I'm not sure who the men on the left and in the middle are (they're not registered) but the man in blue with red socks is Perfect Dlamini, a regular contester and a regular winner.
This weekend he came in first again and in 16 min 50 sec
Mother and son
The lady above was on my tail almost all the way. She'd jog and overtake me; I'd catch my breath walking fast and then I'd jog a few hundred meters and pass her. Here she enters the finish a minute after I'd come in. The lad behind her is her younger son, Donavan. He's an excellent rugby player and is going over to Australia to play wing for the Brumbies.
This past Parkrun, I started off quite strongly. Possibly it's all the hill training I'd done last week, walking up and down to the river to check on some ladies we have clearing the banks. No sooner had I turned onto the stretch marking the first kilometer, than a young lad in front of me and said: Hello Joey!
It was Kaylin! As we passed the first distance marker, he said we'd taken eight minutes. This week I could talk a lot more and answered most of his questions. He told me that he'd helped Sepho mow the verge and the farm track which we were using on the run.
As we neared the 2km mark, I said: Come on, let's run; which we did. When I walked again, he said: please can't you go slower? I said: No, we are here to test ourselves and you're still young, so lets go.
Then he fell back and on my next two hundred meter run, I had left him completely. As I entered the last grassy stretch with about 500m to go, I looked back; Ant had picked up both his sticks in one hand and was running!
At the finish I handed my card in and asked Pieter what my time was:
45 minutes 30 seconds!
OK; so I only improved by six seconds from last week, but I must say, I felt a lot stronger and more energetic on this run than any time before. And it was my 11th Parkrun. (the first one Grant and I did we weren't registered)
Ant being clocked in - one minute and 20 seconds after me
Someone tapped me on the back; it was Kaylin.
He'd made it in 52 minutes
Clive arrived with his niece, Kaylin's sister. Here Kaylin shows him his finishing time
Then it was time for me and Ant to go back and meet Grant and Alan. (Grant's normal walking partner, Ant's brother, John was away this weekend)
Grant and Alan finished about 11 minutes quicker than last week. After we four (Alan, Ant, Grant and I) had enjoyed a Parkrun breakfast in the Waffle Hut, we walked out together to the parked vehicles. Ant called Grant and Alan to look what he'd brought on the back of his pick-up truck.
A 40 year-old exercise machine called Gymtrim. Ant wanted Grant and Alan - with their engineering expertise - to help him assemble it
Here Ant tests his newly assembled old gym machine! I posted this photo on the Parkrun Facebook page saying doing 5km in 47 minutes wasn't enough for this spritely old gent!
HAPPY WEDNESDAY TO YOU ALL!
the one thing I see on everyones face, is this exercise you all do is fun.. and every one loves it. Kaylin is a real cutie, great shot of the two of you.. that is pretty cool to have the gym all in one piece like that. congrats to all of you for beating your own times
ReplyDeleteWell done Jo. Isn't it great to feel stronger over time. I see Grant is striding along very strongly too. I love the healthy flush of your cheeks alongside the young Kaylin. Hugs. xx
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a lot of special little moments all the way! When I'm walking with my dogs, (and take photos, and stop for them to play in the water) I do 3km in 45 min. I haven't tried 5km, but that will come one day!!
ReplyDeleteI could never do this! Especially since my knee replacement. You guys are amazing!!!!
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