Penrith parkrun’s organising team took a step into the unknown by deciding to host its first ever parkrun on Christmas Day.
Although it had been considered in previous years for various reasons it never quite got off the ground.
The first step was to ensure we would have enough volunteers and despite a number of our regular volunteers being unavailable we were pleased with the response to our call out, and we were able to welcome a few new faces.
At this time of year setting up the course is carried out by torchlight, and it isn’t until around 8am that the darkness begins to lift. At least the fog and rain of previous weeks was absent. Indeed, it was unseasonably warm with a gentle breeze.
There was still some apprehension as to how many would turn up on the day. However, by 8.30am any concerns we had were put to rest by the steady stream of cars entering Frenchfield.
As people began to gather outside the pavilion a really good atmosphere was developing with everyone clearly out to enjoy themselves many of them in various Christmas related fancy dress.
By 10am, 319 people had crossed the line of whom 43 were first timers and 33 recorded new personal bests.
First across the line was Harry Lancaster of Eden Runners. Emma Stuart was the first female in a personal best. Two Penrith parkrun regulars achieved personal milestones.
Roy Bottomley completed his 200th run and David Spence, one of our regular pacers completed 100 runs.
A full list of participants, results and volunteers can be found at www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith/results/latestresults/
