Whilst staying with Hannah's parents in Norfolk it made sense to take part in a parkrun a bit further afield. Despite my previous dislike of flat courses, it did actually feel quite appealing to take part in a nice flat one just after Christmas so we headed off to Kings Lynn.
I'd studied the map on their parkrun homepage and to be honest I was a bit confused as to what the course was but knowing I wouldn't be in first place at any point it didn't really matter! As it happened they had to change the course to their 'B' course anyway due to flooding on one of the paths. On an unfamiliar course it's always quite tricky to pace yourself correctly but that's one of the advantages to a multi-lap race in my opinion. Also, the chap who eventually finished a good 30 seconds ahead of me, seemed to be setting the perfect pace for 80% of my run. He had a lot more in the tank at the end, but following him round that first 80% kept me bang on track.
It was a bit of a cold rainy day and at first it didn't look like many runners would take part. As we first arrived there seemed to be more marshals than runners but eventually a decent crowd turned up of around 150.
As expected, the course was very flat but the three laps were quite scenic and the course was enjoyable to run. It was all tamac paths, as advertised, which for me is ideal. There were two points on each of the three laps that you have to do a 'u-turn' which often slows me down but apart from a near slip on the first lap, these didn't take away too much pace and it did transpire to be a nice quick run (I clocked my second fastest ever 5k time).
We didn't get a chance to hang about and socialise at this one partly due to the grotty weather, but the crowd seemed very friendly. As we left we said thanks to a few marshals who still seemed full of the Christmas spirit so if you're ever up in this neck of the woods I recommend this friendly, fast Parkrun.
It's also worth noting, the last runner would've finished around 9:45am and the results were up and texted through by 10am. Very speedy results indeed!
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