Introduction

The last time Julie and I were Donabate it was disaster. We were at a Half Marathon as part of the Dublin Marathon Race Series 2017. This experience didn’t stop us coming back because parkrun is a universal delight and Donabte did not disappoint.

Before we continue with the delicious dessert that was Donabate parkrun let’s take a moment and let your motivation speak. Are you done with January? Are you bate from January? So am I and I’m a Fitness coach. Like many at this time of year I’ve put in the hard yards to make new habits so that I can give more to my family in 2024 but now those habits are getting boring. What a let down right? All that hype about a New Year’s resolution didn’t include any mention of boredom. If anything we were pitched the prospect of a new lifestyle one much better than our old one. That new life had energy, passion, was jam packed with fun and it felt great (at least when we pictured it in our minds on New Years Day it did). Boredom was not in the brochure. The gym program surely couldn’t come down to lift consistently, frequently, slightly heavier each week and after a while you’ll become lean. Those 12 x 400s on the track even though they’re getting faster couldn’t be losing their thrill. Oh but they can and they are even if I weave in some 200s and 600s. Boredom is the secret villain in every personal develpment journey that no one talks about. Motivational speeches everywhere magnify the passion those at the top of their field have. A slightly deeper dive ie actually talking to high performers reveals that they too get bored but they stick to schedule and win. I am imagine this is like learning a magicians secrets for some of you reading. It is easier to believe in magic, the mystery gives that unknown novelty we crave, that rush of anticipation adn then the awe of seeing something spectacular. Knowing the truth that boredom is the greatest threat to your success however will prove advantageous to you none the less.

I was laughed out of the room more than once by clients when I told them boredom is the greatest threat to your success. I counted and 80% of those who laughed came back to me for coaching. I was humble I never mentioned anything about it in future sessions. The real enemy is fat no matter how I win someone to the cause I’m happy to have you winning your battle. If we slay fats brother boredom on route thats good. The other 20% failed miserably and I did offer to help again but at that point pride got in the way or so I believe. Maybe the future will be kind to our paths and we’ll help each other another time. Boredom is probably where parkrun continually keeps it fresh. It’s always a free, weekly and timed 5k but if you need novelty then you can do what Julie and I did in January 2024 and decide to visit a different parkrun in Donabate. You can do this across the world with the same barcode for free (Talk to Ryanair re flights if your get something free of Michael O Leary fair play to you). If you can’t travel well you can play stopwatch bingo, join parkrun laughs and obsess over finishing in position 69 and all it’s variations, finish in every position from one to one hundred, volunteer as tail walker, volunteer as pacer, race a friend, run the all weather challenge, finally you can keep aiming to beat your PB and more that I haven’t written here because we haven’t got all day. The parkrun Chrome Extension is there for you to refer too and if that really doesn’t keep it interesting I’ve never known any team more diverse than a parkrun core team go make some new friends. You may find a new best friend every week.

Journey around parkrun Ireland

This was location 34 in Ireland for Julie and I

Course

The course is a two lapper with one large outer loop followed by a smaller inner loop. The outer loop begins just before Newbridge House and journeys past the house passing the outdoor gym and barn before coming parallel to Turvey Avenue. The parallel path is densely forrested and for me it was eerily quiet until my baby son Edward began making fart sounds with his lips. I believe we gave a few of our fellow runners a bit of a shock. For second I thought there was an animal native to the forest greeting us but then I came parallel to Edward in the buggy and realised he was up to mischief. Edwards first prank aside once you come away from Turvey avenue there is a short downhill as you come back towards the start area. Follow the marshals direction and take in the shorter loop which cuts away a large swath of the first loop but then when you come back around you have a sprint finish across the grass. Go make that January interesting again and let rip.

Stroller safe

I took my son for a stroll in the buggy. It was totally tarmac until about 50 meters to the end when we came onto the grass. The only reason I slowed down was to get a stopwatch bingo. As I wrote at the beginning parkrun has novelty built in. The clock gave me an inch and I took a mile.

Live a Little

Running around Newbridge House was the living here. Vey few courses capture my attention completely but honestly every bit of this course had a nuance to take in. I would also recommend the Couch House Cafe onsight approximately 100 meters from the start line they served a wonderful breakfast.

Volunteers

I didn’t get of much a chance to talk to the team today but they did have a rather unique RD speech. Yannick (RD) encouraged volunteering by politely asking if we noticed the people in yellow this morning? Then asked for an applause and reminded us that they came here to help us this morning. Yannick then continued that if we would like to volunteer that one we would be welcomed with open arms and that yes he could put you down for next week. Finishing Yannick wished us all well and hoped to see us all againg next week. I was touched the delivery was so authentic I wanted to volunteer next week right there and then. Volunteering gets taken for granted at parkrun contact donabate@parkrun.com if you want to volunteer.