Tourist Visit to Rothwell parkrun

A couple of weeks ago we were up north for an unexpected trip, unfortunately due to a family bereavement on my wife’s side. While she spent time with her family, my brother in law and I spent much of the weekend at Springhead Park in Rothwell with the kids. On the Saturday morning the Rothwell parkrun was just packing up. Seeing the park in the flesh, I could tell it would be a great run. I knew we were going to be up north again today so Rothwell jumped straight to the top of my list of to-dos.

This time round I had managed to persuade my two brother in laws to break the parkrun virginity. We jumped in the car and headed on down. Having checked the Facebook page I knew today was a pacer event. As such it seemed quite busy with 391 running according to the results. It seemed a few local running clubs had contingents taking part.

I was stuck a bit though on what time to aim for. I knew the paths would be a bit easier than Pocket back home. But then it had a hill! In the end I decided to set off following the 22min pacer.

The first km round the bottom of the park was quite quick as I weaved in and out to find the 22min man. Then it was time for the hill. I know locals would say it was nothing but with only 4m of climb back home, it was a bit sapping. At least what goes up must come down and then another flat lap. This time as we hit the hill I was starting to blow and found myself falling back a bit. One more lap of the path and then it was a right turn to home. I crossed in 22:40 which wasn’t too bad really. Brother in Law #1 was about 40s in front and then it was time to cheer on #2 as he smashed his 30min target. Hopefully I’ve converted them both!

We didn’t stick around after as had the kids back home who wanted to go for a run in the woods. That said, having eaten at the cafe there before, I can recommend it! I can see a trip here becoming a more common occurrence when up here though.

Some random stats:

• 1st parkrun at Rothwell
• 5th different parkrun run
• 18th parkrun overall
• Knocked 40 off of parkrun Bingo (16/60)

Did you try any new parkruns this morning or convert anyone to do their first? Do let me know in comments!