Socks

Do folk have any opinions on Parkrun's policy of all-inclusiveness, regardless of how fast or slow you are? For me, it's great in principle, but there are issues when it actually comes to implementing it. I'm completely fine with people running at their own pace, and have no problem if they take much longer than I would, but the policy of encouraging walkers, however slow, just doesn't seem right to me. I've been on the volunteer list often since getting my long-term injury and I do enjoy helping out, but today for the first time I was pissed off at being there, while we waited half an hour for the last person to leisurely stroll round, finishing in just under 80 minutes. I just think that's taking the piss. If you want to walk briskly and can make it round inside an hour then fair enough, but if you just want a gentle stroll and a blether, why not just go for a walk round the park on your own? I really like that Parkrun is inclusive, but these things rely on volunteers to run, so there are surely limits to this. Many of us there today were regular volunteers, and all of us were getting annoyed toward the end. If that was happening every week then the effect would presumably be fewer people willing to volunteer - surely that can't be right?

Any idea if there have been any repairs to the concrete before opening this section? It was open for our visit in December 2012, and the terrace was in pretty poor condition that day, with quite a few bits of concrete crumbling away. I'm pretty sure I was near the front though, and from the comments above, this might have been the worst bit. How did the cowshed fall into such poor condition during Hugh Scott's time? Did he purposely damage it, or did it just fall into desrepair quickly? Anyway, this is definitely good news, and makes trips to Cappielow far more appealing. It's not a bad ground at all, but as an away fan who is pretty tall, it was never a nice experience going into that stand, and made it the ground I least liked visiting.

I thought it must be a PB but didn't realise it was by that much. 4 minutes at the level you're at is a ridiculously good improvement! I'm much as I've been for a while - just can't shift it and pretty frustrated that nobody will give me a proper diagnosis. Not much point moaning about it though, so I'm experimenting with a few things and will see how they go. Well done Chris as well, another big improvement. You won't be long breaking 2 hours if you keep at it.

I just had a wee look through the results from Inverness today to see how a few folk I know got on and happened to see Morrison's time there - well done, that's a great effort and a massive improvement over the last couple of years. Those days of two years ago when we were both running near enough identical times seem a long time ago!

If roads weren't closed, presumably it wasn't possible to measure the section on the M8 at all? When course measurers can't take the actual line they have ways of allowing for the difference, but if they couldn't get on that bit at all, did they just have to estimate it from a map? I'd normally say it's just one of these things, but given what they charge to enter that race, it does seem pretty poor. Unforseen things do happen though I suppose, and if the roadworks that apprently prevented a proper measure were unplanned, it may well have made it difficult. That measure was more than a month before the race though.

That's not correct at all. Masterton abstained in the CVA when it became apparent that he didn't have enough of the vote to block it. The biggest creditor was EEP Ltd, who were also in administration. The administrator of that company had that company's voting right, and agreed to the CVA. The suggestion that Masterton agreed to 'take the hit' to allow the club to survive is way, way off the mark. The long contracts were actually a relic of the first time the problems came to the surface around 2003/04 when Masterton's Stadia Group collapsed - players agreed new terms and some asked for, and were given, long contracts - Scott Thomson is the best-known example. And the problems that eventually came to a head in 2012/13 had as their source the ridiculous overspend from 2000-2004. There were actually a few of us questioning things back then, but you're right that as a support collectively we did not scrutinise things enough.

It was a properly dire year for me on the running front. I remember writing out my targets on this thread a year ago - I achieved one of them, sub-19 for Kirkcaldy parkrun on the normal course. That was on New Year's Day! I ran about 200 miles in January, and that's my total for the year - truely rotten stuff. So, for this coming year, I'm setting no lofty goals of doing PBs in all distances - or any distance for that matter. The target is simple: get running again, then stay free of any serious injuries after that. I had been lazy with strength work, and that was a big mistake given the mileage and number of hard sessions I was doing last January. It was probably just a matter of time before something pinged, so once I'm fit to do it, my first priority is strength work, and running after that. The one good thing about such a ong lay-off is that I'm absolutely determined not to make the same mistake again,so I'm pretty sure I'm not going to neglect the stuff I knew Ishould have been doing but never really did.

We do one a month from February to October. Same route every time, which is a fairly accurately measured 5 miles. Our handicaps are based entirely on your most recent times (I think it's the last 5) though the calculation isn't as simple as just taking the mean of those times. We have one person who keeps track of it - he has a spreadsheet that works it out, so each month he just has to add in the last set of results to work out the new handicaps. If you don't have enough times, you get a 2 minute penalty until you've ran it often enough - this just makes sure that someone new doesn't run miles quicker the second time and win by a long way. This whole year has been a total write-off for me due to injury, so I've been timekeeper at most of the handicap races. When you have quite a few folk going off at similar times it's easy to make athe odd mistake setting them off, but as long as everyone runs them in the intended spirit and doesn't moan too much about losing 5 seconds, it's not a problem. We don't really have anyone who's competitive to the point of being an arsehole, so it tends to work OK.

