Targeting Great Newham London Run 2015

A few months ago I signed up to run round the Olympic Park again. No Longer called 'The Anniversary Run' the event is now called 'The Great Newham London Run' and now a 10k event. It is special this year because not only is it a new event and new course but it finishes in the newly refurbished Olympic Stadium which doesnt open to the public till 2016.
As its the home of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I want to run the best 10k I can. Wont be easy though as its usually 23C to 25C on the Olympic Park in July and I dont run well in hot weather. Am also slightly unfit at the minute so made a plan to get it back and train up for this special event on the Olympic Park. Other than running regularly at least 3 times a week and running on the track I decided a great way to train would be to run Cleethorpes parkrun at least once a month. Apart from being a fun, friendly, social event its also a free timed 5k away from cars and roads making it ideal for Speedwork.Until last Saturday I hadnt ran Cleethorpes parkrun since last June when my PB became 28.46 under the old course. My first parkrun under the current course was on 11th April 2015 - ignoring my tailrunning at parkrun, in a time of 29.40. Due to the way the parkrun software works it doesn't distinguish between the different courses so it regards my PB as 28.46 until I beat that time. 28.46 is the time I need to beat at Cleethorpes parkrun in order to get any kind of PB.

For the time I want to run in this 10k I need to get a time of 22 or 23 mins. That will be hard as I have never ran a 5k in even 25 mins not even in the Prom Race's on Cleethorpes seafront. The important thing is just to keep pushing it and keep getting it down. So as long as I keep improving and end up on the PB corner of the Cleethorpes parkrun website reasonably regularly, I will be on course for a decent run in the Great Newham London Run.

I sort of "announced" the fact I'm doing the Great Newham London Run through the Cleethorpes parkrun website here: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/cleethorpes/news/2015/04/11/parkrun-xl1v/

Looking forward to going...Back to the Stadium #backtothestadium

Upcoming Races I'm marshalling at

Keeping this short and sweet. I have decided I am going to marshal at the following local races. I try to marshal at them when I'm able to do so:

Gruesome Twosome Half Marathon (11th October 2014)

Clee AC Beach XC (12th October)

Clee AC Multi-terrain race (8th Nov 2014)

Skegness 10K (16th November 2014)

As always, when I'm not doing anything else I like to go down and help out at the Cleethorpes parkrun as much as possible.

Inaugural Cleethorpes parkrun 24th May 2014

Photo of all the volunteers (left) by Cleethorpes parkrun volunteer Anne-Marie Fowler. Run Director Darren Rowe is far right. The photo was taken on 24th May 2014 after the first ever Cleethorpes parkrun had finished.

 

 

Playing a part in the first ever Cleethorpes parkrun was one of those moments where I can say that once again “I was there”. Had a few of those in these past few years. I played no part in the organising or setting up of it but was one of the first people to express an interest in volunteering at it as soon as I knew of the intention to set one up.

Before attending the meeting about parkrun at the Cleethorpes Leisure Centre for anyone interested in volunteering at parkrun I was aware that a donation had been given due to an article in the Grimsby Telegraph: Weekly parkrun set up in Cleethorpes

At that initial volunteer meeting one of the matters that had been discussed was a trial run on 21st May. I attended and volunteered at the trial run too, which went really well, with 20 odd local runners turning up. It gave the Run Director Darren Rowe and the other Run Directors – some of whom volunteered at the event – an opportunity to test it out and see what needed tweaking and resolve any possible issues before the official launch. A few of the core volunteers do take it in turns to become the Run Director.

On the 24th May 2014 it was the Official launch day of the Cleethorpes parkrun and the weather was not on our side. Overcast and wet but not short of volunteers (see above). I marshalled in my London 2012 Olympics Games Maker uniform as I like to do on occasion with the aim of trying to inspire and encourage people to run, with the help of my cheery uniform. This time I also brought my Join In foam finger that was given to me when I went on the Olympic Park last year, specifically July 19th 2013 (see photos below). The North section of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – where the Velodrome is – opened to the public on 27th July 2013.

With my foam finger I planned to use it to give directions – well, I was marshalling, which I did. My inspiration was my fellow Games Makers who used foam fingers in London during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to give directions. To my surprise, most runners seemed to cheer up when they saw me and most of the runners high-fived it, which was also fun. Bit of a party atmosphere. Noticed many experienced parkrunners running around with one of those ‘100’ parkrun T-shirts for parkrunners who have ran in more than 100 parkruns.

In total there were 177 runners on the Inaugural Cleethorpes parkrun, which was amazing! They came from all over. Here is the Run Report on the 1st ever Cleethorpes parkrun by Colin Wright.

Reports in the local paper: New Weekly parkrun gets Underway with a Bang and 170 Runners turn up for first ever Cleethorpes parkrun 

To anyone who doesnt know, a parkrun is NOT a race! It is a weekly timed 5k run. You run as fast or as slow as you want. parkrun cannot function without volunteers: Volunteer at Cleethorpes parkrun

You can find photos from the Cleethorpes parkrun here

Lincoln parkrun 17th May 2014

Leading up to volunteering at Cleethorpes first ever parkrun, I needed to go to one and find out how it was done. Basically that meant going to a local parkrun and watching how they did things. I chose to go to Lincoln, not having been to Lincoln for ages.

The Lincoln parkrun is set in a really nice park called Boultham Park, just off the River Witham. A great setting for any run or race. For me I travelled on the train to Lincoln Central and walked down, arriving just before 8.30am as the volunteer team and a handful of runners were appearing. Everyone was very friendly. My plan was to run it as fast as I could but decided against that over a mile into the parkrun due to the heat. It was a really hot day. Although I love hot and sunny weather, I generally tend to struggle running in it whatever the distance even if its 100m. In the end I just jogged it as I would any other normal training run.

My time was 29.59. The total amount of runners for that parkrun was 272. After the parkrun I joined the other runners for refreshments at the Indoor Bowls Club. Quite enjoyed it and happy to return to the Lincoln parkrun again one day.

Just to emphasise: parkrun is NOT a race! You run it as fast or as you slow as you want! Great for training or speedwork and running with other people. Here are the Lincoln parkrun results 17th May 2014

The photo left is of me running round Boultham Park in my Clee AC vest. Photo by Jack Thomas, Lincoln parkrun volunteer.