It was all happening at Penrith parkrun – milestones galore and a group of gregarious ladies celebrating a hen weekend.
The sun even made an appearance on an otherwise unseasonably cold May morning.
This must be the first occasion where I have reported on a 500th parkrun milestone, and it was fabulous to witness David Peacock at the finish line.
A tired but happy David was greeted and congratulated by many friends who have supported him on his parkrun journey and it was clear he had enjoyed his 500th event.
I later discovered that David has completed parkruns in Milan, Copenhagen, Burgandy, Berlin and Australia, however, he did tell me that his favourite is the beautiful Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.
Congratulation David, that’s 2,500km of parkrunning under your (flip) belt. Here’s to the next 500!
Sally Spence was also completing her 400th parkrun volunteer.
It’s around 12 years since Sally started at parkrun, initially as a runner, until her Parkinson’s made it become physically difficult to run.
She said: “parkrun gives me a connection to running and gets me out of bed on a Saturday morning. I like having a chat with friends.”
You can usually find Sally at the end of your run scanning hundreds of barcodes. Keep up the good work!
Phil Cooper completed his 100th volunteer today while pacing 21 minutes.
Viv Cuthbertson completed her 150th parkrun, a sound achievement after coming back from injury. Ruth Combellack finished her 100th parkrun. Well done to all.
Penrith parkrun was host to a group of 12 ladies who had come from all parts of the UK (Edinburgh, Ayrshire, Portsmouth and Wales) to celebrate the upcoming nuptials of friend Victoria Diamond.
Victoria lives near Edinburgh where her local parkrun is Portobello.
She is a self-confessed parkrun obsessive, so naturally, parkrun was going to be part of her hen celebrations.
The ladies were planning a spa day at Aqua Sana at Center Parcs before enjoying party games yesterday evening.
parkrun is truly a place where all people can come together to enjoy a bit of exercise, whether running or walking, and a crack with friends.
There is always tea, coffee and (usually) hot chocolate at the finish line, and sometimes there is even cake.
If you fancy giving Penrith parkrun a go, you will find us a friendly bunch and we would love to welcome you here.
If you are interested in a round up of today’s results, please visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/penrith/results/558/
