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So the hugely (un)anticipated run didn't happen on Wednesday! This constant state of tiredness was showing no signs of leaving, and with the benefit of being able to leave earlier for the train to Manchester, I ditched it for today.
During the journey up, I thought about running opportunities and as I detailed my journey on Instagram (yes, an equally riveting read just like this blog), and added the hashtag, #broughtrunningkit. This was cleverly spotted by Vicky (whom I was catching up with along with Alice) the following day and she had a cunning plan! A run round Salford Quays, in the sunshine, with an elite athlete in attendance, with food to follow? After a considerable amount of consideration, you'll be stunned to read that I agreed and duly enrolled for the Great Run Local Series.
Betsy Saina kindly posed for a photo with the three of us (Betsy would finish 3rd at the Great Manchester Run on Sunday) before the run which was nice! I ran with Alice who would be a pacer on Sunday for the half marathon distance so it was a definite "conversational pace" (because of Sunday, NOT because I was running with Alice I must stress!!) Kudos to Alice though as she was pacing two hours and her chip time was 1:59:58!
Salford Quays was stunning in the sunshine and the 5km course was a nice loop of the area, crossing the Ship Canal a couple of times. I was stunned to see how much the area has changed. A quick change afterwards and there was some well deserved food! (A few extra steps were logged too but we don't mention getting lost in the Lowry...do we?)
Friday would be a non-starter on the running front as there was so much to do and so little time (stop me if I sound like Willy Wonka!) A catch up with fellow parkrun ambassador Sam over a coffee and a tour of her impressive office set up was followed by a true trip down memory lane as I went back to school to revisit St Bede's College, which I had last set foot in when collecting my A-Level results! I had a few moments spare, and strolled over to Alexandra Park where, as a pupil, we would do cross country once a term. (I say cross country, but we stuck to the footpaths and it was only one mile!) I utterly hated it! I mean, the idea of running around a park, for fun, in the fresh air getting exercise! Are you serious? What sort of fool would have that sort of an idea ? (More about him later). If only the young Bedian me knew what lay ahead! The visit was fabulous and there were so many memories. Huge thanks to my old form tutor Barry Peden for taking me around the buildings. I'll be back again for sure!
Saturday is parkrun of course and this week I headed to Peacehaven parkrun to catch up with fellow ambassadors, a couple of folks from parkrun HQ (you know the one, the sort that had that idea I mentioned above), catch up with friends and not least, to help the event celebrate their first birthday! It was a smashing morning in the park and brilliant for everyone to spend some time with Paul and Jo Sinton-Hewitt. So many people wanted to tell Paul their stories and he never tires of hearing them. For us ambassadors, having Jo there was great as we had a meeting over coffee on the grass and just talked all things parkrun! It was a hot run and (now starting to get annoying) I was feeling it. I was tired as I went around the course, and though I could allow the travelling to be a factor, the journey back though was pretty quick and smooth!
All too soon though we had to dash to the "Night of the 10,000 PBs" event where I was volunteering with a number of other parkrun folk. With the founder and Event Support Manager also attending (PSH was racing parkrun CEO Nick Pearson in a one mile challenge later on), it was almost rude not to scrounge a lift! The event itself is fantastic and I can't recommend it highly enough! A series of 10k races (with the one mile event thrown in for good measure) and the standard was very, very high! Throw into the mix the fact that the crowd are on the running track, there is entertainment, food and drink....and it's all free - well the food isn't! £3.00 for a portion of chips! After the first two races, there was a tap on the shoulder and there was Hannah Oldroyd! Hannah has won more marathons than I've taken part in and, to be frank, is annoyingly good! She loves a good Guinness and thinks nothing of having a couple of cheeky ones on a Saturday night, before getting up and knocking out a sub-three hour marathon on the Sunday (as I say, usually winning it). What tips could The Oldroyd pass on to The Old Boy....? "I need to get my sh*t together as the race starts soon; I'm gonna die on my ar*e" she said as she dashed off to the start line. For the first couple of laps, maybe Hannah was being truthful for once as she was towards the back of the pack, whilst ahead, a lady from Glasgow was running like she'd left the gas on or something! However, 25 laps is a long way and slowly but surely, I could see that Hannah not only was moving up the field, but the gap between her and the front was closing! I was joined by Karen and Paul (who was also racing later on) and we added our cheers to the speedy Oldroyd! Sadly our Glaswegian runner didn't finish the race, but Hannah did, storming into second place....and not dying on her arse! (I'm using the swear word to emphasis how bloody good a run it was - oh, there I go again! Don't let my mum see me swear!)
Paul's race looked highly competitive and there were two or three groups of guys battling it out within the race. Annoyingly, we couldn't get a true gist of positions due to the loud music being pumped out and no lap counter but I saw on Twitter later that Paul enjoyed himself so that was good enough for me! There was a break during with I caught up with Hannah, on her way to the pub to get some "proper beer" - apologies to the event sponsors!
The next race was the One Mile Challenge. Not only were PSH and Nick going head to head, but there was the added challenge of Hannah England (I wonder if I change my name to Hannah would I get quicker??), giving all the runners 45 seconds head start before trying to chase them down. There had been much talk between the two boys but now, it was time to shut up and run. Nick ran a great mile to be honest and Paul was pleased not to have been caught by Miss England! Huge kudos to all of the runners in this race! If you'd like to see some of this race, click here and I apologise for the unprofessional commentary!
The event closed with another series of 10k races and the Brits were out in force. We have a promising group of men and women coming through for sure, but a highlight for me was watching Andy Vernon in action. All power and one of three men who came in sub-28 minutes! He even had time for a warm down lap where he was high-fiving and thanking the crowd - class!
As we headed home, I put in a sprint (trot) of my own, leaving John waiting as I seized a moment with one of my heroes. In days of old, it was all about Coe Vs Ovett and I was always for Coe. When he led the team to bring us the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, his standing rose. So when there was a chance with a photo, I took it. He was really kind and patient whilst we did it. Naturally, it was my Facebook profile pic before we'd left the track, and I HAD to tweet about meeting one of my heroes. Then, this happened....
The perfect end to an amazing day! With details of Horsham 10km adjudicating to come, I think this is a great moment to pause, because, let's face it, that's another story!