As parkrun prepares to celebrate third birthday

Parkrun 156 - May 31

The day dawned sunny and warm, causing many of the 36 parkrunners lining up at the start to wonder whether it might be a bit hot for running, despite the early hour. In fact, it didn’t seem to be as warm as two weeks ago, even though there wasn’t much of a breeze to cool us down.

The course was quite soft, due to recent rains, but perfectly manageable. The main hazard was the horse and trap that was doing multiple laps of the course in the opposite direction, and very nearly took out a couple of runners on the final bend. No collisions, luckily, but an unusual sight.

There were no recorded times today, due to a technological malfunction, but all the runners were placed in finishing order. Sorry about that, but those of you who are keen on times will probably have been recording your time for your own records – I know I did!

So, first runner home was Scrubs first-timer Thomas Durcan of Derwent AC Cockermouth, followed by Ryan Keane and in third place Scrubs first-timer Brendan Greene of Serpentine RC.

First woman home was me, Andrea Broughton, followed by Rosie Vallance and Gemma Hambrook, all three from Thames Valley Harriers.

There were five first-timers today, and a range of parkrun tourists, including Merv Jones from Western Australia – hope you enjoyed it Merv!

We were a bit short on volunteers today – thanks to Martin for holding it all together. Thanks to those who did volunteer – Fraser Brydson, Idris Fertout, Martin Gillies and Nick Michael. Thanks also to Marion Brydson and Kirstie Tew for serving the teas and coffees in the clubhouse afterwards.

As you know, we rely on volunteers, so if you’d like to get involved in volunteering at the Wormwood Scrubs Parkrun, please email wormwoodscrubshelpers@parkrun.com – the rosters are pretty empty over the coming weeks.

Next week is the Wormwood Scrubs parkrun’s third birthday, and, as befits a third anniversary, the theme will be leather! We’ll leave it up to your imagination, but we have great expectations, and I have sourced my outfit already. Don’t forget that we’ll be running the course in reverse on the day, just to do your head in.

There will be a gathering in the TVH clubhouse after the run, where a wide range of awards will be given out. Feel free to bring along cakes and any other types of refreshments that you deem to be suitable. All welcome!

Look forward to seeing you next week!

Andrea.

June 9, 2014