Lee on Solent parkrun and some info about Hants Run Blogs

Southampton parkrun was cancelled today because a large event (Gung Ho!) was taking place right across the Common, so this gave Stuart and I the chance to do a bit of parkrun tourism. I’d like to try the new(ish) event at Whiteley, but I knew that would be busy, then I got an invitation that I couldn’t refuse…

Lee on the Solent parkrun

Fellow blogger Roger from I Run Off Road put out a call on Twitter inviting Hampshire running and tri bloggers to a meet up at Lee on the Solent parkrun – perfect timing!

Stuart, M and I drove to my friend Sarah’s house before parkrun and then we all walked to the start of the event together. I had no idea that Sarah lives so close to the beach. That’s definitely something that I miss about where I live now. We had time for a bit of a chat before Roger arrived to meet us. It was a bit like a blind date situation. I’d explained that I would be wearing a purple parkrun t-shirt and would have a red running buggy and Roger described his white North Devon marathon t-shirt.

Roger found me before the start of the run and we had a brief chat before the run started.

Sarah and I had positioned ourselves terribly. Qe were trapped at the back and could not run around anyone, so we took the opportunity to chat.

I think Lee on Solent parkrun has doubled in size since I last ran there, so it felt extremely congested. I was also feeling congested (thanks hay fever!), so a slow run was probably a sensible option.

Picking up the pace

After the first turnaround, the path didn’t feel as busy, so we were able to pick up the pace a bit. We were right by the sea and the water looked stunning, but there really wasn’t a breeze, which surprised me.

Towards the end, Sarah started picking up the pace, so I felt that I should keep pace with her. I’m glad it was only a 5k and not a 10k, otherwise she might have killed me!

How did I do at Lee on the Solent parkrun?

Overall, it wasn’t one of my speediest runs, but it was definitely fun.

Afterwards, we met up with Roger and went to the cafe for some well-earned refreshments and the chance to talk about blogging. If you are a running or triathlon blogger in Hampshire, please get in touch with @hantsrunblogs on Twitter. Roger and I would love to link up with more like-minded local bloggers and try to organise some blogging meet ups, perhaps with guest speakers.

Did you know that it’s Women’s Sports Week from 19th-25th June? I’ve pledged to take part in a variety of activities:

If you’re female, are you going to pledge to get involved? (If you’re male, maybe you could agree to exercise with a female friend or relative).