I still haven’t ran @Prestonparkrun…

Photo taken by Lynn Brown

But I have volunteered!

It was a gloriously hot morning on Saturday, and I’m secretly glad I didn’t run, but I will say that arriving at the park Pavilion at about 8:30 am I was a little nervous. Having only spoken with people in email & not too sure just what I’d be doing, I was a little worried that I’d end up with a deadly serious task & fail miserably.

Photo taken by Lynn Brown

But after a quick chat with Michael (the gent who stepped up & organised parkRun Preston), Lynn (who took all the lovely photos on this post) & some of the other volunteers, I discovered 3 things.

1) There aren’t really any difficult jobs when volunteering for parkRun

2) You can do as much or as little as you like, so if a job sounds too much, there’s always a job to suit

3) Even if you do, some how, mess everything up, there’s always a way around it & at the end of the day, it’s just a Saturday 5k run, not LOCOG.

So armed with a high vis vest & 300 place tokens, I was the numbers lady.

My biggest worry was keeping the tokens in order & not dropping them all over the park. I have to admit it was a little exciting, especially after a swift bit of maths made us realise that the 23rd finisher today would be the 200th finisher since Preston parkRun began. After only 3 runs I think that’s an awesome start to the Preston run, and it’s only going to get bigger.

It was good fun seeing all the runners cross the finish line, and really did prove that runers come in all shapes and sizes, and also that parkRun isn’t just about sprinting around the park as fast as possible.

It was also great to see the support of all the other runners for every

Photo taken by Lynn Brown

one running, from the amazement & well done for the 18:26 winner, and the applause for the runner who’s gotten a PB every week but quite happily sits further down the pack. It was brilliant to see kids racing each other & young and old running together, and everyone moan about “The Hill!”

I’d also say that volunteering would be a great way to dip your toes into parkRun, especially if you’re nervous about running in front / with others (as I know some ladies are) or just nervous about turning up on a Saturday morning to a load of strangers.  It will give you some faces & names to remember next time & there’s time for a chat with the others whilst waiting for the 1st runners to come through.

But it really was a great morning & I honestly had a laugh whilst handing out place tokens to the runners, and would suggest everyone gets their name down to volunteer, especially while the weather is nice.

I’ve obviously been going on at home about how brilliant parkrun is, as now my daughter wants to come run with me. She’s only 4 and after a short run on Sunday evening, I don’t think she has the attention span to run 5k, but I think in a few months she’ll be ready for a run, and hopefully she’ll enjoy it!

If you fancy volunteering for parkrun Preston then check out the Volunteer section on the parkrun site and give them an email.

If you somehow have been living in a hole for months & don’t know what parkrun is all about, then I’m shocked, and point you to the parkrun home page!

Photo taken by Lynn Brown

Lastly, proof that I was there, and proof that I didn’t mess the results up HERE!

There’s also a Preston parkrun facebook group and a twitter too.

Plus if you like the amazingly gorgeous photos in today’s post then head over to the Flickr Preston parkrun pool where you’ll find lots more photos by Lynn who kindly let me add these pictures to my blog.