Introduction

Darndale is close to our home in North Dublin so for Julie, Ted, Edward and I this was our Santa Dash at Darndale. The run opened with the celebration of a 250 run milestone ended with a selection box for everyone and I believe I spotted a suspected drug deal in the middle.

Considering that Julie and I were baptised in the intervention parkrun Brimstone fire of Glen River parkrun on the North side of Cork City this felt like a bang average Saturday in many ways except most importantly we could see a community binding together and rising in Darndale. The RD brief spoke of the rise of Coolock Running Club. We spotted the men and women arriving with the gear, brooms and bins bags. All the same effort helped Glen River rise up and thrive. Local interested groups of people helped Glen River bring up the health of the area. Darndale is at that inflection point. I could see how Darndale parkrun was pulling the community up. Darndale parkrun is on the up and if anyone in parkrun HQ or politics is reading now is the time to resource it with everything we’ve got.

Journey around parkrun

Darndale parkrun was number 33 in Ireland for Julie and I.

Course

The Course consists of three anti-clockwise laps. You will start by the pavillion and journey around the pitches up a short hill at the back just before the halting site, arch back towards the start via a slight twist around a lough. A very enjoyable course with plenty to look at and if you don’t fancy looking at the surroundings putting your head down and driving home a PB is definitely possible with a largely flat route and a 400 meter dead straight sprint finish.

Stroller safe

The course is about as safe as you can get with a stroller. The surface is quite good, you will struggle to get up the hill but that’s good for your fitness and I did run past the back of the pavillion whilst over hearing two guys asking another fellow swigging a can of beer if he had any gear they could blow for a high but this was directly after a particularly nice family let me pass with the stroller. I wouldn’t leave the guy with the cans watch your stroller while you hit the bathroom but otherwise you’ll be grand.

Live a Little

The lough is particularly nice and you’ll pass threw it three times. There was a stillness there and an opportunity to reflect.

The climb up that hill is bloody hard especially with a buggy. The term lung busting run springs to mind when thinking of this hill. When you feel your breath get heavy think about this;

You still have breath in your body others do not and if you still have breath in your body you have choices ahead of you. Make the most of those choices.

You still have breath in your body that means you still have time, time to do your best on this day with this part of your life.

Volunteers

Email darndale@parkrun.com to volunteer at parkrun. I am personally envious of Darndale parkrun they are about to reach that point on the parkrun journey where grind starts to rise up and the results become magic. I could see the groups knitting together into Coolock Running Club. I’m expecting good things to happen here over 2024.

Conclusion

Darndale is starting to dazzle.

Quote of the Week

I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place, and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief, I decided. Belief is irresistible. Phil Knight