Seaford Beach parkrun - event 186

On the 27th April 2024 I ran the Seaford Beach parkrun which was the 186th event held at the venue, my 180th parkrun and 103rd different course I'd attended.

Although parkrun isn't about setting the fastest time and trying to be competitive. It's only natural that you keep a keen eye on your finish times even if it's used as a barometer of your progress. This year I've ran a sub 27 five times out of 17 parkrun events - which is one short of half of the 12 total that I've recorded under 27 minutes.

I've come a long way since those days where I ran week after week, desperately trying to break the 30 minutes milestone at Cyclopark. But everyone I've set a sub-27 this year I've been disappointed that I've not managed to lower that all time PB which was set last autumn in Dulwich.

This week at Seaford Beach parkrun I had another opportunity to set a quick time knowing that the course was a flat out-and-back along the Seaford promenade, and with favourable weather conditions it might well play in my favour.

Last spring I visited Seaford for the very first time and took part in my very first 10k running event. The course started at the eastern end of the promenade and head west, all the way along to the sailing club before diverting inland and completing an out-and-back along the cyclepath that leads out of town towards Newhaven. After completing the event I knew I'd have to come back again one day to complete the parkrun, so here I was twelve months later ready to take on the challenge.

I parked along the esplanade at the point in which the road starts to rise slightly, given us an elevated view of the coast in both directions. Looking down at the promenade path I said to Foordy that the stretch of path below would be tricky based on the volume of shingle that had been washed up upon it from the beach. There were certain sections where there was no path even visible, but as it would materialize later the course had been diverted and so the shingle wasn't going to be a problem.

As mentioned above, the 10k route started on the western end of Seaford Beach, but the 5k parkrun route started at the opposite eastern end at the sailing club where the 10k route gets diverted.

I wasn't aware when the run started that any diversions were to take place, and so I assumed that the course was going to be a straightforward out-and-back, past the Martello tower and to the turnaround and back again. Which in the main part it was, but due to the shingle situation the course was diverted onto the esplanade and we had to tackle the slight rise and dip of the road back down onto the promenade path. It was only a short stretch of around 300m, but to get on and off the esplanade path participants had to do a short zig-zag through a single file path which made for a little bit of congestion on the way out and a loss of momentum on the way back 

The event was also hosting it's monthly pacer event and I ambitiously said that I'd try to stick with the 26 minute runner, but all the way out I was always a few hundred yards further back up the road from him and couldn't get close. On the way back he was getting ever further away until it got to the point where the 27 minute pacer overtook me and my heart sank.

It isn't and shouldn't be about time, but I couldn't help making it be about just that. Especially as I felt like I was running well and making good time. For the last three quarters of a kilometre I just made sure that I stayed as close to the pack of runners that had made the 27 minute guy their guide.

As it was, my intuition was right, the 27 minute guys were ahead of schedule. I finished 120th out of a field of 292 in 26:48. 14 seconds short of that elusive time which I'm convinced could have been made up had the diversion not been in place.

But ultimately it doesn't matter. Had the diversion not been in place and I'd have set a new PB time it would just have given me another time to aim at next week and the week after. The real success of the run was once again the location and why I keep going to parkrun and touring. Running with the sea over my shoulders and with views across to the start of the seven sisters or to lighthouses out to see. In fact, running faster means having less time to enjoy those things so maybe we should be celebrating taking longer next time!