Skipton Parkrun.

 It is very easy to get swept up into these Parkrun App challenges. And this is how I found myself at Skipton Parkrun this weekend.

My Parkrunning of late has been sporadic. Due to other events and well, life. However, this year I have embraced the idea of touring Parkrun and if I’m ever away from home on a Saturday the first question is “how far is the nearest Parkrun?” I’ve done Parkruns on the morning of Hen Do’s, and more recently on the morning of my friend's wedding. (She was getting married at 2pm, okay!?)
Due to life getting in the way I was on track to get my tourist streak of ‘5’ so I had to tour this weekend.

It just so happened that my friend needed to collect something locally to Skipton so I had my 5th Parkrun in the bag - Challenge completed.

We set off from Preston super early to make sure we were there on time. We were so early we were able to nip into the farm shop (Keelham) down the road for a quick brew.

We then headed over to the park. This one is super easy to find as you are able to park in the leisure centre car park (at a cost, however if you use the café after your parking is waivered - always a great excuse for a coffee stop after!) and the Parkrun is directly opposite. What is also great is that there is a little park, a skate park and you are able to use the leisure centre facilities, so if you are bringing your family along then you can always bribe the children with the play park after. There were some children on there on Saturday morning and they were great cheerleaders - especially seeing as Skipton is a 4 lap course.

We saw all of our High Viz Heroes (Volunteers) congregating just in front of the skate park, but we had more important things to find. The illusive purple banner.

We wandered around trying to work out the route, and not quite sure where to go. And then we heard the call for the ‘first timers’ briefing. This was a super refreshing one. Informative, amusing and not too long.

Briefing done, we made our way to the start. A four lap course. Preston is three laps, which I can just about cope with. But four? You can’t lose your count on this one. If you enjoy breaking your runs up this is a great one for it. You have 3 key sections.

The short hill into the woods.
I was really really impressed with everyone here. You have no option but to run single file in the woods, it is a very narrow track and you have to stay left so that people can overtake. Everyone adhered to this and there was no quibbling at all.

“Cherry Tree Lane”
An adorable name, and a nice downhill section you can pick your pace up; and if you like, start your overtaking.

The out and back.
Don’t take this bit for granted. You go out. But the back is a long slope. Yes, it takes its toll!

On your 4th lap you enter the finish funnel and are greeted by lots of friendly volunteers (timekeepers and barcode scanners) and a lot of people stay around the finish, which is great for morale boosting too!

A lot of emphasis at the start is put on “no barcode, no time” at Parkrun, but I think it's also important to note how important it is about staying in order in the finish funnel. Whenever I try to explain Parkrun to people this is what confuses them.” But how does your barcode marry up to your time?” When entering the finish funnel it's important that no overtaking happens here. The amazing timekeepers have just stopped their watches as your foot goes over the line, and your token is going to marry up with this which is why there should be no overtaking in the finish funnel. Pretty impressive really.

There were 40 first timers at Skipton this week, and out of those 40 were 5 first timers who came to Parkrun for the very first time this week. A very big welcome and hello! Your Saturday mornings will never be the same again!

An impressive 22 people romped home with a new PB yesterday. A huge congratulations to you all!

Of course, it cannot go unsaid, also a huge thank you to our High Viz Heroes, our volunteers who turn up week in, week out, cheer us on, and set up the course. And more importantly; give up a bit of time on Saturday morning so that we can all run around a park safely.

I have to give a special mention to Chris, who gave the first timers briefing this week and then darted up to the woods to make sure we all "Keep left! Runners passing on the right." As I’ve mentioned, what a fabulous first timers briefing. I did ensure I went over to thank Chris after the run. A little thank you goes a long way. And on my final lap I ensured I gave a thumbs up or a ‘thank you marshal’ as I ran past each one. (Including the tail walkers - fab music choices this week!)

What I love about Skipton is that they have a little whiteboard that you can sign up for a volunteering role if you are inspired in the morning for the following week. Did you know that volunteering also earns you a ‘Parkrun Volunteer Credit’. It's a great way to give back to a completely free event!

Feeling refreshed and energised for the day we headed over to Ilkley and was surprised to see a ‘Betty’s tea room’ nestled over there. Not sure they would let us in, in our running attire they did and we refuelled and hydrated appropriately on tea and cinnamon toast.

Thank you Skipton for a wonderful day out. I’m sure we will be back soon!