After two weeks away from Penrith parkrun, almost 300 people eagerly trotted to the start line, clearly craving their weekly 5k run around the paths of Frenchfield.
The bitterly cold and icy conditions that may have been typical in these fair isles once upon a time had finally subsided to a typically chilly January morning with sunny spells.
This was good news for Syd Burns, aged 86 ¾.
Today was Syd’s 400th volunteer role at parkrun, and he is such a loyal and imbedded part of the running community that his marshalling position on the course is even named after him……‘Syd’s Gate’.
Once a volunteer with Patterdale Mountain Rescue Team, he has since been volunteering with parkrun for the best part of 10 years, including in Auckland, New Zealand, and Boston, USA.
Syd is also a keen volunteer marshal for some of the half marathons that take place around Sheffield.
He believes that Penrith parkrun is “one of the friendliest places you can join in”.
Well Syd, it is fair to say that you are one of the friendliest faces we see running around Frenchfield on a Saturday morning; you have a shout of encouragement for every runner and it makes our day. Congratulations on this milestone!
It was also a big day for local girl Helen Tyson who was celebrating her 250th parkrun.
Helen was clearly delighted by this achievement and commented that parkrun has always been a family occasion, running with her husband, children, brother, and sister-in-law.
Penrith parkrun also drew tourists from The Netherlands. Renee Shortz and Ron Gerrist had come over from their home city of Arnhem (famous for the Battle of Arnhem during World War Two and the Allied plot to secure its bridge).
Their local parkrun is Sonsbeek where Renee is the Event Director. Apparently, this has the largest hill out of all the parkruns in the Netherlands and this is significant due to the lack of elevation throughout the Netherlands.
Staying with friends in Kendal, their intention this weekend was reconnaissance of the Lakeland 50 route since Ron and his friends will be running this in July.
With any luck (and backed up by the long-range forecast) the ice will stay away and we will welcome everyone again to Penrith parkrun at 9am next Saturday. For a full list of participants, results and volunteers, visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith/results/488/
