Chester

It was a frosty and bright morning as I left home, looking forward to my first ever chauffeured parkrun tourism .
My chauffer Elaine and co pilot Emma arrived, right on time, for the 7.45 departure time which, modern technology (aka Google maps) told us would get us to Thurrock parkrun #124 for 8.30 which would be just right for a bit of a chat before the briefings and 9am start time.
We had a steady drive from Maldon out onto the A13, with lots of parkrun related chatting. Today was only my 5 different event and with both Emma and Elaine nearing 50, I added several other destinations to my 'wish list'. At around 8:40 the sat nav told us we'd arrived. We'd definitely arrived somewhere but it was sadly not where we needed to be. We quickly rechecked the instructions and rerouted ourselves to the correct destination, realising that it was going to be touch and go if we were going to make it.
The distance ticked down and we entered Heath Road, It was just before 9am . Traffic controlling bumps in the road......temporary traffic light on red.......arggghhh. Then we spotted the parkrunners. Just as we entered the carpark they were off.
Had we made it to the first timers briefing I would have reported that there was an excellent turnout despite the cold weather, including a number of milestones.
Fay Adams and Peter Eates were completing their 50th event and we also celebrating a Junior 10th completed by Bo Pastor the previous week.
There were tourists from Maldon Prom parkrun (just about) and a Healthy Living Award.


Emma and I jumped out the car and made a dash to the start, abandoning Elaine to park up and join us. The RD and volunteers encouraged us, in true parkrunner fashion, as we set off to chase down the tailwalker.
By this point I was very pleased that it was a flat course as I could see the tailwalker and they were JOGGING away from me. I'm not a speedy finisher at the best of times and there was quite a fierce wind.
I'd not got too far before I'd closed the distance enough to call ahead and the lovely tailwalker smiled and slowed to let us catch up. Hurrah and HUGE thanks to all the Thurrock parkrun volunteers.
I settled into a comfortable pace and continued on my way. The ground was pleasantly firm and relatively dry and there was lots of encouragement from all of the lovely marshals. I overtook and exchanged comments with a few people and traded places with a couple of intermittent walking/running participants.
I managed to avoid a couple of footballs that crossed my path and a couple of muddy/icy puddles on route. Apart from the stretch running into the wind between the 1st and 2nd marshal, it was all very enjoyable. I'd gotten half way round before I really missed my usual pre parkrun toilet visit or my running playlist (abandoned in the car, alongside Elaine)

The course is all on grass and pleasantly undulating. There weren't really any remarkable 'features' to speak of but equally not much to complain about. I ran parallel to a fairly busy road, past a cemetery and housing all of which were 'firsts' for me.
There were other people using the area for dog walking and sport. The park is reasonably well maintained with toilets, a small play area and an average amount of litter.
Parkrunners are a diverse and friendly bunch. What more can I say.
38.06 minutes later I finished.
I cheered on the people coming in behind me which included the lovely Chester, finishing strongly, despite (I was told) not being a lover of running.
Once I'd gotten my breath back I got my barcode scanned and, with more than a little help from the lovely man there (I blame my cold fingers for the inability to retrieve a cup/press a button) enjoyed a much needed cup of coffee from the pop up refreshment station.
The journey home was much less eventful.

The afternoon and afternoon have seen me being mostly discombobulated.