This week it was another new to me parkrun. I got awfully excited when the human told me we were going to DC. I’m not going to lie that I was a tiny bit disappointed to find out he meant Drumpellier Country rather than the good old USA.
DC is certainly near the top of the charts for the most mispronounced parkrun name in Scotland as lots of folk say it as though it rhymes with Montpelier in some sort of attempt to bring some faux sophistication to that little corner of North Lanarkshire (see what I did there 🇫🇷).
Apparently parkrun was celebrating its 15th birthday today. Happy birthday parkrun. That’s between 76 and 83 in dog years (depending on what source you use and whether you reckon I’m a small or medium breed). I was gutted that there was no cake though. That’s the main reason I go to parkrun if I’m honest. There were plenty of balloons though, not least of whom I was running with again today.
It was great to see another really healthy turnout today. 202 humans and a fair bit of canine competition for me too. We did a nice wee pre-run wander checking out the swans and ducks (though he kept me on the lead for that part). How very responsible….and unfair. We also came across a pack of six little dogs out for a walk. None of them were getting to run. We had a good bum sniff of each other before I got my race face on. I’m such a tease.
After a fairly slow and crowded start we managed to get into a good steady rhythm as I tried to target my standard 25 minute parkrun.
About half way round I was third placed dog behind a whippet and a cockapoo. Going ok but we needed to step on a bit in the second half. I was certainly the underdog though. We picked off the cockapoo fairly easily but knew the whippet was going to be more of a challenge. These dogs are bred to race. Their name even comes from an old word meaning “to move briskly” (thanks Wikipedia). Can you guess what happened next?
Spoiler alert – I won!
So with about 600 metres to go we saw our chance. Just as we were passing the nursery area before heading back for the lochside finish we made our move. A cheeky little bit of acceleration as we moved into the short downhill. It worked. We whipped that whippet though to be fair I think its human was slowing it down a bit in the closing stages. That said I’m claiming the victory and it’s certainly one of my best yet. A huge big pawsitive.
As I said earlier I usually target 25 minutes (except at the hillier courses like Drumchapel and Ruchill) and today felt like it was more or less on the money. We were delighted to come in at exactly 24:59. Job done. And only 2 seconds slower than at Linwood a couple of weeks ago but I think that’s down to the busy start line today. Have I given enough excuses yet?
To celebrate our success Jim made me pose for another picture with the parkrun selfie frame. It’s really becoming quite tiresome.
So overall a pleasing day out for Crumble. No cake or cafe trip this week but I think I’ll survive.
Apparently the human is going to London next weekend so looks like no parkrun for me again (unless anyone wants to volunteer). No doubt he’ll still find time in his busy schedule to fit in his own run….
Crumble out!
Let's get ready 4 Crumble 