Pages

home      my running story      races from the beginning      talk to me       product reviews      

Tuesday 24 December 2013

Leamington Parkrun: Lessons from a 4 Year old

Leamington parkrun on the 21st December was to be the Christmas parkrun. This meant an excuse to bring out my red and white outfit and run around the 3 mile course dressed as Santa Claus. However, this year my 4 year old wanted to join in. Dressed in her finest Miss Christmas outfit, she was determined to teach us something about running.



Here is what I learned from running with a 4 year old:
  • Corners are more fun if you aeroplane around them. Arms out and “Mrowwwww” noises are compulsory.
  • Fartleks are started by shouting “Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me, I'm a gingerbread man!”
  • If you don't stop dead at the end of each interval, causing taller people to have to leapfrog you, you're doing running wrong.
  • Mud on trainers is a necessity as is mud on clothes. You should stop to inspect this at regular intervals. If you can keep up a running commentary in it so much the better. Adults LOVE this.
  • As soon as your legs feel a bit wibbly from all the running, insist on being carried. 
  • Leaves are interesting. Don't forget to stop and inspect the green ones. Especially if your parkrun is on trails. LOTS of leaves to stop and inspect.
  • Puddles are damp pools of enjoyment and should be stared into before tiptoeing through the dead centre.


AND finally and most importantly ...


  • Coming dead last is an honourable position and as added bonus there are all the more people to cheer you across the finish line!
Picture taken by Amar Chehal

12 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks lovely! Hopefully she's now hooked on parkrun!! :)

      Delete
  2. I have run the Cardiff ParkRun with my little girl twice and the encouragement she gets from everyone is fantastic. Yes we are last. Last by about 5-6minutes but still people wait to shout her home. She especially loves it of she can beat me home in the sprint finish!
    Park run isn't the same on my own somehow :)
    Well done to your little girl x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! What a lovely reply! Lily LOVED the encouragement and every time someone cheered her she ran a bit faster!! Think I'm going to have competition very soon!

      Delete
  3. was great to finally get to meet you chick. Loved meeting the family too. Little miss christmas looked fabulous and I hope she likes her christmas pressies :)
    She had so much fun we should all run our parkruns like this all the time - she can run with me whenever she likes!
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Really lovely to meet you too and finally got to meet another Twitter friend in real life! :) Agree! All parkruns should be this fun!! x

      Delete
  4. Excellent - my plan or tomorrow's Christmas parkrun is now sorted! Merry Christmas :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Merry Christmas lovely! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas day park run! Will have to nip on and see whether you've added another to your impressive parkrun tourist total! Love reading the descriptions of all of the courses!!

      Delete
  5. I was marshaling on the (very muddy) corner after the first field and saw you all come past, your daughter was fab. How nice to see this blog, I like the top tips and love the picture!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh thank you!! Was lovely to see you - even if it was briefly! Did you like our almost splat in the mud? :) I loved all the Santa hats and outfits!! Everyone looked brilliant!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Love that she wanted to run with you. :) I wish I could persuade more people to head to Parkrun with me. I think it's such a great idea and being open for all the family too, dogs included!
    I run a running club at school and I have learnt the importance of arms out around corners...I haven't had anyone insist I carry them yet, they tend to just plonk themselves down on the ground and refuse to move any further!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You run the running club at school? That's brilliant!! How lovely to think that in a few years you'll have people coming up to you saying "Miss Moore, you were my running inspiration!!" :) She got a new bike for Xmas so we're also going to try 'cycling with Mummy running' again although this hasn't been a success so far and ended me carrying her AND the bike back to the car!

      Delete