Junior Parkrun #10: Town Moor (again, of course)

This weekend was the 7th anniversary of the Town Moor junior parkrun and, to mark it, they were going to be running the course in reverse. The daughter and I were quite looking forward to this, as it would mean a slight downhill to the finish line. Alas, the recent snowy weather meant that... you know, I don't actually get why the weather meant they could run it in the normal direction, yet not in reverse. But... that was the reason given. Instead, they'll be doing the reverse configuration next week instead. Barring something like Mars aligning with Saturn or whatever.


Always nice to have the wind behind you on this stretch; and the sun was a pleasant surprise too

Regardless, the daughter set herself the goal of doing the first kilometre without any walking today, which I was more than happy to set the pace for. I was even more happy when she achieved that goal. At the halfway point, if we'd kept up that pace, we might've troubled her PB (13:04). In the end, it appears it took it out of her. Even if it was just that she'd told herself that she could have a rest after that first kilometre, the result was that the second kilometre involved quite a few periods of walking. The mental game's just as important as the physical one when it comes to setting a good time.

That might all sound a bit Competitive Dad, but I'm nothing compared to some of the parents on this run. Near the end, some kid who looked about 7 years old was being admonished by his mum for walking. Got to say, mind, as she implored him to just run slowly, he held his own and pointed out that he simply didn't want to. Nice one, young un.

Anyhoo... the final hundred metres or so today saw a good sprint finish that meant we beat the previous week's time by a single second, registering 14:00 for the 2K. Smiles all round for an overall improvement and certainly for the excellent first kilometre. I reckon she can actually maintain that pace for longer than she thinks, but there's no hurry. It'll come. In the meantime, that's 10 junior parkruns in the bag, which means that after the next one, she'll be eligible for a half-marathon wristband, which is all very exciting. Bring it on!

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