We turned 5 last week. When asked if I was attending Bushy for the anniversary event I naturally said I was. I had no further thoughts on the subject. So imagine my surprise when the local volunteer team decided to present me with a gift. The gift, a picture made up of nearly 4000 high resolution photographs of parkrunners all superimposed to create the original image of the first ever start-line at Bushy Park. Very impressive indeed! I’d like to thank everyone involved in creating this great memento and gift which I will cherish forever. For the full story (an epic) please see the Bushy News page.
We were delighted that Chris Owens and Karen Weir who were part off the original 13 runners who took part in the first ever Bushy Park in October 2004 could join us at the 5th anniversary event.
Congratulations to the volunteers for coping with the record breaking event last Saturday. Also, thanks to Steph Twell and Benita Johnson for their contribution, unfortunately I couldn’t catch Steph in the run. Thanks to our sponsors Lucozade Sport, Nike and Sweatshop for their contribution to the success of this event, for the free goody bags and for their attendance. Lastly, thanks to you, the runner for your continued support of parkrun. Thank you for the spirit in which you all get involved and help every event to be the success that they are.
Please don’t forget that its Richmond parkruns 2nd birthday this Saturday and I am assured there will be plenty to eat afterwards. Everyone is welcome.
Also, Albert Park starts using barcodes this Saturday.
Mixed emotions from Cardiff parkrun
Last weekend left mixed emotions for many of us from Cardiff parkrun, first of all the was all the buzz and euphoria from Saturday morning when we saw an impressive near front running performance from Clare Hallissey to become the first outright female winner at Cardiff parkrun, a sight many of us thought we would never see. Clare’s run was not only a Ladies Course Record having run 16:26 which lowered the previous mark by 1:40, it was also the third quickest time ever by a woman at any parkrun behind Katrina Wooton (16:20) and Sonia O’Sullivan (16:22). Clare was using Cardiff parkrun as a final sharpener before representing GB at the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham next Sunday. In fact the impact was so great that we were still in a state of shock on Sunday.
Sadly that shock was flipped over on Sunday afternoon when I received an e-mail from one of our Club members and fellow parkrun attendees. Unfortunately the e-mail wasn’t good news; one of our numbers had been involved in an accident:
David Furness (13/8/75 – 3/10/09)
It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of one of our “parkrun family”, David Furness. David was tragically killed in a motorbike accident on Saturday.
Hearing that anybody you know has been taken in such a way gives you a stirring feeling, but what hit me more with this news was that I had seen David that morning and actually processed his finishing result at Cardiff parkrun.
David joined us at Cardiff parkrun back in January, during his time at parkrun David had improved his time by 4:51, bringing his time down from 27:01 to 22:10. While taking part at parkrun David was introduced to Les Croupiers Running Club and went on to join in May. David quickly found a group to run with on Club nights – fellow new starter Chris Morgan, Tony Dorsett, Richard Crawford, Geoff Wright, et al. and was looking forward to running the Cardiff Half Marathon on 18th October.
On behalf of everyone involved at Cardiff parkrun and Les Croupiers Running Club I would like to pass on all of our deepest sympathies to his family.
Phil Cook
Cardiff parkrun Event Director
Les Croupiers RC Club Captain
Nike+ parkrun challenge current standings
Gorleston Cliffs 251
Leeds 147
Heaton 140
Cardiff 96
Brighton & Hove 104
Bramhall 84
Glasgow 82
Bushy 53
Basingstoke 53
Albert 48
Richmond 47
Black Park 22
Reading 20
Bedfont Lakes 17
Edinburgh 17
Bromley 10
Woodbank 0
Wimbledon Common 0
Banstead 0
Roundshaw Downs 0
Feedback from the field
We hope that Jonathan Sydenham, Amager Faelled parkrun event director, returns to health as soon as possible.
ED
I am writing to thank you so much for the lovely surprise of choosing me to be the Sweatshop runner of the month for Bramhall Park. I am now the proud owner of a brand new pair of shoes and have just returned from a Sunday morning run in them!
I only started running in May 2007, my husband (Steve) and daughter (Jenny), were enjoying their running and I felt left out! I have never looked back, I cannot now imagine not running! However, the first time I ran the Bramhall Parkrun, in September 2008, was very daunting. What if I got lost? What if I fell over? I had lots of concerns, however, with the excellent marshalling, getting lost was not a worry, everyone was so friendly and within a few weeks, my husband and I were hooked. We really look forward to our parkrun each week, a big thank you to everyone involved.
