Technically, this should be called “24 parkrun courses in 24 hours”, because only the first run was at an official parkrun event. The rest are more correctly freedom runs. However, that is the name by which these types of events are commonly known.
For a couple of days before this event I was feeling nervous—the old butterflies were winging their way around my stomach. Was I endeavouring to attempt too much at my age and ability? How much of this event would I be running solo because of my pace and choice of courses? Would I sleep the night before and be refreshed or would the thought of what lay before me keep me awake that last night so that I couldn’t cope with either the runs or the travel? Sometimes the thought of just not turning up scurried across my mind like wind-blown clouds! The day before I had everything out that I would need for the event—even things that would only be needed for the whole 24 hours if I could possibly get that far. Yes, I was dreaming big—but that dream was like the boy who saw the table loaded with all sorts of delicious goodies that he couldn’t resist. He heaped his plate to overflowing, but soon found that he couldn’t eat it all for his eyes were bigger than his belly.
I had seen the official schedule for the progression of
events from Devonport to Bells Parade to Port Sorell and then on to Westbury
Town Common and some of the Launceston parkrun courses. I knew that I would not
be able to keep up that schedule, so I wrote my own—and that was perfectly
acceptable because this is an unofficial event, the purpose simply being to try
and run 24 parkrun courses in 24 hours. I thought that if I ran the various courses in
35-40 minutes each then that would be a good pace to enable me to do the most
that I could manage.
The first course was Devonport for their official event,
which I took at what I thought was an easy pace of 6:33/k for a time of 32:56. That
was way too fast, but I thought that I handled it reasonably well. After having
my barcode scanned and meeting up with Adam, our organiser, I headed out for my
second run at Devonport, which I completed in a time of 34:30 or 6:51/k. That was
closer to my goal but still a tad fast. I then had a coffee with Val and some
of our Devonport parkrun friends at Drift Café before heading off for my third run
at Devonport. While I was running, Val went for a wade at Bluff Beach and was
ready for me at the conclusion of this run in a time of 34:40 or 6:55/k.
I dropped Val home and then drove out to Port Sorell where I
was planning on doing my next three runs, which would have taken me to a
quarter of the 24 hours. I started my first run there alone, but
after a while had caught up with Adam who was walking/jogging because of a
rolled ankle. He decided to run with me, which meant a faster pace than I had
planned, as I completed the course in 33:15 or 6:40/k. For my break I headed
back to the car for a gel and a drink. As I was getting to the car fridge I was
bitten by a large ant because I had inadvertently stood on their nest. That
left me concerned in case I had an adverse reaction to the bite. My next run
took me 36:23 or 7:20/k. During this run I had cramping in my left calf and the
beginning of a back spasm. When I finished, Deb Hicks, the ED at Port Sorell
parkrun, who is also part of the Port Sorell Surf Life Saving Club, caught up
with me and very kindly offered to help me in any way that I needed. That was
so thoughtful of her. Fortunately, I had everything I needed. For my third run
at Port Sorell, I started off with Todd as he wanted to run there again before
we headed back to Devonport to complete the rest of the event on their course.
I kept up with his 7:00/k pace until I needed to stop after 2k for a bubbler as
I was getting so thirsty, in spite of having had so much to drink in my break. That
drink still didn’t fully relieve my thirst, but I kept on and thought that I
was slowly catching up to him until the effects of the heat and humidity began
to get to me. My back spasm worsened, and it slowed me down quite a bit.
As I was driving back into Devonport for my next runs, I
began to feel lightheaded and dizzy. Was this a bit of heatstroke? I took it
carefully, finishing off one bottle of water on the way. Arriving at Devonport, I
immediately had a jam sandwich and more fluid before walking down to the start
of the parkrun course. Adam and Todd had both left earlier. I crossed paths
with Todd after about 1k and Adam before the halfway turn. However, I was
beginning to suffer with my back spasm which were progressively getting worse.
There were times when all I could do was walk to ease the pain and I had to
start asking myself whether I should continue or pull out. When I finished my
seventh course, I told Adam that I wouldn’t continue, so I drove home.
Val ran me a bath and provided mugs of tea as well as a
banana, an apricot, raspberries, and some chocolate while I also finished off
one of my bottles of energy drink. After an hour of lazing in the bath I
thought that I had better get out, which is when the cramps really started. I
did manage to finally get out and the cramping began to ease up for the rest of
the day. Later, much later at 9:15 pm, we drove down to the start of the
Devonport parkrun course, and I did another freedom run (a walk this time) to
bring my total to eight for the day.
