I’d been praying to The Goddess of Splendid Dryness all week. We all knew about The God of Rain. He’s been watering Those Mortals Down There for most of 2020. He was boring us. He’d outstayed his welcome and he knew it. This has resulted in park run cancellations. Many of them. We’ve had to find our 5k fixes elsewhere, or otherwise had to forgo them altogether! But The Goddess of Splendid Dryness had the cunning plan of sending The God of Rain off on a wet weekend of white water rafting. And it was done: she blessed us with the sort of splendid dryness that befits the Goddess of Splendid Dryness. Chipping Norton School remained resolutely off the cancellation list. We would have our local 5k fix. Everyone was happy again. Hooray!
After a three-week absence, Chipping Norton School park run was back on. Today was their eighth park run and the third that I’ve attended, but it was the first one I’ve arrived to in my running kit. I’d volunteered as a marshal on the 4th and 11th January and I had a fantastic time. I loved cheering people on - maybe more so than running it myself! And the team of volunteers there are the greatest bunch of people. The sense of wellbeing you get from being a part of the park run volunteering family is absolutely off the grid. The perspective you get from being a volunteer makes you appreciate them all the more as a runner.
Having delivered a fantastic and fully memorised race briefing, Run Director Poppy counted us down and we were off! Although it’s been dry for the latter half of this week, we did get a little bit of rain in the early hours of this morning, which made the ground a little spongy underfoot. So no park run PBs would be set today. I didn’t want to go off too fast because I still didn’t know what the course was like as a first-time runner here. And when the adrenaline’s pumping, it’s easy to go off too quickly in the first half mile. I’ve been guilty of it many times and it doesn’t do much for morale when fellow runners are overtaking you in miles two and three! My dad’s been an avid runner since the 1980s and the one of the thing he taught me when I was a kid was to pace myself. “You don’t want to go off too fast and blow up half way through.” No, I certainly do not. A solid piece of practical running advice.
A quarter of a mile in and I found myself near the front. Wow, I thought to myself. What bizarre witchcraft is happening here? Am I in a dream? It felt like I was running through a moving surrealist painting. There was only one man in front of me. Could I maybe win this? I’ve managed some top ten finishes before now but I didn’t realise winning a park run could be a thing. This was new territory for me. I’m not a person who wins. I like the reliability of defeat. What would happen if I won? Maybe I’d cross the line and my head would explode. How could I delay the explosion of my head until after I scanned my barcode? I was asking myself all these questions and it was only the first mile. Stop thinking about your exploding head and focus on running.
As we approached the dip near the long jump, the frontrunner turned back and asked which way he had to go. A park run tourist! Even though it was my first time runner here as well, I was well-equipped to tell him – I’d been a marshal at the long jump station during my last appearance here. Stick to field perimeter, I shouted back. I realised my mistake straight away. I’d just given correct directions to the one runner I didn’t want to give the correct directions to. I’d missed a trick in a spectacular fashion. Chipping Norton Lido was so close. I should have directed him to an early, watery finish! But remember: this is a run, not a race! He remained around ten metres in front of me for most of the run. He maintained his pace well, even through the wooded area that has come to be called Narnia. I was managing to keep up with him. If he was on that red line of maximum effort as I was, then we were a good match for fitness. I felt as though I was gaining ground on him as we ran through Narnia for the second and last time and we both “dropped the hammer” as much as we could as we left that mythical wooded land and ran to the finish line. He was too strong. I couldn’t quite catch him. He had as much left in the tank as I had and he was able to maintain his position as he crossed the line. But it was a fantastic experience to be so close to the front. All credit goes to the winner. In true park run fashion, we shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. He admitted that he hadn’t intended to run so hard but when he found himself at the front, he decided to aim for the win. Congratulations to him again. After all, he saved me from creating one hell of a mess if I had won. My head remained in tact and I was very gracious in defeat.
And finally: many thanks to all the volunteers and a massive well done to the 100 other park runners who came out today! I will continue praying to The Goddess of Splendid Dryness as I hope you will too!
Comments
Post a Comment