It was a grey morning with a slight chill in the air on Saturday at Frenchfield for the Penrith parkrun experience.
There was no wind or rain though which led to favourable conditions for the 305 walkers, joggers and runners who took on the 5k course.
The event was supported by a team of 36 volunteers making it possible.
Event number 479 saw 41 first timers to Penrith and 11 of these were undertaking their first ever parkrun.
As noted the conditions were good and we saw 53 personal bests achieved including Julia King of Eden Runners in a time of 23:56. Also setting a new PB was the first lady, Janine Porter in a time of 19:48. The first finisher was Sam Robbins from Chapel Allerton Runners in a time of 17:16.
We enjoy celebrating milestones at parkrun and this week there were a number of notable achievements.
Three people reached their 25 milestone. Steven Christy, Graeme Stott and Bethany Warne. There were two people completing their 200th parkrun, Michael Fountain and Ken Winter. Gary Vernon reached his 300th parkrun. I had a chat with Gary before the run and he told me he started parking running 10 years ago, travelling from Kendal to Penrith each week as it was the closest one available to him. Gary enjoys the social aspect of parkrun.
Regular runner, volunteer and member of the pacing team Garry Bower completed his 400th parkrun. Garry started parkrunning in Oldham in 2014. Up until that point he had been running on his own but he heard about parkrun and went along to try it. Garry also enjoys the social aspect and says it is the best start to the weekend, seeing friends.
Congratulations to you all.
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.
Being the report writer can be a great opportunity to chat to new people. If you’re interested in getting involved contact your local parkrun and try some different roles to see which works for you.
