Nothing says Merry Christmas like a 5K race in sub-zero temperatures.
Actually, the
Bushy Park Parkrun has become as much a part of my Christmas Day rutine as eating lots, opening presents and avoiding the Queen’s speech.
Although I don’t watch the Queen, I think the subject matter of her 2010 message is very important, especially with Parkrun in mind.
"In the parks of towns and cities, and on village greens up and down the country, countless thousands of people every week give up their time to participate in sport and exercise of all sorts, or simply encourage others to do so.” Parkrun, take your bow!
This morning, 530 ran the original course, supporting each other, and in turn given the opportunity to do so by a team of volunteers who will have been far colder than us.
Although there will have been personal best performances, including
the day’s winner, for me this was never going to be anything other than a leg stretcher/apitite builder. Running on left over snow is one thing, trying to avoid significant ice patches on the paths is another, I can think of lots of things I’d rather do with Christmas Day than sit in A and E. We gave up and ran on the grass most of the way.
I’m pleased to report I didn’t land on my arse at any stage of the run. Father Christmas went over in the snow at one point, but really, all that sherry and a long night travelling round the world, the man done well to be in South West London for 9.
Including the mile or so there and back, the five mile run set me up nicely for a day spent eating my own body weight. The beauty of the Parkrun is it’s 9 AM start means it doesn’t write off your morning – I was home, showered and eating breakfast before 11.
When I’ve mentioned to people I was planning on running on Christmas Day, and have done before, the reaction I get often suggests people think I’m mad! This is something I don’t really understand. Why should it be any different from any other day? Especially considering I love my running. It’s not as if I’ve had to spend Christmas Day doing a twelve hour shift in hospital, treating idiots who fell over on the ice when running.
Training on Christmas Day is something countless professional sports people do. Last year, while out for the family post lunch walk in the park, we saw
Mo Farah run past.
“That’s commitment, training on Christmas Day,” someone commented. Naturally I pointed out I’d already been for my run earlier.
Articles about the dedication shown by one of Britain’s all time greats, decathlete
Daley Thompson, often make reference to the fact that December 25th was never a rest day for him.
“I train every single day, and I think the reason why I had to train every day is because I never wanted to leave any stone unturned. I can actually take not being the best, but what I couldn't do is take not having tried as hard as I possibly could. I think that whenever you go into anything, and you're serious about it and you're committed to it, you do those kinds of things because you have to do the hard yards and you have to go the extra mile.”
Quote from an article on the
BBC Wales website.
If an athlete and their coach are doing their jobs properly, then the athlete will want to train on Christmas Day. If they, not unreasonably, might want to be somewhere else, then the training session should be structured to make the athlete want to be there: alter the time to fit in with family commitments, design the session to make it more fun than usual or, if this is what motivates them, make sure the athlete believes this will be the day that will make the difference in achieving their goals.
Although you can’t compare Daley Thompson’s level with me doing a Parkrun, the same principals apply. The atmosphere at Bushy is always great, but especially so on Christmas Day. It’s an opportunity for some fresh air and exercise before the festive asult on the digestive system begins. Plus, with recent illness and injury in mind, it’s was a good way to get back into running while the pressure’s off. I plan to do a four mile race in Twickenham on Boxing Day, meaning a total of nine miles over this weekend, exactly the test I need to see where the bodies at ahead of Tadworth Ten next Sunday.
It’s also far more civilised than a trip to our local open air pool which has been done in previous years, I resisted the invite to go for a dip post run. If you think my few miles was madness, check out
this picture gallery from the Metro’s website sshowing the Christmas Day tradition of a dip in the Serpentine in Hyde Park. At least we just ran round ice patches rather than swam between them!
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