Saturday is one of the most important days of the week in Cumbria Crack Towers. It is when the cobwebs are blown off my editor servant as she spends time doing 5k.
Originally, it was a jogged 5k but now it is more of a sedate 5k as she catches up with all the crack from her friends with as much, if not more energy expended on the chatting than the running.
And it mirrors one of the more fascinating developments of social and community events of the modern day, the parkrun.
Every Saturday, at 9am, thousands of people set off to do the 5k, or 2k for the four to 14-year-olds. It brings families and friends together in an athletics event which doesn’t feel like athletics, and where no one comes last and everyone is welcome.
Here, in Cumbria, we are blessed with several parkruns. For example, in Maryport, one of the newest, the route is an ‘out and back’ along the Promenade with views across the spectacular Solway to Criffel and the Robin Rigg offshore windfarm in between.
You can parkrun in the Whinlatter Forest near Keswick or through Talkin Tarn Country Park. There are parkrun events in Barrow, Ulverston, Whitehaven, Carlisle, Penrith, Millom, Newby Bridge and along the old railway footpath at Keswick. You can do your 5k in Rothay Park, Ambleside or around the rugby pitches at Bower Park, Aspatria.
To take part, all you do is register and get a bar code and you do your 5k at any of the 777 events across the country.
Obviously, as a cat, I spend Saturday mornings, as I do most days, preening myself and enjoying a leisurely brunch. Indeed, as ‘she who must be obeyed’ is out, I can usually con ‘he who must do as he is told’ out of some Dreamies.
So, why am I banging on about parkrun?
Well, over the years, I have observed that the population is getting bigger. Not in numbers, although that might be true, but in waistlines. People are becoming supersize and they need to find reasons to abandon the telly and the online shoot ‘em up games and find some time for gentle exercise.
Indeed, avoiding Saturday morning telly with its mix of James Martin and Saturday Kitchen alongside Nadiya’s cakes and Lisa and John’s puddings, can never be a bad thing.
So why parkrun? Well, it is about families and friends taking part. Its social and communal and even if you don’t fancy the 5k, it attracts loads of volunteers who scan your barcode and record your time.
That said, it isn’t a race even if people do try for a better time, you are competing against yourself and the clock. Often, as well, in Cumbria, you are competing against the weather and many events have teas and coffee available and some, so I am told, have bacon butties.
Is having a bacon bap defeating the object of this exercise? Maybe, but that isn’t the point.
The main reason this cat celebrates parkrun is that it is free. Maybe not the teas/coffee/bacon butty, but to register and take part, every week at a different venue of the same, is completely free.
You don’t need fancy running gear and while it would be better if you didn’t look like Boris Johnson on his runs with woolly hat and ill-fitting shorts, it isn’t a fashion parade.
And best of all, it gets you out of the house leaving your feline companions to a bit of peace and quiet while we curl up on the sofa and count mice. And you return full of endorphins and all is well in the world.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, from later this year, will be back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world
