9th parkrun at Penrose

The last time I visited Penrose parkrun was New Year’s Day 2020, so it’s over 3.5 years since I last ran there. I’ve run it with my nephews, my mum and Stuart, but M has never completed the run there herself. As well as giving M a chance to increase the number of different parkrun events she’s done, I thought the drive would be easier. Heartlands is closer to my mum’s house by a couple of miles, but it’s also on the main road which is often congested with holiday traffic on Saturday mornings.

We arrived 15 minutes before the start but didn’t immediately get out of the car because it was raining. I could see people walking the length of the car park and around to get to the start, but we decided to take the shortcut into the start/finish area. We heard a horn sounding, signalling the first-timers’ briefing. Although Stu and I have run here before, we figured it might be helpful to listen in.

The man giving the first-timers’ briefing has clearly done it on several occasions before as it was very witty, raising a few laughs. M complained that it was cold standing there, but we pointed out that it was quite warm and that she would feel warm when she started running.

Penrose parkrun

We lined up by another mum and child, behind a large family group. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hear the run briefing, but the course is a simple out-and-back, so it wasn’t too much of a problem.

M enjoyed watching out for signs for a National Trust trail. We’re not quite sure what it was, but it looked like dinosaur or dragon footprints. The thought that a hole in the bank at the side of the path might be home to 5 Hungarian Horntails was enough to help M run faster!

How did we do?

It was M’s 43rd parkrun and her 1st at Penrose parkrun. She came 5th in her age category and her age-graded score of 49.89% put her 4th in her age category (out of 9).