Friday 22 February 2013

Time for a fast one!

I think it might be time to go for a fast one at parkrun tomorrow!

I haven't had many opportunities to go for a fast parkrun in the last couple of months, with two of my kids taking turns to notch up a few parkruns to their names.

My fastest parkrun time so far this year is a satisfactory 18:12, but now might just be the time to go for a slightly quicker one.

I'm not sure that the predicted temperatures for the morning (close to freezing) really lend themselves to a very fast time, but I think I'll set out to give it a go at a seasons best at least. I'll probably start steadily and try to wind it up in the second half.

I think going sub 18 minutes may need to wait for a warmer weekend, but we shall see.

My original plan to hunt down a springtime parkrun PB suggested that I would be aiming for a sub 17:50 by the end of February. With it being the last Saturday and last parkrun of February tomorrow, this is my last chance. However, I know that sub 17:50 is well beyond me at the moment.

A time somewhere around 18:10 would be great for now.

parkrun registrations this week...22nd February 2013

There is still a little time for new registrations this week, but at the time of writing and compared to the figures in my post this time last week....

Totalling up new registrations across parkrun globally, shows that parkrun has attracted a further 5,586 registrations in a week, 816 more than at the same time last week.

This takes the total number of global parkrun registrations (according to my official source page on the parkrun website) up to 449,877 (up from 444,291). That is a growth in total registrations of over 1.25% in a week.

As far as I am aware, there 3 new parkruns starting this weekend:
Tugeranong, Thetford and Scunthorpe parkruns

Marlay parkrun has ousted Malahide parkrun at the top of the charts in the number of new registrations category this week. Malahide has a habit of bouncing back though and to be fair Malahide is not far behind in second position.

9 different parkrun events have added 50 or more new registrants this week and they are:
Event   Total   This week   
Marlay parkrun218122
Malahide parkrun2981112
Nahoon Point parkrun264791
Telford parkrun42485
Scunthorpe parkrun17068
South Bank parkrun107465
Cheltenham parkrun49264
New Farm parkrun470759
Newy parkrun286957


No great surprises in the "largest parkrun in the world" category this week, where it is still the same top 5:
Event   Total   
Bushy parkrun21625
Glasgow parkrun12871
Leeds parkrun11659
Brighton & Hove parkrun10457
Wimbledon Common parkrun10089

And at the other end of the spectrum, but just as worthy of a mention we have a completely new set of as yet unstarted parkrun events, now with their first registered parkrunners:
Event   Total   
Cross Flatts parkrun1
Brandon Country Park parkrun8
Newent parkrun, Forest of Dean11
Hackworth parkrun11
Eglinton parkrun19

Father and son

No, I'm not going to burst into song!

Yesterday I was asked if I knew of any father and son pairing that have completed their 100th parkrun event on the same day.

To me this leads to a couple of questions:
- firstly, how many Junior parkrunners have made it into the 100-club at all at any parkrun event? I'm sure there must be some, but how many can there really be? I'd be amazed if it was more than 50 say, but is it even that high?

- and secondly, the point of the original question, how many of those completed their 100th run on the same day as their Dad?

I was asked this question as this situation is highly likely to occur within a few weeks at Edinburgh parkrun and the duo involved wanted to know if they are setting new ground.

I am guessing that the answer to the first question will be some, certainly more than one, but I can't believe that any Father and Son will have shared their parkrun centenary day.

Please let me know if you know of any juniors in the 100 club and if any Father and Son have completed the feat of 100 parkruns on the same day.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

The 19 largest parkrun events

19 different parkrun events have recorded record attendances over 400, yet only 1 (Bushy parkrun) has recorded an attendance over 500. And as we all know, Bushy parkrun is also the only event with a record attendance over 1000.

