New Year 2020

People often make New Year's resolutions that pale and fade by the second or third week in January, so I much prefer the notion of a new year being a time for a new start or a change, even a small one, to your lifestyle.

Early at Mt Penang

I was pleasantly surprised when my two young Birt relatives (my second cousins once removed for anyone who's interested) said that they would like to do their first parkrun if I would run with them.

Round and round the gardens

New Year's Day is the only day of the year when you can record two official parkruns so my cousin Tom and I headed off to run Mt Penang parkrun ourselves at 7:30am, and then I cycled down to meet Tom's brother William and his daughters Ruby (aged 10) and Ellie (aged 7) who were themselves cycling along to Woy Woy parkrun for the 9:30am start. 

Finishing at Mt Penang

Ruby, Ellie and I headed off together and though Ellie was keen, Ruby was definitely less enamoured with the whole concept. The course is a simple 2.5km out along a cycle path with the return by the same route. Ruby kept asking me if we could stop and turn back, but as Ellie was keen to keep going, I did my best to encourage Ruby as well. I gave her the option of having a rest on a park bench and waiting for us to come back after turning around, but she preferred to take walking breaks, drop back and then sprint to catch us up. The refrain of "can we stop now?" did become rather monotonous, as she seems to be practicing for her grumpy teenage years.

Ellie was a star and although she kept turning back to look for Ruby she kept running all the way beyond the end of the cycle path, across a stretch of rough ground around the far cone. We had a few short walk breaks (especially when she had a stitch) but far  fewer than I had expected and she loved to run fast down any slopes.

Running in with Ellie

Ruby didn't actually make it as far as the cone but was most of the way there before she turned and came back with us on the return leg. Luckily, her mum and aunt were also walking their debut parkrun (with the dog) so one of them was happy to accompany her back when we bumped into them. This let Ellie continue on at a faster pace.....and although we had a few more walk breaks later on, she was brilliant.....happily running through the line in just under 39minutes! It was rather warm so she decided that she'd like to try it again in winter as she'd get less thirsty, but I loved seeing how much she enjoyed the whole experience (and not just the chocolate cake she got at the finish). 

And back to run in with Ruby

Ellie proudly showing our finish barcodes!

I then went back and managed to get Ruby to run the final little stretch so that her younger cousins could clap and cheer her in. I think she surprised herself with how much of it she managed (taking about 50minutes in total) which will help her if she chooses to go back and do another one, as a lot of what stopped her running was a lack of self confidence (which I can certainly empathise with). 

It was great to see people of all ages, shapes and sizes coming together to celebrate the start of 2020 in this way (which seems much more appropriate than fireworks in a country that is currently being devastated by nature, ie bushfires).....and long may an appreciation of being outdoors, healthy and fit whilst hanging out with friends and family be celebrated!