Inverness and Dulwich parkruns

Not, I hasten to add, on the same day!

Inverness was last week.  I didn’t travel all the way to the highlands of Scotland just to do a parkrun.  That would be madness.  Instead, I spent ridiculous amounts of money on the sleeper train, hotels and a hire car, entered and trained for a marathon and persuaded my long-suffering other half that he wanted to join me (in Scotland, not in the whole marathon malarkey) just so that I could run Inverness parkrun.

What’s it like?  A flat, grassy (possibly boggy in Winter) three-lap course with a great cafe and friendly locals, one of whom was also running Lochaber marathon (in an impressive 2:54!).  I also got to wear my 50 t-shirt for the first time, and as Inverness is less than a year old and quite a long way from its nearest neighbour, it attracted a few envious glances.

This week was Dulwich, which opened its doors last week.  Another flat, three-lap course, though this one is all wide, well-maintained tarmac paths.  Fellow tourist Paul Freyne (2nd on the most events table with a humbling 79 different events) was there too, and I may well cross paths with him again in Northampton in a couple of weeks time.

I’d taken a small leaf out of @n0rm’s book and cycled to Dulwich.  8 miles, complete with frequent stops for traffic lights and map-reading.  Even that short distance was enough to turn my legs to jelly for the run, so I don’t see any triathlons in my immediate future.  Not that I’ll have time.  Listening to Bruce Fordyce speak yesterday evening has got me thinking random thoughts about sub 5-hour marathons and Comrades.  Someone please remind me that I’m a sloth!

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