A parkrun Fix Without parkrun

Saturday meant parkrun, but not for me.

Back at Canning River, five of my running buddies were earning their black 100 Club shirts. John, Tania, Caro, Ben and Dan: the Five Centurions. That was a massive achievement on its own, but it was also just part of what that group of people did for the parkrun and running communities.

I was somewhere in New South Wales, missing parkrun and missing cake.

At least the morning gave me a sunrise. I may not have been parkrunning, but I did get to see that, and it was a useful reminder that getting outside regularly is one of the simplest things we can do for ourselves. Walk, run, ride, whatever works. A little time invested in yourself is rarely wasted.

Then HAA did what HAA often did and put parkrun in front of me anyway.

During my first cuppa break I saw a group of runners in the distance, so I googled local parkruns. It turned out we had parked about 500 metres from the Bowral parkrun start and finish area.

That was annoying and brilliant at the same time.

If I had known earlier, I would probably have made the effort to be there by 8 and run the course. Whether my legs would have thanked me for an extra 5 km is another question. As it was, I had a quick chat with Event Director Barry and some of the volunteer team, and that was still pretty good.

I sort of got my parkrun fix anyway.

Soon after that, a message from Ballarat stopped me in a different way.

Eliza, who was nine, had used my story as the basis of a health-related school project. Her running mum, Carla, had already baked sweet treats for the team, and somewhere along the way Eliza had really taken on board what HAA was about. Her project covered smoking, alcohol, obesity and heart disease.

Of all the things I expected might happen on the way to Brisbane, a nine-year-old using my story for a school health project was not on the list. It blew me away.

The kudos belonged to Eliza. Her project had already put those ideas in front of one group of nine-year-olds, and maybe some of them would make better choices later because of it.

Well done Eliza.

Bowral itself was a good place to walk through. Historic buildings, pretty parks, and, as I later realised, Don Bradman country. I popped into a newsagent for a quick snack, which in HAA language meant a Snickers, and got talking to the lady who served me. Teresa was her name. She was camera-shy, but she very kindly made a donation to the Heart Foundation.

Stop for a chocolate bar, have a chat, someone decides to help. That happened a lot out there.

By late morning, Sydney was 109 kilometres away.

Twenty-two parkruns.

Two little ducks.

After lunch I was on the freeway towards Sydney, enjoying a pleasant Saturday afternoon stroll after a bit of post-lunch running, when someone pulled over for a selfie. As you do.

It was Fiona.

Fiona lived nearby and had been threatening to show up at some point. She had also offered us somewhere to park up with power for the night earlier, though the timing had not lined up because we would be about 30 km further along by then. We’d been Facebook friends for ages, and the last time we had caught up was in the start area at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon in 2014.

She also had a quiet place in the wider HAA story: Fiona was the friend who had told Bec to keep an eye out for me when Bec was driving across from South Australia earlier in the trip.

Now Fiona had found me herself, beside a busy highway. Just a normal social call by HAA standards.

Late in the day, the route got messy. I was okay to walk on the motorway to Bargo, but not allowed to keep walking on the same road after Bargo. That messed up my intended route, so I had to double back, head in another direction, and follow the route Matt Napier had taken instead of trying to be clever.

I was a bit miffed about having to come off the freeway, but the alternative route did give me a useful sign:

Sydney 100 km.

Twenty parkruns.

That was a good number to see. It was also still far enough away to require two more serious days on foot.

By the end, the day had used the effort of a 60 km day for about 53 km of useful route outcome. There had been the route issue, the double-back, and the sideways irritation of having to change plans when Sydney was finally that close.

But there had also been Bowral parkrun, Eliza’s project, Teresa’s donation, Fiona’s roadside visit, and Sydney down to twenty parkruns.

I ended the day about 85 km from Sydney and still on track.

Tomorrow was Day 100. If all went well, I would start in Tahmoor at about 5 am, aim for Camden by midday, and finish somewhere within about 30 km of Sydney.

For now: food, shower, sleep.

Images From The Day

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