Back “home” after galavanting around the Hunter Valley for the last few runs.

Parkrun 7: Maitland Parkrun

Location: Maitland, NSW

Time: 34:22

Position: 218

A huge field of 423, easily the biggest I’ve seen at Maitland – nearly 100 more than New Year’s Day which is insane.

Today was an exercise in going slow and steady, as I knew I had a 16-kilometer trail run tomorrow in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. All I wanted to do was hit 7min/km and I did that with change to spare.

With a field as large as this, the usual issue of finding your pace and sweet spot was immediate, but today I was grateful for the slower start. It meant I could ease myself into the run, not go out too hot, and use that time to breathe and focus on what I wanted to achieve today.

Whilst this is up there with my slowest solo parkruns, and might even be just that, the sensation of simply not caring was doing wonders for my mentality. My only thought when I glanced at my watch was “Am I under 7? Yes? Then keep going”. It was liberating.

It was the perfect lead-in to what was going to be a very challenging day tomorrow. Mostly because other than my weekly parkruns, I’ve been doing no other training. My motivation in the morning is becoming an issue, and whilst I can get myself up for parkrun, getting myself ready to train is something else entirely.

But for now, we focus on what’s in front of us – a path slowly meandering along a man-made lake at the former Walka waterworks. The sun is shining today, and the path is in great form. On another day, I might push to see if that elusive sub-30 will finally show its head in 2025.

But today, it’s just an easy pace, no pressure, and just enjoying the run.