Parkrun Virgins

At 8.30 on a sunny , cold, fogy morning four Marathon Mary's met in Lidl car park, piled into one car and headed off into the sunrise to take part in their first Parkrun. Previously at this time on a Saturday morning these four warriors would have been either asleep, hungover or both but now rose like athletic goddesses to take to the cross country track. We arrived, about 45 minutes too early and parked up in Oldbridge on the grass, speechless with the beauty of the view of the estate, the Boyne bridge and the sun glinting through the clouds...it was breathtaking and at that moment it felt really good to be alive. I stepped out of the car to open the boot, to be greeted by a fellow runner who asked " are you ready for the pain ???" " Oh, I said, please don't mention pain as we are Virgins" I heard myself utter. He looked at me strangely and trotted off. It was at that moment that I realised the value of such events for the single ladies, and by the look on some of my running mates I was not first with that realisation. As 2 hot young runners strode past and smiled over, the available girls got a bit hot under the collar. Calming down, we set off for the ladies for the last pee before the run, only to be faced by the sight of a magnificent specimen lying on the cold hard ground with his leg cocked up against the wall of the toilet block, stretching his hamstring....well,we turned from menopausal madams to giggling school girls in a moment ! I am telling you that kind of thing does a middle aged woman's heart early on a Saturday morning. One of the group was concerned she might actually trip on her drool, at which point we called her Runner and Hooch ( hence the doggie !)
We headed off to the start, stretched like pros, jogged a little to warm up, listened to the " first timers" talk and took out places at the start line...behind the ones in shorts and singlets ! The course was gorgeous especially for me the grass runner, but I must admit to feeling a little deflated when the serious runners actually doubled back past us. On we went, not as full of pace as we hoped but determined to finish. I was in my new Lidl long sleeved, fleece lined top and about 2 k in realised I was in an absolute lather of sweat, with no alternative but to sweat on, as topless running is frowned upon in the Parkrun community. Teenagers overtook me but we battled on and with delight and immense relief crossed the finish line, myself in 101st place. We took our post run selfie and as always my companions looked cool, calm pale and collected but I looked like I had come fully clothed out of a sauna, with a separating fringe and a face like a lobster, but as I am now 45 I don't give a damn...I am just delighted to be running 5k ...feck the appearance !
In a week where I witnessed a young girl slip off her prosthetic leg to help her little sister learn to swim, when a beautiful friend of mine told me of her battle to thankfully survive cancer, when a local family lost their beautiful 4 year old boy and a young family lost their hero Garda Dad, I was grateful just to be alive and running......and to the guardian angel who left a little holy gift in my boot...I thank you.