A misty but thankfully dry morning met the 249 runners, joggers and walkers who assembled at Frenchfield for the 377th Penrith parkrun – a significant event it seems for some as, unknown to the vast majority of us, 377 is a number in the Fibonacci sequence.
This is a sequence of numbers formed by adding the previous two numbers together (thus: 1+1=2; 1+2=3; 2+3=5 etc) and, as we discovered yesterday, these numbers fire the imagination of some parkrunners who travel the country to take part in events that reach any of these particular milestones.
You don’t have to be mad to be a parkrunner but it helps…..
In terms of today’s mad folk, Harry Lancaster continued his recent fine form to lead home in a new personal best of 15:45, with teenagers Charlie Kemp and Keian McCombie performing superbly to finish 5th and 11th respectively.
Heather Hatton, visiting from Sheffield, was first woman home, in 20:53, followed by Penrith regular Kerry Grinbergs, with Alex Duckitt and Rose Gilldaley, just 15, close behind. Altogether 30 people recorded personal bests and 27 were running at Penrith for the first time.
Several people were celebrating milestones: Lucy Wood completed her 50th while still in the 10 years and younger category, while Tony Brooke and Andrew Hodgson completed their 200th – which Andrew reminded me amounts to a million metres!
Of course this wonderful weekly get together is only made possible by our team of volunteers and Mike Parker reached the astonishing milestone of volunteering at his 300th event.
He and the other 31 willing helpers – including Stuart and Nicky Hawkes, visiting from Thirsk and leading our contingent of parkwalkers – are the real heroes of parkrun, turning out week after week in all weathers, so that we may lurch, sprint or chat our way to 5k.
As a way to start the weekend it really doesn’t get much better – why not come down at 9am next weekend and give it a go? You never know, you might just find yourself improving your maths at the same time!
