Park Run Sprint

One of the PWR runners, is the inspirational, David. A great Family Man, bright, fun and honest. He had been running every park run from the start. I had been doing the same but eventually dropped out because my daughter does Ballet and family comes first. Another "other" runner was the same. He started off runing 28ish minute 5ks. But every week he and David had run they had both got faster and faster. Initially, I was beating David, but within a couple of weeks he surpassed me, and recently had really pushed on to 21.5minutes.

Unfortunately David recently injured both his shoulder and his back. Last time I did park run, the "other" runner beat me comfotably.

Today was the other runner's 50th park run. The first from Bromley to do it. I've felt my form has been okay, but I'm still too fat for this running lark. My Assembly league performance on Thursday makes me think the time could be good if I push. So I push. At the stat Richard zips of for a 30-40 second lead, and then keeps at this distance the whole way round. I follow a couple the whole way round. The "other" runner edges ahead of me.

As we near the finish, I decide to give it a push. Everyone starts sprinting. It turns into a Six way sprint. I may be "heavy", but at least with that comes some power. So I sprint, and then I really sprint. We flatten the finish. Park Run is not used to a six way sprint. I win. To be honest, I could have given more. There is some confusion around the finishing and people grab a token ahead of their finish position. Martin is having none of it, and ensures correct order is maintained.

On reflection, I was glad to push the other runner back a couple of positions on his 50th run as it should have been David's honour other than for the demon of injury. And I know that Demon.

I chat with the "other" runner after the race, and he is a nice guy. An interesting run. Not a PB, but I used to regularly run 24"30. This was 23"15. Definite progress.

5k 23"15