The Covid Year
2020 Resurgence
New Year's Resolutions
New Year's Day Double
A Year of parkrun Adventuring
Weekend Doubles
Running Challenges & parkrun Fun!
Sri Chinmoy Track Marathon
Western Sydney Half Marathon
Mid Year Reflections
Sri Chinmoy Royal National Park 10km
100 parkruns Milestone
March Recap
Reflections on Motivation & Planning
February Recap
January 2019 Recap
Reflecting On 2018
2009 Relay For Life
Photos by Robert Nash
St George District Athletic Club Merit Award
Shellharbour parkrun
24 Feb 2019
When I first joined parkrun in January 2013 I did not understand what all the fuss was about. I quickly got the opinion that it was a time trial event that was conducted on courses involving at times narrow concrete pathways that were over-congested. I was not running or training well at this time so it is no surprise that I stopped going after just three runs.
By October 2016 parkrun had exploded across Australia with many events to chose from, including two close to my home. After encouragement by Rick Patzold I finally organised to run a parkrun with him. Fate has it that he chose Shellharbour for this & what I found was so stunningly different to my previous experiences that I was blown away!
I was so wrong in my opinion of parkrun. I found a thriving community of runners & walkers of all abilities who were united under the parkrun banner. The course was an old-school tough cross country loop with hills, dirt, grass & even a beach crossing. The event was supported by a large team of enthusiastic volunteers led by a great core team. Everyone was equally encouraged & no-one was ever too slow.
After just one run I was a 'parkrunner' & the wait of one week to do it again seemed long. I immediately changed my home parkrun & by the end of 2016 I had completed 8 runs at Shellharbour & helped with my first ever volunteer week.
I reached my 50 parkrun milestone at Shellharbour on 4 November 2017, and began to dabble in 'parkrun tourism' the same year with visits to five other events. Throughout 2018 I struggled with several injuries, but managed to further expand my parkrun experiences with more tourism as well as a couple of fancy dress costume runs at Shellharbour.
In 2019 my commitment to parkrun is stronger than ever & my desire to engage in parkrun tourism is at an all-time high as well. I have not run the same event more than once this year, except my beloved Shellharbour home parkrun that has been relegated to monthly attendances.
As my 100th parkrun approaches in May 2019 I am very excited to be able to share this milestone with Rick Patzold at Shellharbour, where we will run our 100th parkrun together on the same day.
#reset #refocus #rebuild #health #fitness #wellness #beactive #challengeyourself #pushlimits #becomebetter #dowhatittakes #nevergiveup #metime #newlife #fitter #faster #stronger
My parkruns
| Event | Runs | Best Time |
| Shellharbour parkrun | 53 | 31m 18s |
| Menai parkrun | 17 | 30m 59s |
| North Wollongong parkrun | 3 | 30m 27s |
| Parramatta parkrun | 3 | 29m 06s |
| St Peters parkrun | 3 | 34m 22s |
| Cronulla parkrun | 2 | 39m 11s |
| Bowral parkrun | 1 | 44m 13s |
| Campbelltown parkrun | 1 | 38m 01s |
| Chipping Norton parkrun | 1 | 35m 25s |
| Cooks River parkrun | 1 | 35m 57s |
| Cowpasture Reserve parkrun | 1 | 37m 15s |
| Dolls Point parkrun | 1 | 29m 41s |
| Goulburn parkrun | 1 | 34m 59s |
| Panania parkrun | 1 | 30m 55s |
| Rhodes parkrun | 1 | 34m 47s |
| Rooty Hill parkrun | 1 | 39m 03s |
| West Beach parkrun | 1 | 56m 10s |
| All parkruns | 92 | 29m 06s |