The 1st XV are doing Tilgate Parkrun. Anyone is welcome to join them.

I did something last Saturday that I have not done since my twenties. I ran five kilometres without stopping, and I was not even in pain afterwards.

Several of our senior squad have been turning up to the Tilgate Parkrun on Saturday mornings as part of their pre-season conditioning. They started a few weeks ago, quietly, without making a big announcement about it. A few partners came along. A few friends. Last weekend I spotted three of our 2nd XV in the field at Tilgate Park and thought — well, why not.

Tilgate Parkrun is every Saturday at 9am in Tilgate Park. It is free. You register once online at parkrun.org.uk and bring your barcode along. That is it. No entry fee, no time pressure, no judgment. Walk it if you want. Run it if you can. The person next to you might be a seasoned athlete or might be doing their first kilometre in fifteen years. It does not matter.

If you would like to find our lot before or after, we tend to gather near the start at around 8:45. You will spot the maroon and white.

The 1st XV proper pre-season starts on the week of 5th July, Tuesdays and Thursdays. If you have been meaning to come down and take a look at what we are about, Parkrun first and then training is a low-pressure way in. Stranger things have happened than showing up to a Saturday morning run and playing senior rugby by September.