Rosedawn Ramblings

Where running and music meet... Seven years ago in January 2012,  I had my first taste of parkrun tourism, completing Pollok parkrun on a very cold and icy morning in Glasgow. The bus ride from the city centre out to Pollok Country Park was an adventure and we were really pleased to find ourselves in the right place at the right time (9.30am starts in Scotland thankfully). The ice on the normal parkrun route meant an alternative route, which essentially involved running through icy puddles round a muddy rugby field, but that didn't stop me enjoying the experience, We were in Glasgow to see Snow Patrol at the SECC and it was an amazing night. Seven years later, almost to the day, we were down in Birmingham to see Snow Patrol on their comeback tour at the Birmingham Arena. Still amazing, it was a fantastic gig and there was something infectiously joyful about the big smile on lead singer Gary Lightbody's face - it looked like they were glad to be back and the crowd certain...

This latest blogpost is all about parkrun , which is an organisation which arranges free, weekly, 5km timed runs around the world. They have been taking place around the UK for several years and in Stoke-on-Trent since September 2011, when Hanley parkrun was held for the first time. Every Saturday morning, between 30 and 50 runners, plus volunteers and supporters gather in Hanley Park by the lake. When the fountains are turned on at 9am, the countdown to the start begins. The course takes us from the bottom of the park to the top and back (twice) and finishes by the bandstand just above the canal - it parkrun terminology, its a net uphill course. I love parkrun. I love the challenge of trying to improve my own time each week. So far this year, I've knocked about 2 minutes off my personal best and I'm really pleased about that. Each week, I feel like I can control my pace a lot better and the hills are not too big an obstacle to climb. The speedwork and hill trainin...