The Parkrun on the 13th of April was part of the Portobello Running Clubs club championship.
Originally to be held at Whitekirk Hill, it swapped to Holyrood Park.
In Holyrood Park stands the fantastic Volcanic remains of Arthurs Seat, which dates back 2000 years
ago. Some say it gets its name from the great King Arthur and could be the site of the mythical
Camelot however it is more likely that the name comes from the Gaelic term Ard-na-Said meaning
the Height of Arrows. One of my favourite films is First Knight (with Sean Connery as King Arthur) so
I’m going for the Camelot story.
Saturdays for me are normally spent in Rosefield Park swinging kettle-bells, however the class was
cancelled so as an injured runner I made the decision to volunteer. It was a beautiful sunny day
when I arrived and helped to set up and chatted to the English parkrun tourists who turn up at the
English parkrun time of 09.00am. Here I met a man from Colchester and Mark from Newcastle, then
off I was sent to the halfway point at the top of the hill.
After a rather pacey walk, as I was worried I wouldn’t get there in time before the 1st runner, I was
rewarded with an absolutely incredible view. It wasn’t long before the 1st speedy park runner came to
the halfway point. It was a whole one and a half minutes before number 2 came along. After this
there was a steady flow of runners to cheer on with a steady flow of Porty Run club runners… and
my…what a bunch of speedy runners you lot are! It appeared that PRC runners all came in within 30
mins! Very impressive. The average will certainly go down when I’m back running!!
Richard Laucht our first Porty runner came speeding through at 18.40, with Chris Coleman (who has
managed the Welsh Football team in the past and is also gearing up for the 100 meters in Paris this
year!) put in some Olympic preparation with a 19.47. Other speedsters were Aidan Grisewood
(20.36), Craig Taylor (20.47), Stephen Harpham (20.55). Alan did not want to Risk injury so jogged in
with a 21.07, with Alex Garvie hot on his heels with a 21.08. Niamh (like Cher and Madonna she does
not have a surname) was our first Porty Belle home with a 21.31 with our 2nd Porty Belle Alisa
Winters less than a minute behind with 22.21.
Richard our very own Chair, managed a wave and a hello as he came past (23.33) with Marc
Giamblanco (23.38) and Patrick Nelis 23.52 all coming in under 24 minutes.
Before the next locals came in, I managed to say hello and welcome to ‘Man from Colchester’ and
Mark from Newcastle.
Next came a run (!) of our Porty Belles with Aly (again she’s like Cher and Madonna), Helen Buxton
with (24.26) Angela Leggatt (26.42), Christina Hinds, Catherine Witt (27.13), Alison Paterson (29.13),
Debs Warner (30.11) and Porty committee Belle Karen Keast.
Apologies if I have missed anyone or their times however to all Porty Runners well done on your very
impressive Holyrood Parkrun. I hope you all managed to score some lovely points (and points mean
prizes) towards the club championship.
Long after you lovely lot had finished and Mark and his pals were sitting in the café with coffee and
cake, at around 52 minutes the tail walkers came to relieve me of my parkrun duties. The tail walkers
were a lovely couple from Hampshire called Sarah and Eleanor and I ended up walking the rest of
the parkrun with them. We had a lovely chat and they told me they were teachers and had been in
Edinburgh since Thursday and had a wonderful time.
That’s the thing about parkrun whether you are a serious runner who runs for points, prizes and
personal bests, a fun runner, a seasoned runner, a parkrun tourist runner, a park runner, a park
walker, volunteer or a spectator, it is inclusive, fun and there is a part for all to enjoy.
Whatever reason you choose to run…Happy Running to you.
Verity