Dawn C (Tues PM) has been going to the Wimbledon Common Parkrun since 2017 and today (20/5/23) clocked up 100 Parkruns! We asked Dawn what motivates her. Why did you start doing the Parkrun in 2017?I was in the ‘useless at sport’ group at school so it took me until I was 50 to realise it was time to do some exercise! I then joined your Common Runners beginner’s class and although I found it hard (both the running and fitting in a class when juggling work/children) you patiently and gently encouraged us to keep at it. I first tried the Parkrun with one of my school friends (also in the ‘useless at sport’ group at school, I think our PE teacher would laugh if she knew that we now do the Parkrun) and we chatted the whole way round – a good distraction.What do you enjoy about the Parkrun?There are around 400+ people of literally all ages (from a 7 or 8 year old who beat me to the finish line last week to 80+ year olds) who do the Wimbledon parkrun, and lots of lovely volunteers who are so encouraging. Knowing that there are around 350k people all around the UK getting up and doing Parkruns at 9am on Saturday mornings and that I am one of them still fills me with wonder!What motivates you to keep doing the Parkrun?I was truly someone who was useless at getting up early at the weekends (I am a night person!) and the idea of getting wet and muddy was frankly just not me but somehow it has become a habit and I still live in the hope that I’ll finish in a faster time (the mud really doesn’t help with this ambition).What advice would you give to a new runner?Have faith in yourself, keep at it, it does get (a little) easier! And keep going to Caroline’s running classes….the words ‘we’ll just go for a gentle trot…….’ her most famous understatement!
Share and Enjoy