This week’s parkrun Progress Report is on my own run at Pegasus parkrun on Saturday, 21 March 2026.
On paper, it looks like a solid run:
- 21:49 over 4.90km (Garmin)
- Consistent effort
- Strong finish
But when you look a little deeper, there’s a really clear lesson sitting inside this run.
I went just a little bit too hard in the first kilometre… and paid for it later.
The course
Pegasus parkrun has recently shifted to a two-lap course around Pegasus Lake, with a short bridge crossing to link the laps together.
It’s flat. It’s runnable. It rewards good pacing.
And if you want to experience this exact route yourself, I’ve filmed it and made it available on vRRR.
That’s a great way to learn the flow of the course before you even toe the start line.
The splits
Here’s how the run unfolded:
- 1st Km – 4:18
- 2nd Km – 4:25
- 3rd Km – 4:21
- 4th Km – 4:41
- Final ~900m – ~4:23 pace
At a glance, it looks reasonably consistent.
But there’s a clear pattern:
- Fast start
- Stable middle
- Drop in the 4th Km
- Strong finish
The real story: power doesn’t lie
When we look at power, the picture becomes much clearer:
- 1st Km – 423W
- 2nd Km – 411W
- 3rd Km – 412W
- 4th Km – 389W
- Final segment – 413W
That first kilometre wasn’t just fast — it was expensive.
I didn’t just run quicker. I used more energy than I could sustain across the full run.
And the cost shows up later.
The 4th Km: where the time was lost
The 4:41 in the 4th Km is the key moment.
It wasn’t caused by:
- terrain (the course is flat)
- fatigue breaking down form
- lack of fitness
It was the result of:
spending too much too early
Power dropped significantly in that kilometre, which tells us this wasn’t a tactical slowdown — it was a necessary one.
That’s where the time went.
The positive: I could still finish strong
What I really like about this run is the finish.
- Pace comes back to ~4:23
- Power returns to ~413W
- Heart rate peaks late
- Cadence lifts again
That tells us something important:
I wasn’t out of fitness — I was just slightly ahead of it early.
There was still capacity there.
Cadence and heart rate: strong foundations
Cadence sat consistently around 171–174 and actually increased slightly toward the finish.
Heart rate showed a normal progression:
- building early
- peaking late
- no uncontrolled spike
That tells us:
- mechanics were solid
- effort was controlled overall
- nothing broke down
This wasn’t a technical issue.
What changes the outcome
If I run this again with one small adjustment:
➡️ Bring the 1st Km from 4:18 → ~4:22–4:24
What likely happens:
- Power stays more consistent (~410–412W)
- The 4th Km doesn’t drop as much
- The finish is still strong
And the overall result improves — without needing more fitness.
The lesson
Run the first kilometre like you want to feel in the fourth.
That’s it.
Most runners don’t lose time because they’re not fit enough.
They lose time because they spend their fitness too early.
Bringing it back to your parkrun
If you’ve ever:
- started a bit too fast
- felt great early and struggled later
- finished thinking “I had more in me”
…then this is exactly the lesson you need.
parkrun rewards patience.
Want help pacing your next parkrun?
If you want to run more consistently, finish stronger, and stop guessing your pacing, parkrun Kickstart is designed specifically for that.
👉 Join parkrun Kickstart here:
https://www.coachraytraining.co.nz/signup/parkrun-kickstart
And if you’d like your own run reviewed in a future parkrun Progress Report:
👉 Apply here:
https://qwik-kiwi.kit.com/parkrun_progress_report
vRRR
A recording of this parkrun is available on the video training platform vRRR – if you would like to run the course with me.
Quality Level II training is the foundation of endurance — but treadmill runs don’t have to be boring. If you have a Bluetooth-enabled treadmill, connect it to vRRR and run real routes from around the world while keeping your heart rate in check. Watch the scenery change, track your metrics in real-time, and build your aerobic engine that makes parkrun PBs possible. Real scenery, real-time data, real endurance gains. vRRR has a free 28 day trial, with no credit card required. Get started »
Ka kite anō — and all the best for your next parkrun.