Race Report - Cannon Hill parkrun Event 46 - Threshold Run

I took the bus down to Cannon Hill this morning, prepared to volunteer as several key people were away this week. Stand in Race Director Matt had everything in hand, and had plenty of volunteers, so I was free to run.

It was nice to see several Sparkhill Harriers and other friends, including Jim, who I haven't seen for a while and Joe, who I see rather a lot!

The plan was, if I ended up running, to not race but treat it as a threshold run. With that in mind I joined Sparkhill Harriers Dave and Grahame well away from the line, and we were busy chatting when Matt set us up - I was actually facing the wrong way at the time but at least I'd got my Garmin connected in time.

I let the field sort itself out around me and then, once on the main perimeter path, settled into a rhythm.  confess It felt good to be in amongst people (and passing them!) instead of being nearer the sharp end where the company is more sparse. It was nice to have the opportunity, and the breath, to encourage friends as I passed them, though it did occur to me that it might seem that I was taking the you-know-what! I had chance to thank all the marshals properly, though I felt the need to explain to Fergal that I was on a tempo run...

I wasn't paying much attention to my watch but did notice that a couple of ½km splits were sub-2 minutes, which was a bit of a surprise! I didn't bother to stop my watch either, but looking at the analysis later it seems as though I got round in about 19:50, which would have been a PB as recently as this February! Because Mary, the Event Director, and the more technology-savvy Race Directors are all elsewhere, the results will be published later than usual, probably Sunday evening, so I'll have to wait until then to confirm my time. I have signed up to the new facility to have results (or a thank-you message when volunteering) texted to me automatically as soon as the database is updated at parkrun Towers.

Another pal, Orlando, was parkrunning on his birthday, and celebrated in great style by winning for the first time. Happy birthday, mate!

After a cup of tea and a chat I set off on the run home, a familiar 5½ mile route, on which I saw yet more Sparkhill Harriers, training in Highbury Park. I really enjoyed the run, despite developing in the last mile an urgent need to get to the bathroom. Perhaps that's why it was one of my fastest runs on this route though a couple of minutes slower than last week. That's the second time on the trot, so to speak.

I notice from my records on Good Run Guide that I've now done 26.2 miles this week. Now why does that number seem familiar? Ten more tomorrow, or thereabouts.