I wouldn't say results are irrelevant. Times are published so there's nothing wrong with racing it, and going for a decent time, if you want to. My 5k PB is a parkrun time. The dog thing is quite amusing, but it does seem right that it's not recognised as a course record when it was obviously a significantly assisted time. As an aside, I was marshalling at parkrun a couple of weeks ago, and one of our runners came over and said she was lost, claiming to already have done two full laps, but was quite happy to do a third (unnecessary) lap. Actually, she just didn't want to do the extra bit on the second lap, and it was quite obvious she hadn't been round twice given the pace she jogged off at. Not a big deal I guess, but why would you do that? Stu, the usual recovery exercises of cycling and swimming should be fine. And if you go swimming at 7.30am as I do, you can be guaranteed endless chat with all the pensioners you'll be sharing the pool with, whether you want it or not!

I've never done any XC but really fancy having a go this year, assuming I can get back running in time. The nationals are at the end of February in Falkirk, so I'm hoping to be ready by then. I like being out in rain and mud, so I'm pretty sure it would suit me pretty well. Well done folks over the last few weeks - just been reading through how everyone did in their races in September and early October, and there looks to have been some pretty good runs there from a lot of folk.

Good PB there Stellaboz - particularly impressive given the lack of a proper pre-race toilet routine! Is that your first half since that day I saw you at Inverness a year and a half ago? I did the Jimmy Irvine 10k last year too, and as Bishy says, the weather was terrible - the worst I've raced in as well. I did my first sub-40 time that day despite the awful weather and having sore legs from a hard hill session a couple of days before, so it's definitely a quick route. I beat my PB by 30 seconds, but on a good day and with fresh legs I'm sure I'd have absolutely smashed it. On a good day, it would definitely be a good race to finish off for the year.

Not sure yet - I'm hoping I might OK by mid-October, but will give it a month after feeling fine before I head back out this time. I've got my deferred place for London next April, but it might be pushing it a bit to go from no running for 9-10 months to doing a marathon 5 months after starting again. Might look at the Stirling one if London is a bit soon, but would more likely just hold off til something next Autumn.

Good stuff Cardinal, good to hear you got round in a more than respectable time. I wouldn't be too disappointed with your time, especially when you only managed that one long run before it. Marathon is just a different game altogether to the shorter distances

Good going there, Stu. Not sure I'd ever want to try your pre-race meal myself, but presumably it helped with the early morning shite, which is surely part of the pre-race routine for every runner! Got an email from Scottish Athletics earlier saying that the new Stirling marathon is open for entries - anyone planning on having a go at it? It seems a bit strange that they've gone for the week before EMF therefore going into direct competition with it, and I'm a bit disappointed they've gone for a similarly high price of £55. Taking the piss with the entry price seems to be a theme of all teh Great Run events. It does look quite a nice route though, certainly more attractive than the absolute joke of a route that is the Edinburgh marathon.

I was helping with the Forth Road Bridge 10k today and we were lucky to get a great day for it - had it been last weekend I think we'd have had to cancel due to the wind. It's good to do these things to appreciate just how much work someone has to put in for any race to come off well, and I really enjoyed getting along to get the atmosphere of a proper race again. I'm particularly happy that the cakes I baked last night were gone completely by the time I got back to the hall! Anyone here get a place and run in that today?

Definitely don't do another long one next week - it won't do you any good that close to the race and will just tire your muscles, especially so when they're not really used to running for that long. I'd suggest something like 8-10 miles at an easy pace next weekend with 2-3 shorter efforts this midweek. If you've only managed that one long run then the marathon might be a struggle, so take it a bit slower than feels natural at the start. Might not be pretty, but you'll make it - good luck with the race.

Dates for next year won't be up yet, but these are probably the two best sites for finding races. Dates tend not to change much from year to year, so looking at what's on this year will give you a good idea. http://scottishrunningguide.com/races/07/2016 http://events.scottishathletics.org.uk/events I'd also suggest trying smaller events, usually organised by running clubs. I can't really say what it is, but they just seem to have a better feel to them than the bigger ones, and a bonus is that you often get a good spread of cakes at these smaller ones. Hope it goes OK at Musselburgh, Morrison. I had a place as well but still not right yet, so I won't be seeing you there. Should be slightly easier conditions than last year! I finally got to see someone at the hospital about my suspected hernia this week. Was there about 5 minutes, told it's not a hernia and likely an inguinal tear that will just have to heal its self. Good in a way I suppose as it means no surgery needed, but still a tough one to take as it means no end in sight yet. Apparently if you get a really bad tear it can take 9 months to a year to properly heal. It does feel stronger than it was a few months ago and I'm no longer setting it back every couple of weeks by doing something like breathing so I guess it is getting there, just very very slowly. I'm just thinking no how great it's going to feel that day when I'm finally able to get out again - it will come.

