250th parkrun Celebrations

I was delighted to be able to celebrate both my 250th parkrun and my 250th volunteer this weekend at Aberdeen parkrun. This is where it all began for me way back in 2012. Aberdeen parkrun itself began in 2011, but it took me a while to go. I’d heard about it, but had the perception that 5k was scary fast and would be exclusively good runners. However, a running buddy was on the core team and persuaded me to give it a go. I tried it, enjoyed it and over time built it into my regular Saturday routine. I now can’t imagine life without it.

It’s All About The Coffee

In doing parkrun I’ve found a wonderful community of like minded people and this is the case wherever I run. I’m not a big ‘touristI’ but have had fun visiting a few events further afield including Gunnersbury, Fort William, several around Glasgow, and most recently Vogrie Park.

Most of my runs have been done in Aberdeen but I do have a real fondness for Stonehaven. Being a smaller event it still has a real sense of community as well as the hill that makes the course so much more interesting.

Milestones

For a wee while my run and volunteer counts have been pretty close so I made up my mind to achieve them both on the same day. This saw me planning out days in advance and becoming a more regular volunteer at Duthie Junior parkrun too to bring my volunteering tally more into line. One thing I love about the juniors is their enthusiasm; the kids never fail to put a smile on my face!

Having coordinated the dates, I ticked off my list week by week, reviewing accordingly if plans changed, and finally reached the big day where the run and volunteer roles heralded 250!

This saw me volunteer for the First Timers Briefing at Aberdeen in order to run afterwards. I’ve not done this role too often as I prefer to do barcode scanning, marshalling or even timekeeping (only at less busy events).

I think this was quite possibly the worst first timers briefing ever! I was super excited about the day and didn’t have a list of things to say (where usually I’d be a bit more prepared) but did share the important stuff – the route and what to do with the barcode.

Special Shout Out

Our Run Director, Graham, kindly gave me two special mentions – one recognising my running milestone, the other for my volunteering milestone so I enjoyed the applause twice. Thank you!

Running With Friends

I ran my regular buddy, Ali, aiming to stick with our friend Alan who was pacing 26 minutes. As it was we nudged ever so slightly ahead having set a comfortable pace, with Alan setting his usual metronomic pace to perfection.

Having finished, I enjoyed the moment, celebrating with photos and then the usual coffee and chat with the run chums.

Happy times! I’m delighted to have reached my goal for now and hope to one day earn a blue t-shirt. Don’t hold your breath for that milestone, at 500 runs or volunteers it’ll be a long time coming!