Last night a fellow local runner said he was heading to Bedford today if anyone wanted a lift. I'd only met Graeme briefly before, but took up his offer. We were there in plenty of time and a big crowd started gathering. We did a gentle half lap to warm up.
I got caught up in the crowd at the start, so it took me a while to get going properly. The course is nearly 3 laps of the park with a bit of a climb at one end. It all felt like hard work, but I kept going. As the finish came into sight I attempted a bit of a sprint that took me past a few people, but then 3 guys came back past me in the last few metres. There were over 400 finishers of all ages. There were quite a few pre-teens running with parents.
Unfortunately I managed to forget the barcode you need to have your time recorded, but Endomondo reckons it was a new personal best. I'm definitely getting closer to my target of 25 minutes for 5km.
Graeme was over a minute quicker than me. He has done 77 parkruns in various locations. That was my 16th and I hope to do a lot more this year. I believe I can improve on my current running.
Run free!