Not just a walk in the park.

  

 

Kent Street Weir. The calm before the storm.

I think I am a cynical guy when it comes to community spirit and events. I don’t think I am the only one feeling a bit out of place at the neighbourhood car booth sale around the corner, local football club or street party and barely have had contact with my neighbours whilst living in suburbia. Currently, my closest neighbour in Shark Bay is 13 km away.

Garmin frenzy and mayhem at the start.

I have to tell you that my cynicism has somewhat faded over the last couple of years by appearing regularly at my local parkrun. Parkrun, which originated in England, is busy conquering the world one sweat bead at a time. Parkruns are 5km long and organised by volunteers all in beautiful spots throughout Australia. Race directors, time keepers, marshals, barcode scanners, cake bakers, supporters, bbq chefs and spectators are all volunteering their time, sacrificing their Saturday morning for the cause.



The man of the moment

My local parkrun, Canning River in Perth, runs through parkland and traverses the picturesque Canning River starting and finishing at Kent Street Weir. Soon you will become familiar with snake bridge, bin corner and our own tiny version of heartbreak hill, a nasty 700 meters from the finish line, This is a superb spot to chase your 'PB' (personal best), take your dog for a run or spend the morning with the kids. It has been known that some participants exercise their jaws more than their legs.



Parkrun is for all shapes, ages and abilities. There is a mythical few runners and walkers that are 'fair-dinkum' grey nomads and keep providing us semi-grey “youngsters” with so much inspiration.




Sheila going for parkrun #91

Many children frequent the course.  Some in prams, some running or walking, some being encouraged along by their mum or dad. Some kids are just way too quick for their mum or dad. Not a tantrum in sight or am I being cynical again?

 

The front runners are absolute guns and if you are lucky you will only see the back of them for 30 seconds at the start as they disappear rapidly from view. Very soon you have the choice to either battle on your own or to chat all the way around with anyone that will listen.

Chris who has won this race 15 times.

 

A brilliant offshoot of parkrun is darkrun. Every Tuesday evening at 6pm at the same venue a group of around thirty runners meet and after some heavy interval work on the oval, a very social torch lit run of the parkrun course is completed. In winter there are thousands of frogs croaking alongside the trail and if the moon is out it makes for quite an atmosphere. Darkrun can be a great training session or just a good catch-up with mates.

 


Pre-race smiles from two avid darkrunners

What is it that drives us to run? Why are we putting ourselves through this bone grinding energy sapping, smelly ordeal with bonus raw chafing bits where the sun ain't shining. There MUST be more to it than meets the sweat filled stinging eye.

In my experience parkrun encompasses a large variety of reasons. I must admit, I for one, love the striving for that ever elusive 'PB'. It is a joyous day when you nibble one or two seconds off your best time. You will remember every detail of that run and the time will be burned into your grey matter for ever.





But it looks like your having fun!


I also love the competitive nature of parkrun. There is that couple of seconds of mental anguish when someone runs past you in the latter stages of the run as opposed to the flood of longer lasting endorphin charged happiness when you chase someone down you have been slowly creeping closer to.

Just gunning it down the straight.

On countless occasions I have been chatting to people I just met for the first time during or after the race or caught up with friends for a coffee at the cafe. If you are not too much out of breath this is a great social event where families get together, singles meet and people from all walks of life encourage one another running together in harmony.





A family affair with many supporters great, small and fluffy.

To top it all off I am sure there are life lessons to be learned here in parkrun world. You can learn about healthy lifestyles, mental strength and physical endurance but most of all feeling that there is a community you can belong to.

Parkrun - not just a walk in the park.



Yeh - just do it!

Grey bits

These photos were taken during what I call “the hang-over run” a special run held on New Year's day and the regular Saturday parkrun that followed the day after.

To join parkrun is very easy. Type “parkrun” into your search engine and choose a parkrun near you. Register online and print out a barcode to bring along to the run so your time can be recorded and sent to you by email later in the day. You want to have a record. Don't you?

There is a lot of parkrun tourism going on. You can travel to other parkruns using the same barcode.

Volunteering for parkrun is also great fun and they are always looking for people.

Even this doggy made it to the finish line

A special "thank you" to Adrian Kenny. He is one of the founding members of Canning River parkrun and has put his heart and soul into this event for the last two and a half years.

Parkrun Canning and its runners will be missed by the Semi-grey Nomad. You can follow my travels, parkrun tourism, hikes and other stories at semigreynomad.blogspot.com