From Carol Hatch
My name is Fiona Maxwell, my nearest parkrun being Glasgow as I live in Paisley. In November, my husband, Bill, and I are off to Nepal to take part in the Everest Marathon. We are trying to raise funds for the Everest Marathon Fund and Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres.
The Everest Marathon is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the highest marathon in the world (the race should not be confused with the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon held in May). The start line is at Gorak Shep 5184m (17,000 feet), close to Everest Base Camp in Nepal. The finish is at the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar at 3446m (11,300 feet) and the course is a measured 42 km (26.2 miles) over rough mountain trails. The race takes place after a two week trek from Lukla to the start to allow for acclimatisation.
The race is a non-profit-making venture organised by Bufo Ventures Ltd with all profits put into the Everest Marathon Fund, a UK registered charity (number 1005422). So far this has raised over £450,000 to support health and educational projects in rural Nepal. Most of the money has been raised by the runners themselves and many divide the amount raised, with at least 50% to the Everest Marathon Fund and the remainder to a charity in their home country. In this way the race has also raised large sums of money for a wide range of good causes around the world.
We have paid all our own costs and so all the money we raise goes straight to the EMF and Maggie's. We have a JustGiving page for donations which is: http://www.justgiving.com/Fiona-Maxwell
My husband and I are 50 and 48 respectively and are both keen fell runners. Unfortunately, we have been unable to make many of the parkrun events here this year due to our fell racing commitments, but we plan to incorporate them into our training programmes this winter. I only started running about 5 years ago and so perhaps some publicity will inspire others to think about the event as a future goal, even if they have only just stared running!
Fiona Maxwell
parkrunner of the week
Name: Martine Welsman
Age (optional!): 40 ish
Home parkrun: Bedfont Lakes
Occupation and pastimes: Sales support and spending time with my family
No of runs: Zero
No of times volunteered: 15
What do you do at parkruns: Numbers or marshalling or anything else that Heather needs
What do you like about parkrun: Everyone is so friendly, supportive and encouraging to other runners
Most memorable or funniest parkrun moment: My most memorable moments have been seeing my son finish his 1st run and then getting his 10 run shirt. No stopping him now.
Anything else: It started with my son running to improve his fitness for football and now he runs with a group of youngsters all from Halliford Colts Football Club all inspired to get up early on a Saturday morning and run. I think it's a brilliant idea and thank you to all involved with parkrun.
Crispy Corner
Bushy’s 5th Anniversary
Wow! What a morning. The final tally was 806 runners at Bushy’s 5th anniversary. Many thanks to the vast team of volunteers who made it so memorable; but particular thanks to the committee who worked so hard behind the scenes to make it glide along like the proverbial swan. We are just finalising the results now, and everybody who ran should have them shortly.
Happy 2nd Birthday to Leeds
Leeds also celebrated their second anniversary with a record turnout (234 runners). Leeds parkrun is largely organised by students from the Centre for Sport & Exercise Sciences at the University of Leeds. Their team changes on a yearly basis – just before their anniversary; so well done to the new team for coping so well with the numbers.
Finish Funnel Appeal
With 806 finishers at Bushy our finish funnel was a little overwhelmed at times, and I’ve recently heard stories from other events of runners backing up over the line; so I thought this was an ideal opportunity to make a plea – please keep moving when you cross the line. The person operating the timer needs a clear view of the finish line and this is obviously difficult when there are twenty people standing in a group over it. During busy periods, say hello to the person in front and bunch up tight. As long as you remember who you finished behind, you will get the right time.
Crispy’s Challenge
Thanks to those of you who have joined me – I’ll be providing a full update next week, but in case you didn’t see last week’s item, I’ve set myself the challenge of getting from my current sorry time, to sub-20 before the second bank holiday weekend in May next year. If you’re after a bit of incentive this could be for you; let me know what time you want to target, and I’ll be doing a monthly round up on everybody’s progress.
Cheers & happy running
Hopefully I’ll see some of you at Richmond’s anniversary on Saturday
Crispy
chris@parkrun.com