It was on 25 September 2021 that we started getting up early and eager to run 5km at ten o'clock on Saturdays. I was inspired by Parkrun in England https://www.parkrun.com
Parkrun
Parkrun is a run that takes place at 9 o'clock every Saturday in 2000 places across 23 countries. It started in England. When we lived in London, Rune and I ran Parkrun in our local park, Finsbury Park, almost every Saturday. I missed the sense of community that we got from it and the feeling of accomplishment we got afterwards. In addition, I needed a bit of motivation to keep running through the winter here in Lofoten, especially during the dark season.
That's why I invited people to run with me on the ten Saturdays during December last year. It was a success, and many people, especially in Brenna, who were not used to running started running, and they have become faster and faster!
Someone named Lasse has been so dedicated that when almost everyone in Straumen was ill with corona and I considered cancelling a run, he insisted that "we have to keep the routine going!" And I responded "That's the spirit! We run. See you tomorrow!" And so it was just us and Solveig who showed up in bad weather, but that was enough.
And that is the spirit! If you have an appointment with people to train every Saturday, then it's hard to "chicken out".
One more thing. Even though we look like people who are obsessed with our running stats, I want Saturday running to be inclusive and friendly, and for people who just want to walk to join in too.
Join Saturday Running
That's how it is with "Park Run". It's very common for the fastest to run 5km in just 17 minutes while the slowest takes 50 minutes to walk. That's fine. Everyone is welcome.
So do you want to join?