Maiden parkrun win with exhaustive tactical analysis

I remember the first time I got a glimpse of a parkrun victory.  About a year ago at Finsbury Park, I was astonished to find myself in the lead after about 60 yards.

Wahey, I'm winning!  I thought.  Ok, keep calm, there's a long way to go...

At this point, one of the other runners came past me as if I was standing still.  I watched calmly - if a little resentfully - as he vanished into the distance, taking with him my hopes of a maiden parkrun win.  I hung on for a stoical second place.  The runner in question had never visited the Finsbury parkrun before and never has since; I'm not bitter - I'm just saying.

My second shot at a win came over Easter weekend at Hampstead Heath.  The field was a fair bit smaller than the first time I ran there and, because of the Easter fair on the Heath, they were running the 'B' course, which I was informed, ended with a hill which was 'like climbing a flight of stairs'.

I quite liked the look of the field: there were no club vests on show (I had a briefly satisfying image of the entire Highgate Harriers cross country team milling around at the usual start point wondering where everybody was).  On the other hand, I was feeling a bit leggy after a four-mile bike ride to the Heath.

My cautious optimism looked well founded as I hung on behind the leader through the start of the race and the first negotiation of the big hill, well clear of third place.  Having determined that I was in with a decent shout of a win, it occurred to me that some sort of strategy might come in handy.  I had a few considerations:

1. Legs feeling a bit wobbly.  Not a good idea to go too early
2. Course very hilly.  Uphill not too bad, but I tend to go downhill with all the grace and assurance of a tranquilised animal
3. Uphill finish (like going up a flight of stairs, apparently)

All of this added up to an infallible solution: sit tight until the bottom of the staircase, then run like stink and hope you're the one with more left.

Here's what my strategy looked like in my head:



In my imagination, you'll notice, my opponent looked a lot like the person out of Edvard Munch's The Scream.

Coming back to the real world, I realised that while I'd been hatching my direful plot, the guy in first place had hit a bit of a flat spot and I was suddenly a few yards clear.  Oh well, I thought ruefully, tearing up my mental notes.  Time for Plan B.

Plan B: You're in the lead. Make it stick.


Plan B had one pretty major flaw: I wasn't all that clear on the route.  However, on the one occasion I nearly went wrong, a shouted word of warning from the runner behind me set me right.  It also cost him a lungful of oxygen so I'll put it down as part of my masterplan.

The much-anticipated staircase was a great deal longer than I'd anticipated, but I came to the top with a healthy lead and romped through the line in 19:25, the fifth-slowest winning time in the history of Hampstead Heath.  (Also, one of the slower winning times is from the occasion the entire field dead-heated on 59:59, which I presume was down to a timing problem rather than an excessively tactical race.)

So, I scratched my one-year itch and scored a maiden parkrun win.  For anyone wondering how to emulate these debatable heroics, here's my breakdown of the important factors and how they relate:

A busy cross-country season, followed by three months of marathon training: 2%
Diamond-tipped tactical genius: 1%
Hot cross buns for breakfast instead of muesli: 2%
Who turns up on the day: 95%

In other words, put in the parkruns and the time will come.  Of course, a touch of Machiavellianism doesn't hurt: I made sure to attend the offroad Scrubs parkrun on Saturday after a week of torrential rain and with quite a few of the regulars resting up for the London Marathon.  Result: a PB and two wins from two parkruns this month!  I think I'd have got shorter odds against being hit by lightning on the 32nd of July.  It just goes to show, show up!  You never can tell.

Links:

Hampstead Heath course description
Wormwood Scrubs course description
Competitive Running Strategy and Tactics on http://www.runningplanet.com/
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
How to Take Over the World on eHow.com

Wormwood Scrubs parkrun

I recently moved to west London, so I went on the parkrun website to find the nearest event to my new address. O, happy day - there was one within a ten-minute walk: Wormwood Scrubs. It's well worth a visit if you're in the area.

Wormwood Scrubs is a comparatively recent addition to the parkrun canon (29 events as of the end of 2011, with a highest attendance of 34 runners). The course is all off road (ie. grass / mud) and trail shoes or spikes can be handy if there's been bad weather.

Although the fields have been fairly modest to date, there's the usual parkrun vibe: a good atmosphere, a fair mix of abilities and the runners and marshals seem to know each other by name. On the occasions I've attended, the event has been marshalled efficiently and enthusiastically and (as promised) you can get the cheapest cup of tea in London after the run.

The 'two-and-a-bit' lap course begins in the shadow of the prison building. "Fresh fish! Fresh fish!" shout the lags, banging on the bars. "I want lanky!" yells one. I wish I wasn't wearing such short shorts.

Ok, the bawling jailbirds are made up. Perhaps it would be better if I said the run begins close to the Linford Christie Stadium, home of Thames Valley Harriers. The course winds up a gentle slope, then straightens out alongside the sports pitches. At the end of the pitches, you turn left into a muddy corridor which takes you to the north-western corner of the park.

If conditions are bad, this is where a smart footwear choice will really pay off - I've seen people in road shoes go through this bit like ducks landing on a frozen pond. After you exit the corridor, you take another left and wind around back down to the beginning of the course.

At the end of your second completed lap, you continue from the beginning of the course up to the sports pitches and turn right for a short downhill to the line.

Personally, I like the grassy course as I'm trying to do more cross-country running this year, but there are benefits for everyone: although a soft surface can mean more effort, grass is much more forgiving on joints and muscles than tarmac, so there's less chance of shipping an injury (unless you stick your foot directly in a rabbit hole and snap your femur, I suppose). The Scrubs parkrun is on fairly reliable turf though and not too hilly either, so should suit runners of all abilities.

DO: Go for a cup of tea and a flapjack in the TVH clubhouse after the run.

DON'T: Go for a shower in the prison.


Wormwood Scrubs parkrun links
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