Date of Visit 15/04/2023

Introduction

In a few short weeks I’ll be joining one of the most responsible clubs in all of human history. I’ll be a father. The weight of the responsibility is not lost on me and the journey hasn’t even started.

I find myself missing my father. I feel like this is one of those times where I could really use his advice. Unfortunately my father passed unexpectedly away when I was 17. I was fortunate enough to have a father who loved his family. He spent all the hours I can remember from our lives dedicated to my mother and his children (Me, Jamie and Shirley). He had his passions(Karate), hang ups and frustrations like everybody else but we always knew how much he cared. This time in my life is the first time in a long time I can feel the void left by his death. At all other times in my life we’ve been able to patch the void. Families honour a loved ones memory like this. This time I need someone who has walked in my shoes and the best person has unfortunately passed on. I was driving to Father Collins parkrun when I suddenly remembered some advice he gave me when I 15. I was caught between two things at school and couldn’t do both. “Which one do you want more?” “Coaching” “Finish that first then help your friends in the school bank”. Faced with two options Dad went for finish one faster. Dad was a finisher. I’m a finisher. My son will be a finisher. The last year of my life has been like that get married, change jobs, move to Dublin and find a place to live. I joked “I do all my change at once whilst on fire”. In reality I know how fragile life is and how important each moment is. Losing my father thought me exactly how to cease the opportunities that presented themselves. If in doubt finish the job at hand and then you’ll know for sure.

Father Collins park was named after the local priest who was instrumental in it’s development. I’m confident my father would have liked Father Collins because they both shared a love for sport. My father also insisted that we get involved in the community growing up. The quote “Doing nothing is for nobody’s” was one of the pearls of wisdom discussed at our kitchen table. My father was adamant we get involved in something it could have been Tiddlywinks, Hurling or a book club but we had to use our talents or as Dad put it ‘I’m still looking for my talent’. When he said that he was three weeks after receiving his fourth black belt and on his way out the door to a soccer coach qualification. Dad was probably suspiciously eyeing ‘talent’ at the time and starting to think mastering skills was where the game was at. Dad helped thousands learn self defense and after that soccer qualification was over that team started getting better.

Course

Listen to carefully RD brief. The course is wonderful yet slightly confusing. Under foot you’ll have what maybe the cleanest concrete in Dublin. You have an incline on the outer rim so mild to contend with that the parkrun maxim upward flat section might actually apply.

You’ll begin running away from the water feature down the promenade, turn right onto the outer loop, long arch all the way around through some trees, onto the upward flat until a Marshal points you right over to the opposite side of the promenade you galloped down at the start, enjoy the water from the opposite side, then zig-zag a little until you’re behind the water feature, hang a left turn down the other side with the promenade adjacent, wave at the first marshal you met and head back around for another lap but this time when you’ve reached the first marshal again go left and sprint down the promenade to parkrun glory.

Straight flat courses like this are deceptive. You can stay in a rhythm but what do you think about other then staying away from Swans? That’s always a battle. I had plenty in the tank that morning my wife is close to blessing us with our first child so lately I’ve been refocusing my fitness efforts. I’m going to be the fitness example to follow for my son and that’s just one of my jobs.

Live a Little

The parkrun commences right in front of the water feature. Swallow the mental health benefits of running next to water whole. There was a discount on coffee here at Bru coffee (if you present your barcode) outside the Trinity Sport and Leisure club. I can confirm that the Americano was great but if you’re more adventurous Julie confirmed the Flat White was also delicious. At some point during the run you’ll see the planes flying into Dublin airport. I had a bit of chuckle to myself at the British Airways plane with the tail draped in the American flag coming into Dublin airport at the end of the same week US President Joe Biden came on a four day visit to Ireland and the UK press spent the whole week sniping at Biden for snubbing the UK. On a lighter note at this time in 2020 we where at home on Zoom terrified and those flights and squabbles were what we dreamed of having back.

Volunteers

We were almost at a 59:59 event. The Father Collins team until Friday had only one Timekeeper. At other parkruns you might ask a Marshal to double job but that wasn’t an option. The course is a little confusing and you need your four marshals out there until the Tail Walker is finishing. That was obvious to me. As much as I like to roll the dice as RD and go with just one timer. I accept that the pressure on one person to click each finish time perfectly is a lot to ask of a volunteer. One should never assume the volunteer is a seasoned veteran either. A new timekeeper can really do with a friend to guide them or make a complete mess of timing together. You can modify the results of one timekeeper but having done that and also had a second timer as back up I’d take the second timekeeper every Saturday. It’s much less work and pressure. I felt for the Father Collins parkrun team here.

I’m an event director these days and it was only two weeks ago one of our new RDs asked was one marshal ok. As a rule I never over rule the RD. They’re the leader and I have confidence in them. This is not the same across parkruns but I promote a culture of trust if something goes wrong thats for me to eat the blame. I want the team to have fun every week. I’m by no means perfect but I know the value of a good volunteer team. I often whatsapp the team ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’. I can advise you on what to do but you need to own it and make it fun. At Glen River it was Glen River Tough in Tramore Valley it was Revenge of the Valley. I want the teams I’m involved in believing they can have fun and deliver parkrun. I could see that in the Father Collins team. The RD in the safety brief informed us the swans are birthing and they will go for you so please give way to swans and other park users. You don’t get fun like that without a good team around you.