Friday 20 January 2012

New Contributor: Lord Smythe




Name: Lord Smythe
Home parkrun: Durham
Date of first parkrun: 15/01/2011
Total Number of parkruns: 46
Number of other parkrun locations run: 2 - Newcastle & Princes Parkrun Liverpool
Number of times volunteered: 3
My parkrun history: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/athleteresultshistory?athleteNumber=96112

Fell in love with Parkrun the very first time I took part on Newcastle Town Moor. It just so happened to be The Toon's 1st birthday run so I had the honour of actually meeting Mr and Mrs Parkrun aka Paul and Joanne Sinton-Hewitt who had travelled to the North East to join the celebrations and enjoy the wonderful Geordie hospitality. Religiously I travelled early Saturday morning's from my Durham home to join the Newcastle Parkrun fraternity eager to chip away at my PB and enjoy the friendship and banter.

On August 13th 2011 Durham Parkrun was born and with regret I moved my allegiance from Newcastle to a Parkrun just down the road from Smythe Mansions, however I still keep in touch with many of my Toon Parkrunners. I'm proud to have been a part of Durham's success been there from it's inception, taking part on several of the trial runs. It is close to my heart as I now strive to chip away at PB's on home soil, pick up Male Points League points all presided over by the majestic Cathedral and Castle along the scenic riverbanks and most importantly enjoy the craic and banter with my fellow Durham Parkrunners, warming down with a cuppa and a bite to eat after the 5k exertions.

Not only I am I Parkrunner, but now is the time to reveal my crazy streak.... yes I am one of those mad runners, who get's out there and runs every single day. It's a runstreak that I am very proud of and it started on January 1st 2007 today been consecutive running day number 1846 and fortunately my recent 5 year anniversary fell on a Parkrun day, I couldn't have thought of a better way to celebrate. To stay focussed on the streak it helps a great deal to set myself personal challenges and keep it fun as opposed to becoming a chore and people of the North East will testify that this has been the case as they've witnessed me running in various disguises and costumes, it has been known for Elvis Presley to run from Hartlepool to Seaton Carew, Max Wall to take part in the Blaydon Race and the least said about the Golden Mankini the better.

However, don't be fooled by the fool, hidden beneath the crazy capers there's a ruthless competitive streak, representing Crook & District AC completing, 11 marathons, countless half marathons, 10k's, 5k's, multi terrain of varied distances and of course The North East Harrier League Cross Country events will testify.

I regularly share my running exploits via Facebook and Twitter @LordSmythe and now I'm looking forward to sharing past, present and future running escapades via this wonderful forum.

Keep on running, keep on smiling and of course keep on Parkrunning! :)

3 comments:

  1. Really looking forward to reading the daily blogs.

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  2. Every day you run?! WOW! You're an inspiration!

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    Replies
    1. It seems my running is more regular than my blogging ha ha and just noticed these two lovely comments, thank you ladies xx

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