Race Report - Roundhay parkrun Event 7 - Birthday Bumps

Roundhay Park was looking glorious in the Saturday morning sunshine, as some 142 happy smiling faces appeared from all directions. This particular event seemed to have interpreted the national call for fancy dress in their own way and pyjamas and teddy bears were de rigeur!

The race is just a little over three laps, and is in the same part of the park as last year's National Cross Country Championships, so I knew that the warnings I'd received of hilliness were likely to be reliable. I'd been told to expect to be around a minute and a half slower than on a flat course. It was a very warm and quite blustery morning too, so I was looking for something like 20:45. I'd be happy with anything under that, really.

The course swings round the Arena with Hill 60 to the right

Fortunately 'Hill 60' doesn't form part of the route, although it looms over the course and can be seen from most of the way round. The unusual name comes from the site of a First World War battle near Ypres, where many Leeds soldiers lost their lives.

The Mansion House

I wondered if I might have set off too fast, as I found myself lying twelfth passing the Mansion House for the first time, at the highest part of the course. There was no time to ponder this, though, as a sharp left (known as 'Gambon Corner' - presumably after the corner on the 'Top Gear' track which Michael Gambon took on two wheels) had us hurtling back down the hill towards the cricket pitch. I managed to overhaul one chap on the first lap, then held station for a while, but was overtaken twice on the last lap. Any thought of a sprint finish goes out of the window as the last 600 meters or so is a real uphill slog. I could hear someone closing on me but I managed to hold him off - it was almost like having a push!

This time I'd remembered to set the Garmin up in time, but it being so hilly the pace readings were pretty meaningless. Toward the end though the running time seemed pretty good - better than I'd hoped in fact - and I hit the funnel on 20:09. No PB for my birthday, but still very happy!

Roundhay parkrun was my 19th, and my fifth different parkrun venue. It was also my ninth fastest despite being easily the hilliest! Good Run Guide gives this race my highest Age-Graded performance at 76.78%, as it takes into account the course profile as well as the runner's age, so in that sense I suppose I could claim a birthday PB...