Today I had the honour of being tail runner/walker for Brandon Country Park Parkrun.

This was part of the Team Parkrun event taking place across the UK following the recent World athletics and World Para athletics championships in London The idea was for an Olympian or Paralympian funded by the Lottery through UK Sport to team up with Parkrun to help encourage the nation to get more active.

There must be a shortage of suitable people to fulfil this role in our area as I’m not funded by UK Sport these days. However I was more than happy to get involved having received support in the past whilst part of the national cycling and triathlon squads. Besides I think Parkrun is an excellent organisation and does a great job of getting people out being active each week. It’s also very sociable, and Brandon Parkrun is particularly welcoming as Jill and I have found over recent months. There’s also nice cakes available at the cafe!

My only concern about this all was having to dig my Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games kit out of the loft after 17 years. It looked quite retro, especially the shellsuit-style tracksuit bottoms and to be honest it smelt like it hadn’t been out in almost 20 years too!

I’m sure it will come back into fashion one day

Another bright and sunny morning saw 127 tread the 2 lap 5k undulating course, which is very scenic (even for someone with relatively poor vision!).

There were plenty of 1st timers out today, which is always good to see, and numerous personal bests were achieved. I was most impressed to hear that one of the regulars was doing their 200th runs at Brandon – a great achievement, but even more exceptional given the individual in question is only 10!

Post-race photo call with top man and Parkrun volunteer Bob.

Why not get along to Brandon Country Park next Saturday at 9:00 and join in, or if your not local there’s loads of options all over the country, Click here for further information.

Thanks for inviting me along today Brandon Parkrun!

Iain