I asked a professional athlete to help me do a faster Parkrun - result?

The weather wrecked the big plans for this video - but what the hell, I still got faster so suck on that storm Dudley 🤣

hahaha love it mate. The bike display is a must if you want to be a pro

My notes from this video: Running Cadence is important. Recovery of the leg is important, almost as much as the actual driving force. - Glutes and hip flexors are important here. Push the hips forward, engage the core: maintain a straight/upright position. Take tension out of the upper body: Drop shoulders, and let the upper body relax. Focus on actionable things when trying to be faster: Think about cadence, glute forces, body position, use of the core, and the upper body. Very instructional, thanks for the video Mark!

I first heard of hyrox from your channel. Just participated in my first Hyrox in NY thanks to you. Didn't do great but not bad considering I just worked 72hours this week as an ER Nurse and have not seen a gym in 8weeks. That said I am above average and the time of 1.59 is a reflection of just that. Love your channel.

Old man vs. Iron Man on thumbnail was hilarious. Good one.

Brother you're a hidden gem, I literally laugh out loud at least a few times in every video. Just discovered you this week. If you keep at this some giant YT channel is going to find you and hype you up at some point, it's inevitable. Keep at it. Oh yeah.. I'm 55, formerly athletic and getting seriously fat and out of shape. You're helping me get motivated to break out my Sauconys and get back on the trail.

That clip of you at 10:25 really shows a big improvement. You look so much more relaxed and that upright position is probably easier to get full breaths in! Good work!

I've spent my life as a martial artist. Then the past 9 years as a powerlifter (numerous British records for age/weight and a World Record) 2.5 years ago, back went and my beloved career as a paramedic came to a crashing end. Ive been getting back to fitness and then I discovered your annoyingly inspiring channel. This morning I did my first 30 min run in "bare foot" shoes..... flip me!! thats a game changer. Then some "light" sumo lifts but still felt great. Planning on a marathon by the end of the year (not organised). BTW, I watched your video on the compression gear while sat in my Ice Bath in the garage this morning. Might give those a go but I really do love the 10 min plus Brrrr every day. Keep up the amazing work Mark. Thanks

Thanks for the inspiration Mark! I love the mix of humour and motivation in your videos and it was an easy choice to subscribe. I've been watching through quite a few of your videos over the last week and I've finally got myself back to the gym after two years of Covid anxiety and ballooning by nearly three stone. Had my first cardio session first thing this morning and unsurprisingly my fitness is practically non-existent, but I'm determined to get back to my previous levels and maybe even push for a park run once I'm able. Thanks again, looking forward to the next one!

Jogging relaxed and upright is the best advice I've ever taken. It also makes it way more fun as you feel like you can look around and enjoy your surroundings more too.

I stumbled across your videos by accident and I'm glad I did. Not only are you entertaining but you give valuable advice. I made some small changes and I can feel the difference already. I too ran bent at the hips, not engaging my core. I changed my running stance and the running felt a lot more comfortable. Being a man of a similar vintage to you, i often ended a run with some minor lower back pain. However, the small change of engaging my legs and straightening myself out made a huge difference ending runs with no lower back pain as well as improving my my 1K lap times. Thank you James , you have got a fan here.

Thanks for introducing me to the Parkrun. I ran my first 5k with them yesterday. I went in trying for sub 27. I dropped my best from 27:30 to 24:50. Not above average for my age and gender yet.

This is really interesting stuff. I used to run 5k a few times a week, but could never get any better than 30 minutes and I always felt 'heavy' when running even though I was fit enough to do it. Looking at your earlier running style I see a lot of parallels with how I run. I gave up due to knee/shin pain, but after some physio it was pointed out my training was too 'one dimensional' and my legs were actually quite weak despite the regular running. With this in mind I might take it up again and try to work on form a bit more to see if it helps 👍

I have been shuffling all along been told to keep my feet as low as possible. I really like the hip flexor exercise with the dumbbell will definitely give that a go. Thanks very much.

It will be an amazing series to try to qualify to the Boston marathon and take us to all the experience... My two cents

Recently came across your channel and love the content, jokes, style, movie clips and subject matter- watching you fall off your bike, do races and share what’s works for you. Have been able to binge listen to your older videos whilst re-starting my own fitness journey. Love the philosophy of “above average”, I’m now looking at parkruns to beat my 29min PB, a wahoo Kickr core, and how to leverage my work/family/life balance to do more. Keep up the amazing work and broad subjects you discuss. Love it.

Harry’s a legend - I love making videos with him! This is class Mark - good luck with the mad race you have..!!

Thanks to you I did my first park run today. 55 year old male, 76kg, 5ft 7, and with no running for 30 years came 277 in a time of 34:22! To say I’m buzzing is an understatement. Thanks once again.

He’s funny, articulate, interesting, an inspiration. My favourite phrase, ‘chumming the water’.

Fantastic stuff explained in a way most of us can grasp! I've been working through a couple of these after the usual beginners mistakes - over stride, Achilles injury, side-lined. I went to see a local MSK specialist and he covered many of these aspects of my running form. Rehab and a lot of work on calf and hip strength plus the usual split squats, banded abduction, glute bridges, etc. and things are good. Upping cadence from 150ish to 170 when pushing on has made running much easier and less jarring! First race next Sunday, 10k around Outlon Park!