Yeah, I agree that they are excellent! I appreciate all the work that went in to making them successful; Southampton Parkrun attracts 400+ runners on a weekly basis!
For me, they're the real test as to how I'm improving with my speed. My fastest is about 23 and a half minutes at the moment, I think that I can go faster too though. Today, my time was slower, I had to stop twice to tie up my trainers. Usually I've ensured that they've been double knotted before I get going... not this time!
First time, I sorted out one lace, tried to catch the 23 minute marker again, before falling behind, and then had to sort out the other lace. Except, as usual, it's not the easiest thing to do to stop running and do something like that, it's like the hands are shaking and your balance is wayward due to the physical exertion and the rush to get it done quickly.
Which Parkrun do you run? What's the course like?
I'm thinking of doing a tour of a lot of the parkruns, I think it would be a good way to have Saturdays out and about... except the fact that there's no shower facilities, and then have a day somewhere else, plus it's another thing to work towards.
Do you run different courses regularly? I've ran 4 different courses until now.