I was feeling thoroughly virtuous about doing a parkrun on New Year's Day. But the trap was that it's tradition to do the 'double'. Christmas and New Years days are the only times of the year when parkrun can add an extra event and have different start time options, between 9.00 and 10.30am. This, theoretically, allows parkrunners to register a time at multiple events, but no more than two! As a run director myself, I've seen the guideline issued...they're lengthy and don't shout "fun".
So much so that at Wilmslow we dismissed the option of having an extra event. Who would come on those days! As it turns out, 300 or so at Lyme Park and over 400 at Marple. Record turn outs! So there we are. These start times were at 9.00 and 10.30 respectively, giving the best opportunity to make the double in this part of South Manchester. But the real double, it seems, was to run Lyme Park, then actually run to Marple via the canal and then run that parkrun!
A hangover cure of note. It was a rubbish grey morning, and you could smell the alcohol in the air...but what a laugh. Everyone was happy and had a big smile on their faces as we bumped into each again at Marple. It was like one of those moments when we all come together in the face of impending adversity. If like myself, you've ever wondered what this so-called parkrun community is all about, then it was most evident on New Years Day. A great start to the year.
