“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can” – Arthur Ashe
Good morning lovely Dashers. Are you all square-eyed by watching wall to wall Olympics yet? I certainly am, and I’m loving it (although some of the French organisation seems a little….well, French) It’s amazing how we suddenly become experts in obscure sports, isn’t it? I’ve found myself screaming at the TV pontificating over whether a kayak slalom paddler caught a stopper in the water or whether the Korean women will ever lose an archery match! And in 2 years time, don’t get me started on the Curling……or competitive cleaning as Mrs T describes it. Anyway, I have managed to drag myself outside for the odd run or two; hopefully you have too.
Certainly, the parkrun scene was once again a highlight for you super Dashers. A grand total of 23 Dashers sparkled across 12 different parkrun courses this week with the ever-present Brian Shaw (7th at Burnley) and Helen Woodcock (9that Narin Beach) achieving excellent Top-10 finishes. It was also a red letter day for Brian Shaw as he achieved his 150th parkrun finish, with an incredible 134 of them being at Burnley. A brilliant achievement Brian, well done!
Pauline Beckett (or as she is soon to be called PB Beckett) also had a good week with yet another personal best, this time at Ford. Great stuff Pauline. We also had 5 Dashers visiting parkruns for the first time, continuing the missionary work around the country.
For the first time this season, we didn’t have any changes to either parkrun Championship league table, despite some excellent runs. It was however, great to see 3 new ladies enter the competition for the first time this year so welcome to Jenna Fox, Sharon Dooling and Tracey Kinley; hopefully the first of many.
Speaking of the Ladies Championship, Jacqueline Shaw slightly extended her lead at the top over Linda Coffey and Diane Dudgeon. Beccy Jepson also had a good run and is now only just behind the podium positions.
In the Men’s Championship, there were brilliant season-best performances from Jez Turner, Brian Tull and Philip Seddon – great running guys! This has put Jez only a miniscule 0.1 of a percentage point behind Andy Smith in the battle for third place in the league table. Brian Shaw still holds the lead over Simon Smith at the top.
So, another week passes and hopefully you will all have a great week and I look forward to reporting on more superb performances next Saturday. Happy parkrunning everyone!
Must go now, the skeet shooting is about to start…..