Fast forward to 2022 I’m married, expecting our first child in May 2023, working for the most advanced IT division in the state, studying artificial intelligence, living in Dublin and attending Cabinteely parkrun because it’s near a place we can review a potential parkrun stroller and yes life hasn’t just changed it’s jumped a shark.
Read MoreI know what you’re thinking “Andrew did you just parkrun in prison? Yes I did. I took my pregnant wife as well but before we get bent out of shape let’s tell the story like Pulp Fiction go back and forward a few years and then when it still makes no sense at least we read a good story.
Read MoreI’ve reached Milestone 100 at parkrun. This means I have run 5k at least 100 times at parkrun. Have I ever forgotten my barcode of course I have. Have I ever been illicitly entered into the results I suspect I have but I have never asked and never will. There will be another one next week. I have the most important thing at parkrun…Friends!!!
Read MoreThis is the kind of engagement we need don’t solve the problem overwhelm it. The speeches described a group of organisations that kept working until this parkrun got going.
I finished this parkrun after 23 mins. Niall (parkrun Ambassador) had me scanned quick as a flash. Between showing my barcode and blowing like a steam engine I managed to muster ‘Niall…. are yee… alright for everything…” Niall probably struggling with my Cork accent coupled with my heavy breathing said ‘Check in with Dan’. Dan the RD was expecting a glut of participants through the finish funnel any minute. I got out my parkrun app out and got ready for barcode scanning.
Read MoreThe First Timers briefing in Sept explained things to 100% new parkrunners. This was great to hear I remember the first time I heard it in 2017 at Ballincollig parkrun (Cork). I was standing next to 3 complete first timers at Bushy parkrun. They looked a little confused at how parkrun was timed. I gave them a bit more insight after the briefing. One of them a man by the name of Derek asked how many I had done “Oh 90 odd” I replied donning my humble cap. I’m sure that was a bit intimidating but that’s why I kept a note on how the First Timers Briefing was delivered. He really did put people at ease. His counter part in May was equally welcoming “the rule of thumb here is go straight unless your told otherwise, keep right on the contra flow and PBs are allowed”.
Read MoreYou may love Sport and you may not be interested in politics. Politics however remains extremely interested in you especially when it comes to Sport. Sport as a business model is very much dependent on the participant model (the electorate) in Ireland. In my career as a coach I met very few of our world class athletes who were 1) Well funded and 2) Able to pay for coaching or access to facilities. Sport isn’t a long career even as a coach you have a shelf life of 10 - 15 years if you’re at the top of the game. The majority end up with less and the elite athlete funding model nowadays is endorsements from leveraging your brand on social media.
Read MoreThe run course is possibly the flatest parkrun in Ireland. You’ll run 2.5 laps. A Flat course is tougher mentally. Suddenly your much more alone with your thoughts or in my case feeling how much your lungs are burning. I almost prefer a parkrun that goes against me with hills they make me double down. On a flat I get bored and start listening to my body saying go slower, stop or speed up. At parkrun tough runs never go away.
Read MoreThe sprint corridor was made all the more thrilling by the cowbell and volunteers motivating your final sprint. Like most parkruns we chatted about the drop in volunteers. At the time of writing no has cracked this but the pandemic has left us all with less friends to have some craic with at parkrun. I hope everyone is doing ok? I’ve tried to convince as many as I can to rejoin. It hasn’t worked mostly I’ll keep at it. Maybe consistency will bring them back.
Read MoreThe volunteers were marvellous. What a team. At large events it’s hard to remain nice and friendly to everyone and yet somehow Marlay parkrun have cracked it. The RD Delourdes opened her safety brief by reminding us that on a hot day “You have nothing to prove you’re already a parkrunner please take your time and our marshals have water if you need it”. Later we found out that Delourdes held the record as RD for attendance in Ireland of 795 parkrunners. Thank god she was there that day as we chatted she gave us an insight into the back channelling she does to persuade people to volunteer. She is clearly very resourceful as well as friendly and calm under pressure an oft overlooked and undervalued trait by parkrun top brass.
