In patchy but refreshing rain and a fresh breeze, 283 people ran, jogged and walked the course at Frenchfield.
There were 61 first timers at Penrith, seven of whom were taking part in their first ever parkrun. Twenty-six recorded new personal bests.
Harry Lancaster was first male home in a time of 16:44 and Kerry Grinbergs was first female with her time of 22:30.
Coming in at a time of 30:21 was veteran Mick Martin. At 74 years young Mick is a remarkable and likeable character and well known at Penrith parkrun. Mick has been turning up at 9am on a Saturday for eight years and today Mick completed his 150th parkrun.
Whether your first or your 150th, parkrun can be very rewarding. Parkrun is very important to Mick. “I value the camaraderie between participants. Everyone smiles and it’s great to talk with people. I’ve made many friends through parkrun. It’s great to come back each week.
Mick has only recently recovered from cancer finishing chemo treatment in February of this year. Mick has made an amazing recovery after being diagnosed with stomach cancer in May last year and undergoing major surgery in October. After feeling “not quite right” Mick had attended a Well Man Clinic at his local surgery and was shown to be anaemic. Further investigations showed that Mick had stage 3 advanced cancer of the stomach.
As soon as possible Mick was back at Frenchfield, home of Penrith parkrun and began by walking the 5km course while he regained his strength. He is now back to running and as well as parkrun is running every day and has just completed 10 days on the trot.
As ever the event was made possible by a trusty band of volunteers – 31 this week. From cheering on participants at strategic points around the course to writing an event report such as this, volunteers are always needed. There are many roles that need to be filled each week all of which are very rewarding. Contact penrith@parkrun.com for details of the different ways that you can help.
