Colwick parkrun

Last year, I invited myself to stay with a marvellous friend of mine so that I could take part in the very first parkrun at King’s Lynn where I met Jovial Gnome, a budding parkrun tourist who was very nearly on the most events table*.

This weekend, I again invited myself up to stay with my marvellous friend, this time with Colwick parkrun in mind, and I also managed to pursuade Jovial Gnome to join me (for the parkrun, you understand, not the sleepover).

Colwick parkrun is beautiful.  The course is very mildly undulating and takes you round a small lake, a large lake and then around the small lake again.  Fishermen in simple wooden boats float gently on the water, tree-clad islands abound and ducks, geese, swans and moorcoots** frolic along the shore.***

Today’s run was guest-hosted by the Long Eaton Running Club (who did a very slick job indeed) and the post-run tea and coffee in the Adventure Centre was augmented with cakes in aid of Sport Relief.  I took advantage of the post-run chat to pick Jovial Gnome’s brains about marathon running and we also chatted to a first-timer who we’d used to pace us around the second half of the course.

I know that it can seem a little mad to travel so far for a 5km run, but as long as there is such fine company to be found, I shall continue to think that it is a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

Abradypus.  Coming to a parkrun near you.  Eventually.

 

*He made it on to the table, only to fall off when the rules for inclusion change from 10 different events to either 20 different or 5 inaugurals.  He is now back on it again.

**I’m from the town, not the country.  Please don’t ask me to remember the difference between a coot and a moorhen.

***Or so I’m led to believe.  Today the fog was so thick that we could have been running around a paddling pool.

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