Read MoreYou will run up this hill 3 times. By all means go wild the first two times but save yourself on the final round. The first two hills sap your legs more than you might realise and yes you have two drops to give you a little time back and recover but on that last hill with the excitement of toppling your goal at Tolka parkrun you might forget the slight mole hill just before the final left turn and the 100 meter sprint home. Yes I did just reference a second surprise hill. You’ll discard this as nothing the first two times but the last time you’ll be turning on the warp speed only to realise it’s too early to travel faster than light. I love a sprint finish and I’d hate to let anyone get hacked down by a hill they forget before the thrill of a Tolka Valley sprint finish. The morning we visited the volunteers were terrific at giving you one final tidal wave of encouragement to finish. What a thrilling run overall.
Read MoreThe RD was in black and thank god I finally found another because I was getting worrried Tramore Valley might the only one with a black RD. He asked me if I was going to win when I went over to say Hello. Whilst I was delighted that my shirt is hiding the spare tyre strapped around my abs I laughed and said 24 mins on a good day.
Read MoreI stepped forward again this time with my wife as Co-Event Director in Tramore Valley. We had to re-energise Tramore Valley but this was different I was coming in as leader to an exhausted demoralised team who still couldn’t believe that Tramore Valley was allowed to return. Even worse they now had the Captain of another ship arriving on the bridge to take charge of the restart. This didn’t feel like Captain Pike arriving on the Discovery at all. Straight away it was red alert, shields up let’s see what we’re dealing with here. What is the story with parking?
Read MoreAccording to the econonmist the word of the week is “revenge travelling”, to describe pent-up demand for getaways after time spent at home in the pandemic. Julie and I are definitely revenge travelling. We’re personally sticking it the Vladmir Putin by cycling to parkrun, work and anywhere that keeps us from buying oil. We’ve been to Pompeii, Naples and Rome on Honeymoon. We’ll be in Stormont in three weeks (we’re taking the train) and Aer Lingus have flights to Paris going for a song in November 2022. In keeping with my random sprinkling of politics in this blog revenge has travelled to Number 10 Downing Street this week where Boris Johnson felt the brunt of it. Most importantly it feels way better if you’re revenge travelling around parkruns in Ireland.
Read MoreOn June 25th 2022 Julie and I continued our wild parkrun adventure at Poolbeg parkrun. Like most people around the country we’re looking at the price of fuel and mentally selling off the car before it bankrupts the family. With this in mind Julie and I have both registered for the cycle to work scheme and we’ve started cycling to parkrun (amongst other places work etc). The irony of cycling to Poolbeg was not lost on us. The parkrun is right next too an oil reserve.
Read MoreJulie and I visited Tymon parkrun on June 11th 2022. If you’re obsessed with fast, flat, gently curved and slightly downhill then this is the place to go. I’d go so far as to say this could easily hold a parkrun world record if a burgeoning Olympian has a free Saturday morning to cut loose with a barcode.
Read MoreJulie and I are now married over two weeks. Yes everything has changed. Julie now insists that I run behind her at every parkrun…..I’m kidding it’s weird running with my wedding ring on and any advice on that would be appreciated? Otherwise we’re on honeymoon and this is our tall parkrun tale from Italy.
Read MoreFor 4 laps I slugged it out on this course eventually finishing in second in an abysmal time of 23:12. Thank god I beat the ten-year-old in the sprint finish. To put this in context in 2019 at Glen River an 11 year old thundered past me in the last 5 meters. I never saw him coming. The Glen River crew have never let me forget it since.
Read MoreIn what seemed like 30 seconds we knew we could deliver a New Years Day Double. Ballincollig quickly agreed to go early at 9:30 am and we would go off at 11 am. The New Years Day Double was on.
Read MoreWhen I am Run Director at Glen River if you so much as move a cone to help the parkrun I document a volunteer credit in the run report for you. I never let an opportunity to give encouragement pass me by at parkrun.
Read More
