{"id":34317,"date":"2025-06-12T08:56:28","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pinkoddy.co.uk\/blog\/?p=34317"},"modified":"2025-06-12T08:56:29","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T07:56:29","slug":"witney-parkrun-the-pacer-week-and-my-own-pacer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/54.155.211.39\/blog\/2025\/06\/12\/witney-parkrun-the-pacer-week-and-my-own-pacer\/","title":{"rendered":"Witney parkrun – The Pacer Week and My Own Pacer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We headed to Witney parkrun<\/a> 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!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Witney<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Witney parkrun, West Witney Sports & Social Club, Burford Road, Witney, Oxfordshire, OX29 0NB<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Witney parkrun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"parkrun<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

My husband came with us but didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facilities<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Witney<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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\u2019s also showers there – but there was a sign saying that they were out of order!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Witney parkrun Course<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It is a mix of grass and path. Road shoes were fine on the hot day we attended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is described as 3 laps – it\u2019s one small one and then a big one that\u2019s repeated before finishing.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"trees<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Experience at Witney parkrun<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A friendly event and the person doing the first timers briefing said that they hadn\u2019t had so many attend. It was all very jovial, with jokes about the run director always making the weather bad.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"first<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The weather was much cooler than the week before but it didn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting Started<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My Son Pacing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

My son had said he would pace me to 25 minutes. We had been messing with my watch and couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t quite right at the very start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"going<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Before we even reached half a km both the 25 and 26 minute pacers had left us behind. The run report actually said, \u201cpart of the fun of pacer week is laughing about the giant pacing fails we sometimes get, and it\u2019s always exciting to witness an overzealous pacer rewrite the laws of mathematics by finishing ahead of their supposedly faster colleagues\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slowing Down<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019t understand why I couldn\u2019t 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\u2019t even warm up!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"teen<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Finish<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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 \u201csprint\u201d finish.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"mother<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Witney parkrun Stats Event 260<\/h2>\n\n\n\n