Storm clouds were gathering over Frenchfield on the shortest day of the year but they couldn’t dim the festive atmosphere as more than 230 runners, joggers and parkwalkers gathered in fancy dress and Santa hats to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.
The volunteers arrived in the dark to set up and prepare for Penrith parkrun today, Saturday December 21.
Participants had been encouraged to don festive dress and there was no shortage of elves and festive headwear. We also had the occasional Father Christmas.
Verena Johnston, who recently became a nonagenarian, and celebrated that milestone by coming down to Frenchfield to do parkrun accompanied by her grandson, was happy to be photographed with a couple of elves.
The rain stayed away but there was a brisk wind to slap us in the face as we ran past the Pavilion and caused the occasional complaint of Santa Hat Drag!
I followed two tutu clad, stripey legged elves who were visiting from West Cumbria, Zoe Richardson and Lindsey Irving.
They like to take part in different parkruns and were at Penrith because they wanted to dress up. They are preparing for a busy Christmas Eve but will be up bright and early to go to Keswick parkrun which is a bit closer to home for them.
Shaun Silson, a popular parkrunner and former teacher at Ullswater Community College, achieved his 250th parkrun today and was cheered on by his family and many friends. Well done, Shaun!
Another regular, Tim Daldry, reached his 50th parkrun and was supported by his wife, Amanda and others who are part of a Messenger group of about 12 members, who like to follow their parkrun with a coffee at The Arturo Lounge in the New Squares. The group is open to all.
Parkrun wouldn’t happen without our volunteers and the man in charge, David Robertson works hard to make sure there are always plenty of marshals, scanners, timekeepers etc to ensure a smooth, safe and enjoyable experience for everyone. Thank you, David for all your hard work.
We also extremely lucky to have a regular team of pacers who help runners achieve PBs and goals. Today they all sported Santa hats to accessorise their blue bibs.
Thanks to these guys too and to all our volunteers, many of whom will be back on Christmas Day as Penrith parkrun puts on its first ever Christmas Day run.
If you are around, why not kick off your jollifications with a festive run amongst the friendly faces at Frenchfield?
A full list of participants, results and volunteers can be found at https://www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith/results/latestresults/
