Saturday 4 May 2013

No better feeling

Ok, I admit it, there are some better feelings than encouraging someone round to finish off a well earned parkrun PB, but it is certainly still a great feeling.

After a calf injury three weeks ago and 3 runs and 24 miles in the preceding 36 hours, plus more than my fair share of 3 bottles of (well earned) red last night, I arrived at parkrun in two minds this morning. Should I start from the front and push it a bit, or start from the very back and work my way through the field?

Well, common sense prevailed and I did neither. Option 3 was conceived about a minute before the start and I pushed my way a few rows back. This allowed/forced me to start pretty slowly as the best part of 200 parkrunners overtook down the flanks.

A couple of minutes in and I decided that half pace was too slow. I gradually picked my way through runners for the next 10 minutes or so until reaching clear air.

At about 6 minutes in I found myself in a photo being taken by Olympic legend and former British and World record holder Dave Moorcroft. It turns out that I was just passing his son. I chatted with his son for the next couple of minutes.

I guess having such a famous Dad you probably have a lot of people tell you how amazing your Dad is/was, but he seemed quite touched when I told him that his Dad's Bislet Games World Record was one of my earliest sporting memories.

Dave Moorcroft was an incredible runner. I still regularly see him running in the park and one day I WILL pluck up the courage to ask to run with him for just a few minutes.

Anyway, I could see a friend going very well ahead and put a little burst in to catch him at 13 minutes in.

A quick exchange of words told me he was already well ahead of his 19:41 PB so I decided enough was enough for me and I would just encourage Matthew round to the end. I'm certain he didn't need my "help" but I wanted to cheer him on, and he didn't seem to mind.

Well Matthew got his PB by around 30 seconds and I have to say that I enjoyed that feeling almost as much as when getting a PB myself. Probably because it didn't hurt as much and seeing him so pleased.

A really great feeling.

So if ever you feel you aren't up to a PB yourself, why not find someone a little slower and help and encourage them to a new PB. It really is the next best feeling.

Wednesday 1 May 2013

parkrun Event Anniversaries in May

The parkrun newsletter may tell you about the parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the following weekend, but what if you'd like to know a little further ahead?

Well here is the list of upcoming parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the whole of May, starting with this coming weekend:

Event
Next Anniversary
Lower Hutt parkrun2013 05 04
Fritton Lake parkrun2013 05 04
Pontefract parkrun2013 05 04
Abingdon parkrun2013 05 04
Medina I.O.W. parkrun2013 05 04
Belfast Victoria parkrun2013 05 04
Eastleigh parkrun2013 05 11
Brabrand parkrun2013 05 11
Bedfont Lakes parkrun2013 05 11
Preston parkrun2013 05 11
Hampstead Heath parkrun2013 05 11
Amager Faelled parkrun2013 05 18
Camperdown parkrun, Dundee2013 05 18
Wanstead Flats parkrun2013 05 18
Northampton parkrun2013 05 25
Marple parkrun2013 05 25
Falls parkrun, Belfast2013 05 25
Hackney Marshes parkrun2013 05 25
Crystal Palace parkrun2013 05 25
Nibe parkrun2013 05 25
Albert parkrun, Middlesbrough2013 05 25

Tuesday 30 April 2013

parkrun stats of the week...27th April 2013

The parkrun statistics of note for last weekend are:

239 parkrun events run (a new record by 5!).
37,848 runners! This is yet another new global record attendance, by well over 3,000!

The average number of runners per parkrun event run was: 158.3.

47 events recorded new record attendances last weekend, as follows:
Event  Record Attendance  
Abingdon158
Ally Pally60
Amager Strandpark52
Basingstoke300
Bramhall Park519
Brueton218
Cardiff479
Chelmsford Central143
Clermont Waterfront38
Colchester Castle153
Coomera124
Coventry463
Darley97
Edinburgh471
Eglinton128
Finsbury Park174
Gdansk129
Gdynia102
Ginninderra188
Gunnersbury250
Hilly Fields96
Huddersfield394
Ipswich142
Kings Lynn127
Launceston155
Leamington335
Little Stoke142
Lódz131
Lower Hutt146
Malahide513
Margate86
Mulbarton96
Norwich451
Oak Hill67
Pennington Flash159
Poole535
Porthcawl136
Poznan126
Preston159
Rockingham111
Sandgate227
Sheffield Hallam498
South Manchester310
Valentines156
Waterworks258
Winchester280
Wynnum219



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

And in the UK it's now :
Banstead Woods22023/04/2011


The highest attendance this week was exactly 1000 at Bushy parkrun.

The lowest attendance this week was just 7 at Summerfields parkrun.

There are now 5 parkrun events with a record attendance over 500 and 23 events with a record over 400.
And for balance, and just as importantly, there are 57 parkrun events with a record attendance below 100.