This morning,when the alarm went off at silly o’clock, I leaped* out of bed, bright eyed and bushy tailed**, and sped off*** to Lydiard Park for the Swindon parkrun.
Swindon parkrun has been on my to do list for ages, but as it is at the very edge of my day-trip range, I have never quite managed to get to it. Today, I had no trouble justifying the trip, because I had the added incentive of an ‘athoner meet up with Hennie Mavis, who had travelled all the way from the US of A just for the privilege of running her first ever parkrun with the wonderful, the amazing, the one-and-only abradypus****.
Given that I was travelling from London, Hennie Mavis was driving from Bourton on the Water and neither of us were familiar with Swindon or each other, the initial meet up was relatively painless and we were all set and ready to go as the klaxon sounded. Two beautiful laps of the park and a hot chocolate later, we were still chatting away merrily. I’m sure that I will one day meet an ‘athoner who isn’t delightful, but today was not that day.
It was also nice to meet Hennie’s sister, who gave up her morning to go to a strange park to watch complete strangers run around in spandex. There may be duller ways for a non-runner to spend a morning, but they are few and far between, so thank you, thank you, thank you for your forbearance – it was much appreciated.
*Take this statement with a pinch of salt
**Take this statement with a large dose of salt
***There were some intermediate steps such as getting dressed, before you worry that I turned up at a parkrun in my pyjamas
****There isn’t enough salt
abradypus 
Excellent stuff, so pleased you enjoyed the experience!
Ha!
“not enough salt”
Chortle.
Well done to you and Mavis!
Ah you’re still at it I see – I think they should make you a parkrun ambassador!
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