit.
I had to go about a kilometre to find the others, weary after the first steep uphill. We jogged a little downhill then tackled the long bouldery zigzags. Alex seemed keen to run on, so with Catherine’s encouragement she and I went on a bit; I’m not sure whether she then changed her mind or ran out of energy or just wasn’t yet comfortable with me, but we didn’t get all that far ahead and mostly walked uphill.
Soon we reached the finish with a sprint from Alex, and soon after a final push from Lucy with support from Catherine. Claire, as tail walker, came along a bit later. All was packed up and we walked back to the café. Although I had a recollection of cake here, there wasn’t much along those lines (surprisingly) but we were tempted by bacon or sausage baps, accompanied by some unusual chips/wedges/potato things, and sat outside chatting for a good while.
A great morning: lovely course, lovely weather, lovely company.
Burnham-on-Crouch (67)
Another parkrunday, another lovely morning, and the third consecutive visit to Essex. Once safely along the twisty B1010 (I count 10 right-angle bends, on flat land, in just 2.3km) I parked up and after a quick visit to the river-wall for the view, made my way to the start via the convenient toilets. I said hello to a few people, then offered some navigational guidance to Claire, which was good enough for her soon to be joining me on a chilly morning with temperatures just nudging 4° with a stiffish breeze which got stronger during the morning.
Soon the call “3, 2, 1, go” came, and I realised that I had forgotten to get my Garmin ready. I can have it ready 15 minutes early when I’m on my own, but give me company and I regularly forget. Fortunately it found a GPS signal within seconds, and as I was towards the back of the pack, I was able to start it as I crossed the line.
I wished Claire a good run and took advantage of the firm grassy field to overtake much of the field before we climbed the zigzags onto the river wall and headed west into the headwind. The route took us to the marina on the north bank where we turned north alongside the marina, then a long loop around a grassy gentle slope and then retrace our route along the river wall, with the wind on our backs, descending a different path and back to the start. Then it all again for the second lap.
I overtook a couple of people on the ascent up the river wall, and then it was a long, long reeling in of Frances Nestor who was in front of me, it (unknowingly) being her turn to fulfil my objective once again of someone to help me keep my pace up. I caught her around the mid-point of the grassy loop, and managed, just, to keep ahead of her. I half thought she might catch me as we neared the finish, but my legs had a reasonable kick in them today and I accelerated nicely to the finish line.
After catching my breath, I thanked Frances and then ran back to find Claire and ran back in with her. We then went to Happy Returns, mentioned as the gathering place on the parkrun website but devoid of any parkrunners except Claire and me. We enjoyed hot chocolates, chatting about running and plans for sailing next year among other things, then went our separate ways, she back home and me to the recycling centre to deposit our old fridge-freezer.
