We headed to Cwmbran parkrun and completed their winter/B course. This is on for one more week before it changes to the summer course. It was also my first return to running after resting my foot and wearing a fracture boot. The second Saturday of the month meant it was pacer week too.
Cwmbran parkrun, Northfields Recreation Ground, Cwmbran, NP44 2JJ.
Location of Cwmbran parkrun
Getting there was fairly straight forward with the SatNav. People also seemed really patient of the 20mph speed limit. We arrived fairly early but the sizeable (FREE) carpark was already getting quite busy. By the time we left there were cars parked everywhere and people just waiting to take our space.
Alternatively there is a train station right opposite.
There are no toilets but it is about a 10 minute walk to the shops (which includes a McDonalds). It was actually about the same time to walk here from the carpark, then drive.
Cwmbran parkrun is in such a stunning location – which made for a beautiful run. Apparently the A course also goes around a lake.
Cwmbran parkrun Alternative Course
Cwmbran parkrun alternative course is all on tarmac path. It is an out and back of 2 loops, with a splitting off to the left for a slight incline finish. Someone kindly warned me of the ramp as I was finishing too.
Dogs are not allowed at this event.
Pacer Week
One of the reasons we headed to Cwmbran parkrun was because it was pacer week. We were unsure until we got there if there would be a 20 minute pacer. Luckily there was. Unfortunately he went out too slowly and then sped right up. However, our son still managed a PB and I do think that the pacer helped with this.
Despite an impressive time of 20:29 he was third in his age category. This also gave him a new age grading. Previously his faster PB had not done this!
My Back to Jeffing Experience at Cwmbran
It was good to be able to get back to jeffing. Unfortunately not everyone went to the briefing and there was no real positioning of people before it started. This meant we were further back that was ideal.
As it was quite crowded I walked quite a bit and then took it easy. Initially I just kept running as it didn’t seem possible to walk. I did manage to jeff but as I was doing a back to running 30:30 it did mean that a group kept catching up and going round me just before I was due to run again. This wasn’t ideal and I do think I may have annoyed them.
At the finish I was offered a lovely piece of cake for Emma Bagley’s 250th parkrun.
This parkrun ticked off another “C” for my Pirates Challenge! That is 7 Cs and an R!
Cwmbran parkrun 326 Stats
There were 204 participants at Cwmbran parkrun 326th event. Results ranged in time from 16:41 to 1:04:09.
121 of those were in a time of sub 30. At that point the average time overall (for all 326 parkruns) was 30:53. The highest age grade (82.19%) for event 326 was Catherine Rose in the category VW75-79.
There were 7 people were brand new to parkrun. Welcome Egan Thomas-Williams, Craig Geater, Andrew Samuel, Keighley Thomas, Melanie Cox, Summer James and Amanda Clark.
I loved how it was my 199th parkrun event and the person who finished immediately after me had just completed their 200th!
Volunteers and Briefing
Everyone was really friendly. There were lots of volunteers -of course due to the pacers, but also a number of visual
There were a couple of calls for the first timers briefing, including a very loud one, and someone saw my cow-cowell and called me over.
There was a first timer who had forgotten her barcode. But it was okay as I got her to download the (unofficial) 5k app, and showed her how to access her barcode.
Thank you to the volunteers:
Jonathan BEHR, Jo BIDDISCOMBE, Nia BRIGHT, Sophie COLLETT, Marc CROSS, Jimmy CULLINGFORD, Joel DIXON, Mark DIXON, Dean John EDWARDS, Stuart FRANCIS, Gerard GORMLEY, Charlotte HEALY, Sue HINCHLIFFE, John HOPKINS, Paula HOPKINSON, Moira KRETSCHMER, Tim KRETSCHMER, Daniel LANE, Kevin MITCHELL, Debbie MORAN, Tricia MORSE, Mary MURRAY, Andrew NORTH, Colin PARKER, Anthony PHILLIPS, Karen PRICE, Menna ROBERTS, Julie Lorraine ROCHE, Charlie SIBLEY, Ian SMITH, Sian SUMMERS, Ann TUXWORTH, Anna WILKINSON, Rhys WILMOTT-SMITH, Patricia WILTON, Bethan WINTER
Other nearby parkruns we have done:
Rogiet (11.2m), Cardiff (13.8m), Grangemoor (20m) and Severn Bridge (21m)
This sounds like another good parkrun to visit, although we’ve been to Cwmbran before for athletics competitions and it’s a long drive.
Well done to your son on his fantastic time! It is unfortunate when pacers don’t keep a consistent pace, but it is a surprisingly difficult job.