Killerton parkrun V Exeter Riverside parkrun

Today was the inaugural Exeter Riverside parkrun. It is equal distance away from us, as Killerton is and with the lure of the word FLAT Madam and I decided to check it out.

We met with some club members and as we stood there talking I spotted a familiar vest in the crowd, that of Springfield Striders, my old Essex running club (not that I attended much but I was a member!) Now last time I approached someone with this vest on they were not very welcoming to say the least, but this one was different, this one we recognized! I approached her (proabably scared her) and asked “are you the child minder at Springfield School?” Luckily she was and I was not left feeling stupid! She is down here on holiday. We ran most of the course together chatting, catching up as she now runs with my lovely Essex running buddy and did what I never managed to do and that was to get her out for a run before 9 am! Lovely to run with someone I sort of know, parkrun makes a small world.

Now on to the comparison of the two parkruns just in case you are ever in the area and can’t decide which to do.

• Exeter is FLAT, Killerton NOT
• I had to pay for parking today, at Killerton its free.
• Toilets at Killerton are en route from car park to course, today not so convenient.
• Killerton is scenic, Exeter too but not so much.
• No dogs allowed at Exeter, they can be a pain at Killerton
• Path today quite narrow at times, can see this being a problem when it gets more popular.
• Scanning of the barcode today was in the climbing centre, UP stairs, really? Whose idea was this?

I liked it for a change and think we will do this once a month or when Killerton gets muddy, nice to have a choice.

Tomorrow I was set to do the Women’s Running 10k run at Bristol, I did it last year and was desperate for a PB this year. I use the past tense you will notice. Why? Well when I got home I was bewildered to see a picture on the internet of the winners of this run. How can this be? Must be an error, but on closer inspection of the paperwork, I discovered it was today not tomorrow. I was beyond annoyed, annoyed with myself, annoyed, annoyed, annoyed.

I tried to think of the positives, no hour and a half car trip in the morning, no nervous anxiety waiting for the start, now I get to spend the day with hubby and Madam (oh that’s a stretch on the positive side!) if you can think of any more positives for me, please let me know I need more to make me feel better and not so annoyed!.