Number of runners: 39
Weather: Full blown storm
This Saturday, like most days in Belfast, started quite drizzly but not really raining (Yorkshire folk will know what I mean). This week's parkrun would again be forming a part of my long run so I packed my running backpack with a waterproof, a buff, gloves, and a gel, and set off. About 1km on the way to parkrun, the rain got really really bad, so I hid under a tree whilst swapping my hoody for my waterproof.
I arrived at Stranmillis college and I had a vague idea of where the start was but I asked the person on the gate for directions just to be sure. This parkrun is held in the grounds of the college so it is all on the internal roads around the campus. I headed up a huge hill as per the directions (really hoping it wasn't on the parkrun route!) and after a few turns I found some runners who pointed out the start.
As the rain got to biblical proportions, most people tucked away in a small foyer near the start. As it's a really small parkrun, they did the run brief in here also. The RD had a fantastically strong accent and finished every sentence with "so it is" (which I loved!). Out of the 39 runners present (yes - 39!) I'd estimate about 80% were tourists with very few regulars here. When the RD asked "do we have any regulars here today?" only about 3 hands went up - someone shouted that they must have had more sense than us barmy lot on a day like today!
Unfortunately this is another parkrun I have encountered who are desperate for volunteers otherwise they'll have to close. I really hope they manage to get enough volunteers to keep going. Once I'm done marathon training, I will try to help out there some Saturdays.
We seemed to get some luck with the weather - come 9:30 it eased off a lot and we set off! Early in the route, we went down the aforementioned enormous hill, but what goes down must come up! Stranmillis is a 3-lapper and I'm pretty sure whoever designed Belfast swept up all the hills in the city and placed them on this small patch of land! As this parkrun is around the small roads of the college, you do have to be a bit weary of cars on this route - all cars that come onto the campus are warned of the parkrun by the gate staff and the marshals help direct runners and cars, but there are parts where you do need to check of any traffic coming up behind as you need to turn and sections where you keep to the side to let cars past. I only saw a few and all drove very sensibly so not too much bother but something to keep in mind if in PB mode!
Not long into lap 1, the rain came down again, on lap 2 it turned to painful hailstone and lap 3 - snow! I got chatting to some other runners - some local, some who moved over from England, and a couple from Ormeau runners who I joined at their club run last week.
On the final lap (with the weather described as "epic" by a runner I was with), I steamed to the finish, in desperation to get out of the bad weather. The finish is slightly uphill but straight, meaning that you can hear the volunteers cheering you on from miles off!
After finishing, I hung up my token on the token board (it's a little peg-board, with a peg per 10 tokens) and chattered to the volunteers and others runners taking shelter in the little foyer. They are a really lovely welcoming bunch.
In summary, this parkrun isn't very scenic, and it is very hilly (probably worse than Bramley!) but the team are fantastically local and welcoming. Great if you want a high position, as it's such a small parkrun, and definitely a challenge for the legs.
Grace, your time in position 25 today at Stranmillis College parkrun was 30:24. Well done on your 1st run here!