The 19 highest record attendances are:

Event  Record Attendance  Record Week  
Bushy Park105105/01/2013
Brighton & Hove49908/09/2012
Glasgow49112/01/2013
Bramhall Park48524/12/2011
Edinburgh46716/02/2013
Sheffield Hallam46612/01/2013
Newy46426/01/2013
Nonsuch45905/06/2012
Cardiff45105/01/2013
Richmond Park45115/12/2012
Newcastle44912/01/2013
Poole43609/02/2013
Nahoon Point43609/02/2013
Coventry42616/02/2013
Leeds42512/01/2013
Cambridge41629/09/2012
Black Park41221/07/2012
Black Park41205/01/2013
Norwich41106/10/2012


So which event will be the second to set a record attendance over the magic 500 barrier. I suspect it will be one of the 18 events in the 400 to 499 bracket listed above. In all likelihood this milestone will be reached within the next month or two.

But which event will be the second to join the 500 plus club?

If I had to guess, I'd probably go for Glasgow parkrun. And I think Newy parkrun will be the first outside the UK.

parkrun stats of the week...16th February 2013

The parkrun statistics of note for this week are:

205 parkrun events run (up 6 on last week). This is a new record number of events on a single parkrunday!
And the first time over 200!
28,642 runners, up 1728 on last week!
The average number of runners per parkrun event run was: 139.7 (up 4.5 on last week!).

18 events recorded a new record attendance this week, as follows:
Event  Record Attendance  
Bedford186
Carlisle128
Chelmsford Central91
Cheltenham234
Conkers216
Coventry426
Edinburgh467
Gorleston180
Gunpowder74
Harrogate280
Pennington Flash136
Preston138
Rushcliffe127
Sheringham109
St Peters234
Telford178
Walsall Arboretum100
Wolverhampton103


The longest standing parkrun attendance record is:
Amager Faelled  146 28/08/2010

And in the UK it's no longer Gorleston after they broke their record this week (see above):
Waterworks21523/04/2011

The highest attendance this week was 883 at Bushy Park (just 2 less than last week).

The lowest attendance this week was 7 at Nibe parkrun.

9 new male course records set this week (3 less than last week!):

Event  
Athlete  Time  
AberystwythSam CRUCHLEY16:55:00
CheltenhamStuart CAMPBELL17:10:00
DewsburyMatthew PIERSON16:10:00
LivoniaThomas PREISS17:31:00
PlymvalleyJason PASCOE16:17:00
QueensEoin MULLAN17:07:00
SouthamptonGavin SMITH15:40:00
Sunrise-on-SeaSimon KUMM21:07:00
TelfordWayne DASHPER16:56:00


12 new female course records set this week (4 more than last week). The women set the most course records this week:

Event  Athlete  Time  
CheltenhamSheree MOLENAAR20:26:00
DewsburyHannah OLDROYD19:28:00
TelfordKate WILLIAMS20:11:00
Chelmsford CentralSophie RICHES18:35:00
Lake MacSteph AUSTON18:34:00
South BankBritney MCMULLEN18:05:00
SandgateEmma COMAN-JEFFRIES19:09:00
WalthamstowDeborah Anne NICCOL19:22:00
Modderfontein ReserveMarilise VERMAAK22:10:00
PortrushGemma TURLEY20:06:00
Darlington South ParkZoe HEWITSON19:57:00
BarkingAmanda Jane HESLEGRAVE21:31:00


90 runners (up 19 on last week) ran times under 17 minutes this week.

5 of these runners (down 3 on last week) ran under 16 minutes!
The fastest parkrunner in the World was Nathan White running 15:18 at Black Park parkrun.

The fastest 5 were as follows:
Event  Athlete  Time  
Black ParkNathan WHITE15:18
AlbertWondiye Fikre INDELBU15:25
DulwichJames CONNOR15:32
RushcliffeDaniel WOODGATE15:32
SouthamptonGavin SMITH15:40

The top age grade performance this week was:
Event  Athlete  Time  Age Group  Age Grade  
Bushy ParkJane DAVIES20:52       VW60-6497.12%

Now that is a pretty incredible age grading!

The fastest (valid) freedom run on the "most recent 100" list at the moment is
Runner  Date  Location  Run Time  
Peter WOODWARD17/02/2013Forest of Dean18:57