I ran a 5k Parkrun without any training

Breakfast I decided to try something new. I find it quite funny in retrospect. Because I didn’t do any research on what I should eat before a run. So, I just made a toast with homemade guacamole and 2 poached eggs because it seemed healthy you know, something your local runner would eat in my mind. No idea whether they actually would eat something like that before a run though, it seemed like a good idea at the time and it was probably the right choice looking back on it as spoiler alert. I didn’t throw up.

My back was a bit sore this day, the night before I was doing a back day in the gym, but I was feeling good, excited and nervous at the same time. I didn’t know what it would look like or how I’d fair. My mum and I got in the car, when we arrived 10 minutes till the start, we didn’t expect there to be as many people as there was. I was treating this event as just a run just something to gauge my fitness level and practice for the Hyrox event I wanted to do next month. Having forgotten that a 5k parkrun is something that a lot of people train a long time for. That a parkrun is a lot of people’s final goal after a lot of hard work. For example, the couch to 5k initiative by the NHS which is a 9-week plan that many have followed to run their first 5k.

There were a lot of first timers me included, but it was mostly a lot of veterans. The atmosphere before the race was amazing everyone was so positive and supportive of one another. The event had a real sense of community. The original plan as I didn’t think the event would be so well organised was for my mum to drop me off and go. But when she saw how many people came and how official it was, she stayed and wanted to watch me race and support me through it, which I really appreciated.

I was quite overwhelmed by everything in a good way everything was so new but also so cool. A lot of people knew each other, and it was great to see so many people excited to try their best. The Marshalls and volunteers were very helpful and helped make me aware of how the whole thing would look like. Where to go on the course, how many laps of the course in our case around 2.5. Also reminding me that at the end of the race I would have to pull up the barcode I got when signing up for the run, so that they could register my position and time. From the little prep I did before hand I saw that you could also buy a wristband with your barcode on it for £20 which I decided to not do for this race as I had too little time. By the time I knew the bare minimum about how the parkrun was going to go we were all called to the start line.

After celebrating some of the milestones of some of the runners there who were on their 100^th, 50^th, 10^th, 5^th Parkruns, the head Marshall told us to line up, and we were off. I wasn’t ready for it when the start was called. Like the professional I am. I was still on my phone trying to get a stopwatch on, as a contingency if my barcode didn’t work for some reason. But I saw the positive in it for one I won’t have to worry about becoming lost at least as there was a lot of people in front of me.10 seconds or so into the race I was ready, stopwatch on, I put my phone in my pocket and started running in the crowd. I was near the back. I wanted to go slow because I had no idea whether I would even be able to run 5km. Feeling good, so far so good I feel like the first 100m was very relaxed and that I could maybe go a little faster. The energy in the crowd was making me want to push myself harder.

 I started overtaking some people and getting in a rhythm. What surprised me and also impressed me looking back on it was that there was a volunteer every 300 metres. Encouraging the runners to keep going and being all around supportive. I said hi and thank you not out of breath yet. But I could already tell saying thank you latter on might be struggle, with me likely breathing like a Yorkshire terrier after a long walk of pulling and piping up to every big dog they see (subtle foreshadowing).

The first lap and a half went by slower than I thought, but I was going at a steady pace still overtaking people while also getting overtaken by a few people that managed their energy better than me. Or so I thought with some of them as I started to overtake them again and we would continually overtake each other, motivating each other. My nemesis (or I guess biggest competitive motivator haha) during the run was this one blonde middle-aged lady that must have overtook me like 5 times and visa versa during the run. As a self-identified gym rat that hasn’t done cardio in years, I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this.

Near the end of my first lap and a half I saw 2 people sprinting for the finish line, I was shook, because I realised these guys just lapped me. It was wild to see and made me feel inspired. During the run it wasn’t the only thing that inspired me, I saw so many older people that were ahead of me, a somewhat healthy 23-year-old guy. With them just chatting with each other while going faster than me. Chatting while I was utterly out of breath. What didn’t make me feel inspired though was the fact that I was only halfway through and I was already totally exhausted. It made me feel like I was in that one meme that goes “It was at this moment, he knew, he fucked up.” 

It became less of a race for me, seeing how many people I can pass. But rather me challenging myself to not stop running no matter how slow I was going. Walking or stopping was banned in my head. Around 70-80% of the way to the finish I was totally dead. When I passed by volunteers saying good job I would let out a huhuh-tha=huh=you, or just nod. I was gasping for air too much to be able to talk and my hypothesis of this happening that I made at the begin of the race came true.

Nevertheless, with my mum occasionally coming up to me mid race supporting me with my sister who was on facetime with her, I was nearing the end of the race. I decided to pick up the pace and sprinted the last 70 metres. It felt good. I manged to overtake 2 or 3 more people. Volunteers shouting, “Watch out Sprinter behind you!” and other participants who had finished saying “Nice strong finish”. I finished; I gave 100% of what I thought was possible for me and then some.

One of the volunteers gave me something to give back, I was too exhausted to properly hear what she said apart from scan your barcode. I know now that what she gave me was a token. I was too tired to care about someone scanning my barcode which I thought gave me my time and position, I was just happy I managed to finish what position I came in no longer mattered to me. So, I just laid down on the grass and decided I would take a few breaths before looking through my phone for the barcode I got in an email. My Mum however had different ideas, she started rushing for me to sit up and get the barcode ASAP and called over a volunteer to scan it for me once I got it up. It still took around 30 or more seconds for me to pull up the barcode and get it scanned, in my discombobulated shape. Which at the time I thought meant that likely the people I overtook in the ending seconds of the race actually got a better time and placement, but I really didn’t care all that much I was just happy I finished and that I gave 100%. After the volunteer scanned my barcode and token, she told me to hand back my token. However, before I handed back the token I promptly chose to lay down for a couple minutes, walking to the volunteer that was 10 metres away felt like an impossible task for a couple of minutes. The walk back to the car I got a cramp in my calves which hurt but it also made me feel accomplished.

With hindsight I now know that it didn’t matter how fast someone scanned my barcode, and the token that I was given at the finish was actually the thing that determined my position and time. I don’t know how that works but it works. So all my stress straight after the finish may not have been justified. At least I know now though.

Huge thanks to all the volunteers, organisers, supporters and competitors who made it such a good day and challenge. Biggest thanks to my mum absolute legend for driving me there and back and supporting me whenever she saw me. I really recommend doing one of these Parkruns in your local area, but unlike me with some training behind you as you will hear the aftermath was not ideal. For health, fitness, meeting new people, challenging yourself it’s a really great atmosphere. It’s a good place to make friends I feel like, I noticed so many people talking to each other, especially if you are an older person. You don’t have to run people of all ages and fitness levels go to these events. I can’t recommend it enough it was great fun.

Now for the result! Cause even though I didn’t care straight after I finished, I did care afterwards. I managed to get a time of 29 minutes 16 seconds. Out of 182 park runners I managed to place 89^th, I was 4^th in my age group, and I was the 69^th male finisher. Which I found ironic as Magnus the person who inspired me in part to do this finished in 69^th place. I wasn’t quite as good as Magnus with my placement overall, but I tried my best and most importantly I tried and found out whether I could run a 5k without stopping.