It seems utterly mental for the games against us to be all-ticket, when games against Falkirk and St Mirren (clubs with a similar fanbase) are not; obviously it's a much shorter trip from Paisley than from Dunfermline as well. One of the games there a few years ago was quite busy in the away end, but generally our away crowd for run of the mill league games in the West has been about 400 - a bit higher last year for most games, but that won't last when we're not winning most weeks as we were last season. And £20 as well - great. Ticket games when necessary are fair enough, but for games like this it just seems an unnecessary irritation. Completely daft to make a game in April all-ticket with no idea how the two teams will be doing at that stage as well.

Interesting question on what kind of time is possible - it's a discussion I was having at work last week as well. Everyone will have their own limit, but I'd say that most folk won't ever get close to that. Could I get below 18 for a 5k with good and consistent training? I'm pretty sure I could. Sub-17? Maybe, but it's a long way off. Sub-16? No chance. With a lot of work, I might be able to get near 80 mins for a half, but I'm never going to be under 70. My work colleague was trying to tell me that I was looking at it the wrong way and that I shouldn't be constrained by arbitrary limits - he has a point, but the times I say might be achievable are still miles away, so I hardly think I'm being negative by being aware of my probable limits.

Good going folks - looks like decent results for pretty much everyone who ran this weekend. Glad that the weather was much better for you all this year than last, though I guess it would have been pretty warm for everyone finishing around lunch time today which would have made for a tough finish. Aye, it is. And the marathon is much, much worse as that's 9 miles out and 9 back. I haven't done the half in Edinburgh and I don't think I'd find it too bad, but that awful out and back is the main reason I'm not that keen to do the marathon there again.

Aye, it is a bit pish - probably a couple of weeks til I know what needs done. I'm just keeping going with my swimming doing arms only - it probably looks ridiculous as I borrow a float at the pool to go between the legs that's very dainty and a bright pink colour, but I don't care as at least it keeps me moving! I've decided I'm going to make use of this time, and assuming get back to fitness, I'm definitely going to do a triathlon next year. Looking forward to that already, even though it's ages away yet.

Well done Bishy and Arthur - good efforts there. I've probably already told the story of the time I shat myself while running - 10pm, dark, sneaked into some bushes. Couldn't get my shorts down in time, and lost my key that I always attach to the tie cord of my shorts. Went ofr my spare key at my mum's, so ended up chapping her door quite late at night, reeking of shite. Had white shorts on as well! Not a fan of the barcode scanners at parkrun either. I was on barcodes last week, and found they don't work too well in bright sunshine as well as being bad in the rain. I found out this week that I'm probably going to need a hernia op - kind of exlains why the injury just hasn't healed its self by now. Pretty devastating to hear that when I'd convinced myself again that I wasn't too far away, but good to get to the root of it I suppose.

I was a wee bit confused by that as well (I had a place but had to let someone run as 'me'). All it is though is that the main time listed (the slower one) is the gun time and one shown as 'finish' in the table is your actual (chip) time. In big races like EMF half or marathon your official time is the chip time, but it's normal in smaller races to have the results ordered by gun time with the chip time given as an extra.

I'm partcularly missing it at the moment as work hasn't been great fun for the last few weeks. After a crap day at work I really love going out for a good 10 miles on my own at a decent pace, and for some reason it's even better doing it in the rain in that situation. I'm finding it quite hard to have wee things like that taken away. Not being able to run, I was asked if I fancied having a go at timekeeping for a track event, so went to Grangemouth last week for an open graded meeting. Interesting to see what happens at these things, and as I found out, there's much more of a knack to recording accurate times than you'd think. It also makes you realise just how many people have to turn up on the night for these things to take place at all. I agree wth the new rule that bans headphones in races held on open roads; I've seen a couple of moments when folk have been completely unaware of their surroundngs due to being absorbed in whatever they were listening to. Don't think I'm going to do a marathon this year, I thnk I'd just be risking another injury if I tried it. Revised targets for the year are now to get running again, do a decent half marathon time within a couple of minutes of PB, and nal the Templeton 10 in November after getting the early pacing wrong last year. If I can do that and get my Sunday run back up to 16-17 mles every week by the end of the year n preparation for a spring marathon next year, I'll be happy enough.

If you've done 10-mile runs, you can at least be sure of getting round OK, even if the last bit might feel a bit tough. And i agree with the other comment - not really any point doing any speedwork now as it's too close to get any benefit from. I'd just keep doing what you've done so far, but maybe shorten the Sunday run by a couple of miles this week, then generally take it a bit easuer next week with 2-3 short runs. I quite like to run an easy couple of miles the day before a race, so would probably do something like 4-5 on Tuesday and Thursday then very easy 2 on Saturday. Everyone has their own wee thngs though. Glad I asked about Musselburgh there - their website doesn't menton it and I had no idea it was already open.