‘Watch out for the coyotes!' This last piece of advice from the run director at the Calgary parkrun I joined on my recent travels may well have influenced my pace – there's nothing like a threat to make you redouble your efforts.

There is an interesting parallel to draw with my return to work, when the threats facing the council have pushed us to work harder to try to keep existing projects and services on track and continue to support our communities in the way that they deserve and expect.