Parkrun #13 - Bracknell
A longer gap than I wanted since the last Parkrun, which was April in Northern Ireland. That's over six months! It has been a pretty busy time though, what with the house move.
I've been doing a lot of off road running in Ascot recently, and noticed that this Parkrun, being my nearest now, has a varied terrain, more later on that. There was some rugby match on TV this morning which everyone was talking about. There were also a lot of race cancellations due to high wind and rain. It was obvious then that I'd pick today :)
After a short drive I easily found the start. It wasn't much fun getting out of the warm car, but I had my thin waterproof, and hat, so I was OK. I did a quick jog around a bit of the course - up a muddy path and into some trees. It was warm enough for shorts, but I knew my legs were going to get dirty.
I joined the newcomers briefing, and discovered this was an two lap clockwise route, replacing an anti-clockwise 2.5 lap one. A good day to come.
Despite the slight drizzle, I decide to run without my jacket to avoid any overheating.
We started running slightly uphill, the same way I'd practiced in fact, and having not seeded myself properly I had a bit of overtaking to do on the narrow path. Into the trees and I'd just about found my place. It was fun, if slow, weaving through the dense wood, with deep pine-cone matting underfoot. Back out and into the wind and rain again we approached the start pavilion, and went past it down to some football pitches through the soggy grass.
Completing the approximate figure 8 we got to lap two. I had slowed a little by now but by the end of this ascent and back in the trees I picked the pace up a little and overtook a couple of people, even though I got hit in the head by what must have been a falling pine cone. I gained one more place just near the pavilion before going on for the final section. I kept this position until the finish.
I just kept going, looking over my shoulder a little occasionally to make sure I wouldn't be caught. I gained on the man in front, but had no fight in me to chase for one more place. The varied terrain of muddy path, waterlogged grass, and bed of pine cones saps your leg strength.
I expected to be about 20th, so was pretty surprised not only by the distance (my watch said 1/10 of a mile to go) but also by being handed token number 11. I'm told the course is the correct length, but GPS watches get confused in the trees - I'm prepared to believe this.
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| After the run, view of the start/finish pavilion, and part of course |
Strava: Link
Parkrun: Link
