Today was a day that my running friends and I have looking forward to for quite some time, our very own local off-road ten miler, the Temple Newsam Ten. What can I say? It was quite simply a triumph. Challenging but fun, it has downhills, uphills, mud, water, more mud and amazing sourroundings. It was also incredibly well organised and marshalled by St Theresa’s Athletic Club (STAC); it must be a daunting prospect for a local running club to take on and they certainly lived up to and exceeded everyone’s expectations. It’s great to be part of a team such as STAC and my own running club, Rodillian Runners (based in Stanley, Wakefield) and we had a great turnout of souls willing to step up to this most challenging of races. Being part of a team like our club gives you a load of support and encouragement. There is also friendly competition to motivate you because this was the first race of our 2016 championship where we all compete across a range of races with our results adjusted for age and sex!
As for the Temple Newsam Ten; man that was hard! And, a very very well done to all at STAC who put this gem together!
Volunteering at parkrun is an amazing way to spend Saturday morning, especially when you’re part of the Temple Newsam team, running the most satisfying and challenging parkrun in Yorkshire (and maybe the world). As someone who has participated in parkrun so much, I really think I haven’t volunteered enough, so I am determined to get that 25-times-a-volunteer t-shirt this year. Today, my wife Helen and I did the timing and we had pleasure to clock the first runner though at a fantatic time of 16:58!
In the popular TV quiz show “The Chase”, Bradley Walsh always asks each contestant to say what they would do with their potential winnings. I watched the show the other day and was struck by one woman who was very specific about what she wanted; it was a Mini and a very specific model and colour. Now, as anyone who has watched this game show will know, there is a point where each contestant has a choice, whether to “go high”, make things more risky for themselves but having the potential to generate a much bigger winning pot. This lady did make this choice and as a result generated additional prize money for the whole team, who each eventually won £20,000 each, certainly enough to make this person’s dream a reality. The point is that having a goal drives behaviour and a bigger goal makes you do bigger things. Having a very specific goal makes it real for you.
Marathon Mann 