Guest Post: In praise of parkruns ...by Pat Walsh

 * In praise of parkuns *

After many genuine and sincere invitations, I finally returned to Ballincollig parkrun in Cork last Saturday morning. It is a few years since I visited and I was wondering what the set up would be like.

No fear

Wow, everything was organised to perfection. The ultimate compliment to any event is to say it runs itself and everything is seamless. To anyone who has ever organised anything then you know that the level of work to get to that stage is staggering. 

Congrats Ian who got his 100th Volunteer credit last Saturday morning. That is serious stuff.

I was welcomed by the local dignitaries, a nice handy warm-up loop to get the body in some fit state to run and to reacquaint myself with the course. It is a 2 lap / 5km so nice warm up distance.

Speeches to welcome first-timers and some visiting tourists and all were made feel welcome. There was even people from Kerry there which shows how accommodating us Cork people can be.

A start on time, nice scenic loop of the park, pass half-way for some encouraging cheers and around we go again. Part of the course you run on the banks of the River Lee and if that wouldn’t inspire heroic deeds among athletes then sadly you are a lost cause.

I loved it. Great atmosphere with top class running mixing with walkers and children. All equal on the morning.

Thanks Graham and Joe for taking the photos. Without you we would have nothing for social media…..!!

The Cuppa

Thanks to Queen Mary and her team who invited me to a cuppa afterwards. I was honoured to be asked and I duly went along. Little did I know it was the Irish version of the ‘Bake Off’. There was buns and cake and every form of food that any self respecting athlete should run a mile from. We even had "curranty cake' (don't ask)

I braved it out and tried everything. Siobhan it was a pity I had to butter my own scone but the homemade jam was delicious. I certainly consumed twice the amount of calories I burnt during exercise. It was fantastic.

As I write this I know there are thousands of you who could tell the same story from their locality and their own run. Feel free to comment and tell us why you are the best.

It is a simple concept that is truly wonderful. 

A free 5k run in your locality that you can decide to enter on the day, stay anonymous if you wish and none of the hype or hassle that goes with big races.

If you haven't tried it you are missing something.

#pwr