7th Heaven on a Special 70th at Stadt Moers Park

In April 2017, after finishing second in my first ever Parkrun at Hesketh Park in Southport, I thought that the only way to go one better and chase down the obligatory "one person to beat me while I always come second" would be to take on a marathon. And particularly one on the same weekend as it would coincide with what would have been my mother's 70th birthday. After all, I've seen many runners at St Helens Tri, HMCC and now Penny Lane Striders take on such a challenge then be unstoppable over shorter distances (to say nothing of the HMCC 312 crew). Any thoughts of a winter training campaign for a 26.2 in either Manchester or Paris sadly fell by the wayside in the wake of my increasingly unwell final few months  of 2017 which had me scrambling to cleanse myself from the inside with aloe vera gel courtesy of Forever Living, but the weekend was still very much in the diary as one to plan an all out attack and pull off something special, vestibular migraine be damned. And only last week I came across a relatively new Parkrun course at Stadt Moers Park in Whiston which is starting to gain popularity amongst speed specialists and marathon men alike.

Set in 220 acres of land in the borough of Knowsley, Stadt Moers Park has existed since 1890 and was cleared by Knowsley Council in 1983 to create a recreation area for all to enjoy. The Parkrun itself was first run just over a year ago by St Helens Tri teammate Aaron Reading and sometimes attracts over 100 entrants, but today's biblically bad conditions reduced the number of starters to 46, nearly four runners per volunteer one of whom, Gloria, thought I was one of the helpers jogging around on my warm-up! I wasn't sure what to make of that, nor whether I'd fall victim to the usual Parkrun tourists who pop up at venues far from home (one winning today's Southport event in under 17 minutes) but I looked around and one guy seemingly determined to race sleeveless (hello the sun wasn't out today) was Gaz the Marathon Man from Manchester. He's not racing tomorrow but he's down the 26.2 the last four years and certainly recommended it for anyone who wants to build up to an Ironman. The pair of us took our places on the front and after a 3-second countdown we were sent on our way for my 7th Parkrun start in exactly 12 months (hence the title).

As is so often the case, I found myself breathing quite heavy the first few hundred metres and I thought once again, I simply have to come second to yet another different runner. The geese thought differently, preferring not to chase us, instead just stare as though we were a bunch of nutters to go out running in a rainstorm.........draw your own conclusions. We hit the muddy field for the first time and I wondered if Gaz would disappear, particularly as I was feeling a bit dizzy from trying to manage my pace against his and track where he was going (did I ever mention I'm useless at cross country for exactly the same reasons) but there wasn't much between us as we got onto terra firma once more and reached the turnaround point. Here, it was obvious there was a fair gap back to FC Barcelona Man who later recognised me from Widnes last August, however with no Dennis the Menace this time he would indeed bag a podium today. Back at the head of the field, I got a bit of a momentum kick on the climb towards the last corner and made this my point of attack. The plunge to the left hander onto the pit straight was a real blast and I assumed the lead as we began lap 2. However, I really wasn't sure if I could hold the pace, and moreover Gaz was still in hot pursuit. So it came as a relief when I managed to get a bit of a breather between the field and the turnaround thanks to a lot of luck with the traffic, not that many people were being lapped in a high quality race. I still hadn't convinced myself that I was on for the win but as the final rise came into view I had flashbacks to the Formby dunes of old as I saw the apocalyptic sky ahead of me. As I came into the last corner to be cheered on by Gloria I could sense that the win was now really on and in the true spirit of the ultimate day for the ultimate win, I put in one final sprint with my body nearly freezing up from both the cold and goosebumps, even getting to do a victory salute/money shot for the camera as I came to the line. Yes, on the perfect day for a win I'd pulled out the perfect result, finishing in a new course PB of 18:03 winning the 68th Stadt Moers Parkrun and my first victory of 2018 by 15 seconds!

I struggled to put words together in the seconds immediately after the race as it was the most choked I've ever been at the finish, even more so than Nantwich 2015 because that wasn't a walk-off win, it was a great race that ended with an eventual age group title. Here, it had been a one-time shot to win and it had happened, not just for my mother but also Aaron who is not well at the moment and I'm sure I speak for all at the SMP Parkrun team and those present today in hoping he is better again soon. Also putting in a fine shift was Robert O'Shea who found an immense improvement from last week to come in 4th and Neil Wallace, another St Helens Tri member who must surely be set for a top 10 soon. I enjoyed the walk back to the car in a state of near trance (not the type to be found at Reminisce festival) as the rain continued to fall from the sky, indeed the only thing missing was a lightning bolt. I wanted to do some selfies in the rain under the SMP banner but the first thing to do was to phone my dad before he went to the pub for the match and who better to share the moment with first? After that it was time to take the snaps and pray I didn't soak the phone (any excuse to upgrade to an iPhone X) and then drive home just as THE tune of 2018, Sigala/Paloma Faith "Sweet Lullaby" blasted out of the Yaris speakers, I mean you just couldn't write this script could you? I got home and enjoyed a few pints of San Miguel watching a pretty boring match really, so I extended the day with a quick shopping trip into town including a new set of compression socks from RealBuzz. Come 6pm it was time to head for home but what a day, one of a kind, now how am I going to squeeze that into 150 words for the paper?

Now for the results, brought to you by RealBuzz:

Distance: the usual
Time: 18:03 (Course PB by 5 seconds)
Final position: 1/46
Geese: 3
Black Socks Ruined: 2
Post Race Hydration: 3 pints of ale in the pub countered by a whole litre of rehydrating water on the train on the way home

REJECT OF THE RACE: Geese
(In particular the big white one for giving us the funny look)

Time to cook up some pasta before watching the West Lancashire triathlon tomorrow. Good luck to everyone at Edge Hill and Great Manchester, it's your day tomorrow, take it!