Ever wondered how the weather affects your Parkrun running performance?
When's a good day to try for a parkrun PB? Obviously when you're feeling 100%. How about when it's not windy? Yes, obviously. But then, what about atmospheric pressure: surely that would make a difference? With high pressure, you get more oxygen into your lungs for the same amount of breath and we all know that elite athletes train at altitude in order to get peak performance on return to sea level. So, do the smaller day-to-day changes in barometric pressure make a measurable difference? After some unexpected fluctuations in some of my recent parkrun and training run performances, I thought it was worth trying to find out whether the barometer could confirm what I have always suspected. The availability of parkrun data and historical weather records online makes it relatively easy. So, I gathered the numbers**. Specifically: the proportion of New PBs in parkrun events. I started picking the data from my local parkrun at Bedford* from 2020 to mid-January 2023. I also collec...