Saturday’s Penrith parkrun certainly felt like the first sign of the changing of the seasons with the temperatures locally falling, albeit briefly, to below freezing.
The compensation for this, however, was a bright and windless morning with the sun quickly burning off the last vestiges of river mist from Frenchfield.
Perhaps the colder weather was a deterrent for some as 206 runners lined up for the event – a somewhat lower number than usual. The conditions were ideal nonetheless for a brisk run and the front runners did not disappoint. Sadly the first runner to return was unidentified – a lesson for all that you do need your barcode to have your efforts recorded officially on the parkrun website.
Following our unknown runner was Andrew Douglas who achieved a personal best time of 18.08. Hard on the heels of Andrew was first lady Eve Panone who also achieved a personal best parkrun time of 18.30.
There were fewer significant milestones achieved this week although it was a pleasure to see regular Penrith runners Tim Southorn and Liz Shackman reach their 200 and 150 milestones respectively. Lis not only attends Penrith parkrun regularly but also incorporates parkrun into a mere 20-mile cycle ride to and from Frenchfield!
Also in attendance were representatives from the Great Cumbrian Run who were tempting Park runners to try their hand at a half marathon which is to take place at Carlisle on October 2.
Volunteering remains a vital part of parkrun and offers a wonderful opportunity for people to connect socially and to provide invaluable assistance to enable so many people to participate in this event each Saturday.
There are many volunteer roles available, including setting up and clearing the course, marshalling during the run, time keeping and token collection. New volunteers are always welcome. It’s also an excellent opportunity to see if participating as a runner is something that would be achievable as it has been for many beforehand. If you are interested in becoming involved either as a runner or volunteer then please contact our website www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith, our Facebook page or by emailing [email protected]
