2015 Challenge - January Update

Well, we're one month into our 2015 challenge and it's all going well so far! We've clocked up 95 miles this month as a family so that means there are 1920 miles to go. That's mainly including parkruns and a few midweek runs too. I'm hoping the weather becomes milder soon as William is not very keen on going out to run in the freezing temperatures we've had!

As we head into February we've got a few runs lined up on top of 'the usual'. Andy is taking on a 10k night trail run at Grizedale Forest next weekend with a fun run for the boys to take part in. We're also trying our first 5k virtual run which will benefit the Epilepsy Society. I love the idea of this virtual run, one that can be undertaken at your own convenience at some point during the month... and you get a medal for taking part! Also with a bit of luck, the last day of February should be Andy and Sam's 50th parkruns so there is a lot to look forward to!

William's 50th parkrun!

It was an exciting morning yesterday as William joined the parkrun 50 club!

We were umming and ahhing beforehand about whether or not to go ahead on Saturday due to the horrible weather forecast. I checked it every day last week and saw no improvement to the 30+ mph winds and rain showers predicted. We explained about the weather to William and amazingly he wasn't put off. Andy baked the traditional milestone cake along with brownies and welsh cakes so we were really hoping that William would manage to get round the course.

We heard the wind howling outside first thing Saturday morning but the rain seemed to have died down. Checked the forecast one last time which was now showing no rain so we headed off to the park. William was very excited and told several people it was his 50th as soon as we arrived at the bandstand. He got called up to the front during the usual pre-run announcements and received a huge cheer from the crowd. Couldn't have been prouder..... but he still had to complete the run!

We set off at a brilliant pace for William, in fact I had to work quite hard to keep up with him climbing the hill to the cenotaph! He ran the first lap brilliantly, the second a little slower, but still with determination. On the last half lap we were joined by some of our cheetah friends at different stages and William soon had a bit of an entourage with him! They ran with him till the start of the finishing straight and then it was down to him. He finished in 47.04, so 3 minutes off the PB he had wanted but in that wind I think he did extremely well!

Heading to the finish!

Sam also had a good run (his fastest since September), and he was a happy boy the whole way round, especially in the areas with high winds!

After the run we took our cakes down to the cafe to share. William looked so proud and happy.

Thank you to everyone who has supported him, not just today but at every parkrun since he started 14 months ago.  I was amazed when he joined the 10 club and I'm even more astounded that he's come this far, especially considering he's only 5 years old! Here's to the next 50!

New and improved countdown, now with Skylanders!

New Year Plans

We've had a great New Year so far. We took part in the New Year's Day parkrun here in Barrow which was very damp indeed! Today's parkrun (only 2 days later!) has also been ticked off. Next week we're hoping the weather doesn't get too cold as it will be William's 50th parkrun. He's done tremendously well since starting in November 2013 and he's very excited!

Andy and I had a good chat about what might challenge us in 2015. Andy's already signed up for his first sprint triathlon, half marathon and Total Warrior. I'm currently signed up for a few 10k and 5k runs, and the boys are excited for more fun running and medals this year!

We thought it might be good to set a goal as a family. So we're going to attempt to run or cycle 2015 miles by the end of the year. With the two parkruns we've done so far that's already 24 miles between us knocked off! I will post updates regularly about how we're getting on but we're very determined to complete the challenge!