I'm Sarah. I'm what you might call an average runner.
But recently I've been upping my training thanks to the help of our resident
Olympian and parkrun world record holder
Andy. To celebrate the return of parkrun,
I've come to the UK's fastest parkrun according to science -
well, some pretty complicated statistics anyway -
and I'm going to be hoping to run it my fastest 5K.
And I'm Andy, Sarah's support team and personal cheerleader.
They made me say that,
but I also happen to hold the current parkrun world record at 13 minutes and 48
seconds, which I sat back in 2012 at Bushy Park, or at least I hold that record
at the time of recording. I'm going to be doing my best to support Sarah,
to hopefully run her PB.
And you can do the same by cheering her on by hitting that like button.
And if you want to help us out, it's simple. All you have to do is click subscribe.
So this is Berkeley Green, currently home to the UK's
fastest parkrun, which I'm hoping should give you a little bit of a headstart.
It's not the most glamorous of locations. In fact,
it's the former home of a decommissioned nuclear site
so potentially that could give you some superpowers or supercharge your run today.
Definitely, can't wait. You're not gonna be needing that.
I mean, it's not parkrun without the barcode, is it.
Now we want to support the return of parkruns safely.
So rather than being parkrun tourists,
we've come on a quiet day during the week.
Are you desperate for parkrun to return?
And have you already been back to pick up where you left off?
Do let us know how you get on in the comments down below. I've
definitely missed it, and it's any excuse for me to get back involved again.
So today I'm offering my services to you as your dedicated pacemaker,
which hopefully should give you a bit of help and also make it feel a little bit
more like parkrun where obviously you'd normally be running with a lovely
group of people.
I mean, I really appreciate that Andy, but my current PB is 23:56.
I'm not sure if I can beat that, but I think it's time to find out.
Getting the, uh, parkrun
Nausea. That's a good, that's a good sign I think. You ready? Ready? Yeah,
let's do this.
Okay. We're at the start line. So it's time to head out on our parkrun.
Ready to go, let's do this. We've got this Sarah. Just keep up.
Don't worry about it too much. Okay, if I swear at you, I'm sorry.
3, 2, 1, go.
We're off. We've started. Sarah's just got to settle in.
Lock in, and then just, then just keep up, that's all we've got to do. Simple, right?
Yeah, keep up, easy. We've set off with a target of 4:30 per kilometer pace.
Sarah's going great guns at the moment. Not too windy, but pretty hot.
All I can hear is how few steps you have to do for this pace compared to my little
legs trying to keep up. Come on, we've got this. She's got it.
So there's a, there's a hairpin turn in this route. How was that?
Don't get me wrong, it's flat. But going back on yourself is brutal. Hate it.
Feel like the pacing vehicle and Kipchoge's record attempt.
And I feel like our location is equally as glamorous.
And I'm having to tell Sarah to stop talking. We need a maximum attempt here.
Pretty windy through this bit. Also really glamorous.
We're basically running through a car park. Love it.
We're coming up towards 2K.
This is the first rise really on the course I can tell Sarah is not appreciating
it, but she's going great guns. This is horrible.
She's not talking quite so much now.
The early bravado has shifted to pain.
We've just had the 2K marker come up. We've drifted off pace slightly after a
perfect first K. That second K, we slowed down a bit.
So, Sarah, I'm going to have to ask you to pick it up a little bit, now. Let's go. Dig deep.
The key to running a good 5K is to try and be nice and relaxed inside that first
3K. Sarah is definitely pushing against her limit,
but she's doing a brilliant job of keeping her breathing and her shoulders
relaxed, and staying right on pace.
Come on, halfway mark. Oh, this is horrible.
This brings back all the memories of wanting to quit halfway
when it's a two lap course, but don't, because I think you got this.
Heading into that final lap.
So hard. So hard. Okay,
I need to stop being nice now, Sarah, come on. Let's up
the pace, let's stay right on it. Essentially, what Sarah's got here is me.
And I'm the cheap version of the WaveLight technology that you get in the
Diamond Leagues when they try and set the world records.
We're coming up to that magical 3K mark,
and then 3K to 4K is so important. Sarah's doing such a brilliant job,
even when it's starting to hurt now. Every step takes you closer to the finish.
Now is definitely the time when we could both benefit from the true magic of parkrun
and being surrounded by other people challenging themselves.
That beep was 3K. Let's go, Sarah. Focus, dig deep.
I promise you there's more in the tank. There's more in the tank when you think.
Come on, come on. That's the spirit.
Well inside the final mile now, well inside the final mile,
let's keep pushing.
How's the tank? Empty. Empty. It's always more than you think.
We're inside the last K. Sarah's really digging, noticeable change in cadence
now, she's picking it up and trying to run something she's never run before.
If you haven't already,
please give her a like because she's giving absolutely everything.
Sarah really didn't like me when I made her train,
like I trained for a whole week. I don't know how much he likes me right now.
Sarah?
I hate you right now. This is awful.
I'm not gonna make her say more than that.
Let's go, Sarah, come on, right here. This is the PB right here.
We're literally going to be within seconds.
This is so close. Unbelievably close. I can tell she's right on her red line,
but we're also right bang on PB pace. Let's go. We can see the finish
when we turn this corner.
I'm going to stay with you close to the end and then it's all yours to take it
home. Push. Well, inside the last hundred, go, go, go pick your legs up.
Pick your feet up. Sprint finish. Let's go.
Oh my God.
Welcome back, parkrun. I missed you, but I didn't miss that.
Sarah, please can, can we, can we still be friends?
Ask me tomorrow.
What a job well done. That was amazing. Oh, that
was brutal. Fully and truly brutal. I think you loved every minute.
Kind of.
I think the thing that you forget about parkrun is that it's so lovely,
there are so many people around, but I don't know about you, I,
the whole way round, have a mental barrier of,
I can't do this. I need to stop. I'm going to throw up.
I used to have back the day when I first started doing parkrun,
I used to run so hard that I would just retch on the, on the finishing line.
So I now I just have a constant fear that that's going to happen,
which I don't think is socially acceptable when you're at work.
Well, this has worked, but
also you've literally just finished and you're able to talk to camera.
So claim that as a big success. We should probably do a reveal as well.
Yes.
My time was, wait for my watch to come around... 23:10.
So that is a 46 second, yep, personal best. I can't do maths.
I'm so chuffed with that. That is a fast course, but I'm going to pull out the excuses
now - it is baking hot.
There was a headwind and there are some hills, it's not completely flat.
It's only seven, I think meters of elevation.
But you really do feel that when the rest is zero. Yeah,
I, for what it's worth, I think I've definitely run faster parkrun courses.
And this may be a statistical anomaly because it's relatively new.
So let's stay tuned to see how the statistics change when parkrun comes back.
So we know that parkrun is not a race,
but it is an opportunity to challenge yourself and to see improvement.
And if Sarah can set a personal best then, so can you.
We've got a selection of free 5K training plans that you can download,
check out the link in the description if you'd like to find out more. They're for any
ability, so there'll definitely be one that's suitable for you,
no matter what goal time you've set yourself.
And we also release new videos every week all about training,
which we hope can help you enjoy your running more. So subscribe
if you haven't already.
Have you been back to parkrun today? Where did you go and
how did you get on? Do let us know in the comments down below and go and check
out one of our other videos.
Let us know what you think and we'll see you next time on The Running Channel.