It was gonna be a thanksgiving theme. We have adopted some of the American celebrations through Nana who lived there for a year and gained a lot of really nice American friends in the process.
As we walked round to the park we realised how frosty it was and that it could be an interesting parkrun. So when we entered the park and the slight slope down to the start was almost an ice rink then we new this was going to be tricky.
This parkrunday I was taking control of Flynn and the buggy for the first time and SJ was running solo for the first time. She was doing it to see how much time the buggy adds to a run, but maybe the icy conditions aren't the best for a first solo run. We all aligned ourselves at the back of the gathering pack at the start where almost every child was sliding around on the trainers on purpose having a great time. Nana was a little nervous about the icy conditions but was still hoping to do it.
All the joy filled children at the back made it hard to hear Kerry do her run brief, so we assumed that she was telling us to be careful on the icy patches are round the route. As we set off we all took it easy on the main straight down the hill, some on the grass at the side and some on the road. About halfway down it got a bit too precarious for nana and she decided to give this weeks parkrun a miss rather than fall and knock her confidence for while if not for good. I don't blame her at all, parkrun will be here every parkrunday so there is no need to make yourself do it if you think you may get hurt.
So Dexter, Flynn and I carried on running and then got slightly confused at what should have been the first corner. The route was different and it only took seconds to realise that's what Kerry was explaining at the run brief. Running on we noticed the course was really different and thought It must be because of the icy patches. As we passed other parkrunners we pieced things together from what we heard along the way. We were running the old route apparently and it's 3 laps long too so it felt like a completely new parkrun to me.
Dexter and I were keeping a good pace but at the same time so was SJ and she was maintaining a good distance between us and herself. I was so proud of her for doing so well on her first solo run.
As we passed the halfway mark of the 3rd lap we could still see SJ in the distance and Dexter was still running and not whingeing things were going well. As Dexter and I reached the top we could see we were catching SJ and we picked her up in the last corner. So she ran with Dexter down the hill to the finish which was now at the bowling greens. I liked the finish with the funnel and barcode scanning round the bowling green but I can see how it could get a bit congested at busy periods of a parkrun.
SJ and Dexter crossed the line together and Jodie finished ahead of them by a minute or 2 with me and Flynn bringing up the rear a few seconds later. Then we all met up with Nana and Grandad who had the other boys with them. Nana asked about the route and how icy it was and to see whether or not she made the right decision to stop and I told she had, she wouldn't have like the uncertainty of which bits were icy and which were ok.
So then it was off to Grandmas for our thanksgiving breakfast, pancakes, maple syrup and everything.
It was delicious so a big thanks to Grandma and Peter for their great parkrun breakfasts of late. Whilst eating and discussing parkrun our times came through via text and SJ was pleased to have knocked about 3 and a 1/2 minutes off her PB, which is brilliant and I'm so proud off her. For someone who before the birth of Flynn was a "I don't do running" person to now have done 8 parkruns and have a PB of 36.28 is just fantastic.
I enjoyed my first buggy run to as it was a new challenge and gave me a different perspective on parkrun. I was really proud of Dexter too as he seems to getting better and better and his running is coming on leaps and bounds. The best thing is it's happening without him noticing, I can see his improvement even if he can't and I can see that in a few months or a years time he could be easily in the sub 30 category. I think Santa might be bring him some more running apparel.
Thank you to all the volunteers this week in the cold and see you again soon
Keep running everyone
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