A depleted field of 140 runners, joggers and walkers gathered the morning after the night before on Saturday for Penrith parkrun.
Storm Arwen had spent the night battering Scotland and the north of England, and although Penrith escaped the worst, many people decided, or were forced, to abandon their weekly 5k.
For those brave or possibly foolhardy souls who attended, the weather was in fact kinder than anticipated – though still significantly colder than previous weeks. Bracing would be the word.
This week we had a boost for our legendary volunteers in the form of six employees from Dodd and Co in Penrith.
With the firm turning 40 this year, a scheme (40 for 40) has aimed to give back to the community in the form of charitable or volunteering work. They did a great job helping to steer folk round the course and giving tremendous vocal encouragement.
Among the field this week we had two runners reaching their 50 Parkrun milestones.
Congratulations to Gwyneth Timson and Phillipa Haworth ! There were also 16 personal bests and 10 first timers; well done to all, especially given the temperature.
Leading everyone home this week were two of our regular winners, with Jonathan Cox pipping fellow Eden Runner Harry Lancaster this time out. Emma Stuart was the leading female, in a new pb of 20:43, with Ruth Hetherington close behind in second. It’s always lovely to see the youngsters at parkrun, and this week I wanted to give a quick shout to three under 14s who all recorded pbs – Leo Spooner, Zac Tyson and Lewis Cooper. Great effort guys and keep up the good work !
Next week, as well as Parkrun, Ron Kenyon let us all know that in partnership with EDC, there is a tree planting event at Frenchfields – aiming to plant some 400 around the site – so if you can spare half an hour after your run, bring some wellies and a spade and join the fun.
Report: Tim Openshaw
