We headed to Witney parkrun for pacer week. For the second week in a row our newly qualified teen drove us there. It was also pacer week, and currently I am trying to work on a time which previously felt a bit unachievable!
Witney parkrun, West Witney Sports & Social Club, Burford Road, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 0NB
Why Witney parkrun
We attended Witney parkrun this particular week due to it being pacer week. But also because it fell on an event number I needed. Plus it was somewhere that our son could drive to, whilst also getting back in time for work.
My husband came with us but didn’t drive as he was too tired. He had already driven to the airport and back, as our other son was off to America. On the way home it was the first time I have been in the car with our son on the motorway.
Facilities
Witney parkrun is accessible by foot, bus or car. Parking is at the Windrush Industrial Estate. There were lots of parking attendants, directing us exactly where to go.
There are toilets inside the building. When we got out the carpark there was a queue for a port aloo – but actually you could get in the building the other side and go round (and upstairs) to the toilets. There’s also showers there – but there was a sign saying that they were out of order!
Witney parkrun Course
It is a mix of grass and path. Road shoes were fine on the hot day we attended.
It is described as 3 laps – it’s one small one and then a big one that’s repeated before finishing.
Starting by running in between trees and then doing a u-turn back. We were got into a self-seeded order by the director getting the pacers to line up on one side and get in place before letting everyone else there. It still felt congested through those trees – but did thin out.
My Experience at Witney parkrun
A friendly event and the person doing the first timers briefing said that they hadn’t had so many attend. It was all very jovial, with jokes about the run director always making the weather bad.
The weather was much cooler than the week before but it didn’t actually rain until well after everything was packed away. Personally I could have done with cooling off. This also meant the ground was a nice condition to run in. Would have been very different if it were wet.
Getting Started
It wasn’t on time starting but the Run Director made sure everything was clear and covered. He particular wanted people to be aware of the tree roots in the finish. These were the same roots (but reversed) as the start.
The event director got the pacers to line up at one side first before people stood in the appropriate positions. But the start felt like carnage. As we ran in between the trees, people everywhere, just sandwiched in, it is easy to see why people would set off too fast. Then there was a u-turn as we reached the end of the trees.
My Son Pacing
My son had said he would pace me to 25 minutes. We had been messing with my watch and couldn’t get it right in time – so it was actually in the wrong setting when we got going. Also I had started it and paused it – so it wasn’t quite right at the very start.
There were both 25 and 26 minute pacers. Having only managed a sub 26 once before I was thinking more about keeping up with the 26 minute pacer! Our son had other ideas.
Before we even reached half a km both the 25 and 26 minute pacers had left us behind. The run report actually said, “part of the fun of pacer week is laughing about the giant pacing fails we sometimes get, and it’s always exciting to witness an overzealous pacer rewrite the laws of mathematics by finishing ahead of their supposedly faster colleagues”.
The 26 pacer did, I believe, finish just under 26 minutes however. But the fact that my Strava said that the first 5km has speeds of 3:55 km pace is probably why I was done in at the start!
Slowing Down
My son said at about half a km that I could slow down. Acknowledging that the 25 and 26 pacers were going off fast. However, he was still positive – and we did do the first km in 5 minutes. As a sub 20 runner he really couldn’t understand why I couldn’t keep going though. After all I had managed 1 km in 5 minutes, surely I could do 4 more! But that initial burst had just written me off. We don’t even warm up!
Finish
My finish was a bit pathetic. Thought the end was much closer than it was and ended up walking. When we got to the end of the wooded area I did manage to run faster with my son, but it was still rather slow for a “sprint” finish.
Witney parkrun Stats Event 260
- 299 participants – 152 male, 132 female and 15 unknown.
- 18 people making their very first appearance in at a parkrun.
- 51 tourists and 49 course PBs.
- Thanks to 45 volunteers.
- Times ranging between 18:32 and 1:04:59. Three finishers were sub 19, including first lady.
- 170 finishing in 30 minutes or less. That is just under 57%.
Over 60s Stats at Witney parkrun
43 people over 60 – making up just over 14% of participants. With 16 sub 30s – making up just under 9 ½% of all sub 30 runners.
Males
26 males over 60, with 13 sub 30.
- 14 VM60-64 – 9 sub 30
- 7 VM65-69 – 1 sub 30
- 3 VM70-74 – 1 sub 30
- 2 VM75-79 – 2 sub 30
Females
17 females over 60, 3 sub 30.
- 8 VW60-64 – 3 sub 30
- 7 VW65-69
- 2 VW80-84
Chipping Norton School parkrun (10.3m); Oxford parkrun (10.7m); University Parks parkrun (11.4m) and Fire Service College (15.5m)
For more parkrun content see Mum of Three World