Race Date; Sunday 6th August 2023

A quick weekend jaunt to London with my Dad and brother equals a lot of time in the pub. Richmond has good pubs so why not combine a bit of running with a few pints on the Thames. The 5 lap Highbury Fields parkrun was completed in the heavy rain on the Saturday morning, conversely the 10k on the Sunday morning was lovely sunshine. It’s a temperamental summer we’re having.

Anyway, the route around Richmond Park is 5k so, on offer, was one or two loops. It’s one of those races where there’s no real need to do it for £20 unless it needs to be an event. I couldn’t have dragged by Dad and brother to Richmond Park just to watch me run around the park twice because I wanted to so I paid the £20 entry fee in order to compel them to come along.

37 people ran the 5k lap and 94 people ran the 10k. The men’s race was won by Ben Whyte, unattached, in 35.06. The women’s race was won by Minnie Folland in 43.44. I was awarded 1st MV50, first time I’ve ever won a category prize, only to look at the results and see I was actually 2nd MV50. Oh well, never mind. I have the medal now.

Kind’ve sums up the haphazard organisation of these races. Would I recommend it to anyone – not really, only if you want LDS miles, or to drag your family to a random park in London.

Striders Results: