Crazy Cow 10k and Crazy Calf Fun Run

On Sunday we were lured out to the Preston area for Andy to take part in the Crazy Cow 10k in Penwortham. I say lured because it was the promise of an unusual reward that got him signed up. A cowbell! That's right, we made a 3 hour round trip so Andy could run for a cowbell. That's how bonkers dedicated we are. I was so jealous!! There happened to be a one mile fun run as well, the Crazy Calf, which the boys took part in so all was good.

The weather fairies were not doing their job on the last day of May though and it was cold and wet when we left the house and cold and wet when we arrived in Preston. Luckily, the children's registration had been set up in the cricket clubhouse so we stayed warm and dry for a bit!

When it was time for the children's race we headed out to the path where it would start from. Conveniently the rain had stopped a little while before. I was running with Sam and William ran on his own as I'd checked the route was safe when I registered them. Andy saw us off then headed back to the finish at the cricket club to wait for us to arrive. William positioned himself at the front of the start and Sam and I were a little further back. Soon we were off and it was a really nice little course on a tarmac path through the woods.

The run was well marshaled by mooing and cowbell ringing individuals. Sam and I eventually emerged onto a gravelly path near the finish where there were some HUGE puddles and he decided to jump through about three of them.

Soon we were at the finish and the boys each got a medal! Unfortunately William managed to fall over whilst running over to get his medal so was not a happy bunny for a little while, but he managed to run his fastest mile yet in 10.46 and came in 19th out of 50 participants. Sam was a bit slower due to quite a bit of walking this time and came in 38th place in 13.50. Fantastic effort from them both.

After the boys finished their run we got them changed out of their wet shoes and into wellies and said goodbye to Andy who wandered off to the start with our fellow Wind Cheetahs who were also taking part. We stayed near the finish whilst they set off. The boys amused themselves by throwing pebbles into the stream and generally faffing about. We found a spot on the other side of the stream in a field to watch the runners coming back in. Andy made it back in record time for him, 54.03 so was very pleased. And he received his cowbell too! Andy said it was a nice, flat run and that he would do it again (although it will be my turn for a cowbell next!).

We didn't stop long after seeing the other WWC through the finish line, it was just too cold! William took charge of Andy's cowbell and we were rather grateful when it fell on the floor of the car after about 15 minutes into the journey home!

Preston parkrun and Pilling 10k

This morning we woke up very early and met up with some of the Wind Cheetahs to go to Preston parkrun. Our own parkrun at Barrow was cancelled due to another event going on in the park. It was good to take the opportunity to try another parkrun elsewhere and see what goes on there. I'd heard good reports about Preston parkrun before so was very happy to give this one a go.

We were not disappointed! Beautiful parks (Preston parkrun takes in both Avenham Park and Miller Park), friendly runners and well organised, cheery volunteers meant we had a good morning.

Unfortunately William managed to fall at the start of the second lap. After establishing that nothing was bleeding/broken he kept going, although his hands were hurting (and later his nose, apparently!). Andy and Sam had overtaken us at this point so were well ahead. Sam seemed to be enjoying the run and surroundings immensely. William began running properly again for the last half of the third lap and managed a little sprint into the finish. He really enjoyed the railway bridges, both for watching the trains going over the top and for the echoes underneath! I was also very appreciative of the other parkrunners who shouted out words of encouragement to the boys as they ran past. Had a good chat with the backmarker too.

More brilliant pics from Preston parkrun can be found on the group flickr page! Spot the Cheetahs!

I'd quite like to give this course another go one day. We couldn't stop for post parkrun refreshments unfortunately as we needed to get ourselves to Pilling for the Pilling 10k and had one hour in which to do it! After spending what seemed like ages getting out of Preston, we got out on the road only to be stuck behind tractors, lorries and a herd of cows crossing a busy main road!

We managed to pull into the car park of the Elletson Arms Pub in Pilling (Race HQ) at 10.55am for an 11am start! I grabbed my water bottle and a cap as it was raining by this point and dashed into the pub to find I wasn't too late to enter. After grabbing my number and a quick stop in the loo, I ran out of the pub to find everyone heading to the start line down the road.

This has got to be one of the flattest courses I have ever done so I was very confused to find it quite hard going. I ran with a WWC friend for the first half and did as well as I had in the past but struggled with the second half. Just couldn't keep up with the pace. Whether that had to do with finishing running a 5km course an hour earlier I'm not sure! I didn't get a PB for this one but was only a few minutes off so wasn't too disappointed either. I can't believe I'm actually saying this but I think I prefer a more undulating course! Very happy of course with my new medal too. Also well done to our 3 Cheetah ladies who won prizes!

We're off on another early start to Lancaster tomorrow so Andy can take part in the Lancaster Castle 10k and hopefully I'll do the fun run with the boys. More on that tomorrow!