I ran another Parkrun this morning, my 40th. It’s not quite a notifiable milestone, but finally getting close.

Being part of the local Parkrun community has been more fun than I imagined. I’ve quite enjoyed seeing the same faces, and experiencing the camaraderie and often some banter.

There are always a couple of funny moments. Today it was as I dropped off my car keys at the table before the run, and one of the regular volunteers joked if I was there to see the course map (that I may have actually run 100 times or more). I said I was fine, I’ll just follow someone today – instead of leading for a change. Not!

On the course there was a guy just in front of us not dodging the overhanging branches of trees. It was something to behold, and something to avoid as the branches flung back. He had what looked like a hydration vest. I joked that it wasn’t for hydration, it contained a machete he’d start using as he goes more bush.

Then as I finished and was handed my place token, the volunteer mentioned he saved Number 0001 for me (to record me as the winner, instead of 31st out of 353). Ha!

It kind of reminded of the time I was volunteering as a barcode scanner and the guy who did finish first forgot his own barcode to record his result. I helpfully told him I have my own barcode he could use. The guy was a visitor to our Parkrun and didn’t initially know it was just a joke.

When the kids’ sporting seasons commence, Saturday games kick in and I often can’t make it to Parkrun. I will whenever I can though, as I know there will always be some fun moments. Maybe ones I’d like to record here and read again one day.