It was a warm and dry morning at Frenchfield for the Penrith parkrun experience on Saturday, July 9, and 210 walkers, joggers and runners took advantage of the favourable conditions to tackle the 5k course supported by a team of 29 volunteers making the event possible.
Event number 358 saw 35 first timers and 25 new personal bests recorded; 29 clubs were also represented. Daniel Bennett from Rochdale Harriers and AC finished first in a time of 17:26 on his first visit to Penrith. The first female over the line was Alex Duckitt in a time 21:23 and a new personal best. There were also some milestones to celebrate. Lucy Fallows and Juliet Golding both reached their 50th parkrun. Congratulations to both of them.
Juliet was celebrating her achievement with a group of friends and I chatted to her after the run to find out what brings her to parkrun each week.
Juliet explained that she didn’t start exercising until she was 49. She started exercising so she could do Total Warrior and she began training with Wiz Lees.
Juliet said that starting to exercise has changed her life and she has never been fitter. She started to come to parkrun in 2018 and at that point she was walking the 5k course, she soon started to jog/walk the course and after about eight runs found she could run the whole route without walking. She has managed this ever since even if some weeks she needs to slow down.
Juliet believes parkrun is an incredible initiative which is accessible to all and she promotes giving it a go whenever she can. Juliet has also volunteered when she was suffering from an injury and enjoyed the experience of seeing a different perspective. Juliet is training for the Great North Run this year, her first half marathon. We wish her lots of luck.
parkrun events are only able to go ahead with the help of volunteers. If running or walking isn’t for you there are a large range of volunteer roles available which include being up front or working behind the scenes. If you’re interested in getting involved contact you’re local parkrun and try some different roles to see which works for you.
