- Group exercise is incredibly motivating and the buzz and sense of community from a Park Run is hard to beat.
- 9am might seem quite early at the weekend but it’s hard to beat that smugness when you know it’s all done by 9.45 (yes that time does include a chat over a coffee at the end!)
- It’s actually incredibly hard without a GPS watch to judge your speed.. I’ve been surprised (pleasantly and disappointed) by my results a few times
- It does get easier and you do get faster the more you attend.. though progress isn’t linear – you’ll still have good days and bad days
- There are some really inspirational runners out there … it still blows my mind when I see them running towards me (did they take a short cut lol)
- Don’t judge a runner by their shape, age or running gear … I’ve seem some incredibly fast children, parents pushing prams, dog walkers …. runners in sweat pants .. you name it 🙂
- For an early 5K – running on empty works best for me.. just a black coffee and lots of water
- It’s great being able to see all the results on the website including the age category break down (as I head towards 50 (yikes) the age comparison becomes more important lol
Mark is an Advanced Massage Therapist specialising in remedial massage and myofascial release. Treating a range of Runners over the years was his motivation to start running and he now a keen ‘Parkrunner’ in Preston Park, Brighton and Half Marathon Runner. You can read more about his work as a therapist here. Park Runs are 5 K runs that take place all over the country every Saturday at 9am. To find your nearest Park Run visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/