Parkrun Newbury

On Saturday I took part in the first Newbury Parkrun 5km.

It was a cold and frosty drive there in -11c in places with snow on the countryside, glad I decided not to cycle their.

When I got their the main car park was already full so I used the additional car park which happened to be across from the post race cafe and also gave me a 1km warm up and down run from the start :-)

The snow was all around and looked picturesque at the race location at a former airfield covered in snow. See the events photos at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/newbury/photos , I did not have my phone or camera with me as I thought the cold temperatures would not be good for it.

There was a lot of people there for a first event and the conditions, looking at the results there was 317 finishers which I think is the most at a new event by over 100.

It was a good course which would be all on gravel apart from crossing the runway twice, from what I could tell under all the snow. The course is a single lap in a q shape which is unusual to have a single lap and made judging the distance/pace difficult especially with the snow.

I had a number of layers of clothes on, including multiple hats,gloves and watches with the a Ipswich Town top on to keep me warm.

From the start I went of at a fast but controllable pace. The clear gravel soon turned into snow covered and the path narrowed down a bit, so I took the snowier route to get some space. When we turned left I noticed that there was some cattle on this common land and we were getting some strange looks from them in the cold.

The route then continued round on the path which you had to watch out for ice and any pot holes which was a but more difficult in the snow with the sun reflecting on it. As we turned at the top end of teh course we knew we were on the finishing straight which must be about 1 mile long, and even had a slight incline which was interesting in the snow. Near the end I could see the top of the registration marque so I know we where not far from the finish and gave it a bit more of a push.

I finished with a fast time for me of just over 23 minutes, which I think is my fastest time for me in snow.

I did a recovery jog back to the car and changed in to warm dry clothes before trying some food and drink in the cafe before the drive home. It is a good event to do and I will be back when it is slightly warmer.