So, no better place to start this blog than with the day that not just got me into Parkrun, but started my whole running journey.
On 11/03/2023, I was persuaded by a couple of Uni friends to do the local Parkrun at Hotham Park, Bognor Regis. We studied Musical Theatre and were just trying to keep as fit as possible, so 5 of us decided to go and see what all the fuss was about... This soon steamed a bit of a Saturday morning tradition with a group of around 10 of us, but more on that in future posts.
The vibe straight away was amazing and with the Park being literally a 3 minute walk from my house it meant the atmosphere was being soaked up pretty much from the minute I left. Now Bognor keep it old fashioned with the announcing, in terms of not using a speaker, so everyone went silent as the milestones and pacers were announced. I think this was the point where I really started to feel that community atmosphere about Parkrun and wished I had come to some before this morning.
This Parkrun will always hold a special place in my heart with being the first, it is 3 laps which obviously has it's pros and cons, but the marshalls at Bognor are some of the best and to get cheered on by them 3 times over is a wonderful boost. A lovely side note about the Hotham Park course, is NO HILLS, not one elevation!!!! Purely flat course, so it is PB territory for sure. The start of the run and first 150/200 metres is nice with a fairly wide track, as to let most of the fast runners get away quite quickly. However it can get nice and bunched at the very start. But with it being my first Parkrun and pretty much my first ever run, I of course went out way too fast. Overtook my friends and had a great first 1K, but was absolutely finished from then on in aha! Tried to hold on but both Elliot and Harry took me by the end and I finished in a time of 25:10, which I was over the moon with for my first Parkrun. Ollie and Jordan came home not too far behind and then we made a tradition of doing the classic Uni thing and having a Weatherspoons breakfast, my personal choice of an Eggs Benedict with a side of Sausage and Hash Browns went down a treat.
On my way round, I was lapped by faster runners, I lapped slower runners, past so many amazing marshalls and general public and every single person was supportive and lovely. Certainly knew I would be doing many more of these in the Future.
Personal Stats and Rankings (As of 25/05/2024): Bognor Regis Parkrun
Current Event PB: 21:45
Bognor Regis Events Attended: 11
Route (Terrain): 10
Route (Scenery): 6
Community & Atmosphere: 8
*Car Park (Price & Spaces): 2
*Cafe (Food & Price): 5
Overall: 31
*Out of 5
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