Parkrun Week 38

“Speak your mind; even if your voice shakes” – Maggie Smith (RIP)

Wow, Wow, Wow! What an amazing weekend! Strap yourselves in for a bumper edition of the report as there has been so much going on this week and, collectively, you have absolutely smashed it.

So, where do I start? In no particular order but I think it would be remiss of me not to begin by congratulating the new Beginners Group graduates who have achieved so much over the last few weeks, culminating in a fantastic turnout at Burnley parkrun on Saturday. There were 18 Dashers showing great support that I am aware of but I’m sure that there were many more that I don’t know yet. If you don’t see your name on the league tables but have joined our happy group (and paid your subscriptions of course!) then please message me and I will be happy, nay delighted, to add you in. Welcome to Dashers and congratulations.

Also on the impressive list this week are Philip Seddon and Viki Walsh who totally crushed the Loch Ness Marathon on Sunday. It’s an iconic race and you both certainly did Dashers proud with a ‘Monster’ performance (I’m sorry, did I really say that…?) Brilliant running guys!

On a much smaller scale and significantly smaller in achievement, I ran something called the Bridgeathon 10k near Bilsborrrow on Sunday. What a fun, quirky event it was running along the canals near Garstang. Although it was a tiny event, the organisation was fab and the spread they laid on at the finish was amazing – sausage rolls, cakes, watermelon, cheese and biscuits etc etc. And a medal and chocolate orange as well. Superb! And I wasn’t last so I will take that as a win…

And, going back to parkrun again, there were 2 big milestones to mark this week. Both Jamie Dowdall and the aforementioned Viki Walsh completed their 150th parkrun this week which is a momentous achievement and so many congratulations.

Phew, I said it would be a bumper edition. And it doesn’t stop there. Of the 29 Dashers running at 8 different venues this week, there were no less than 8 magnificent PB’s so take a huge bow Richard Marsden, Jez Turner, Diane Dudgeon, Martin Wright, Jill Marr, Carol Tweedale and Tracey Kinley (all at Burnley) and Helen Woodcock (continuing her sparkling form at Fletcher Moss) Just amazing stuff by you all.

We also had 3 Top-10 finishes from Richard Marsden (6th at Burnley), Diane Dudgeon (9th on the same course) and John Randall (an excellent 10th at tough Ganavan Sands) Top running there by all 3. And finally, Paul Taylor entered the Championship this week in style by achieving his ‘Z’ at Zuiderpark in the Netherlands (fun fact: if you hit ‘translate’ on the Dutch results, male and female categories come out as ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ – probably not PC these days but there you are!)

The ladies excelled in the Championship this week with Sarah Marsden, Sharon Dooling, Tracey Kinley and Alison Abbott all achieving their best scores of the season to date. This enabled Sharon, Tracey and Alison to all climb 3 places in the league table into 21st, 22nd and 23rd respectively. At the top, Diane Dudgeon closed the gap in third place to leaders Linda Coffey and Jacqueline Shaw who remain in pole positions.

Richard Marsden also recorded his best score of the season in the Men’s Championship making the Marsden’s this weeks power couple. His leap from 27th to 22nd place saw Richard make the biggest positive move with Brian Morris also gaining momentum with a 3-position climb from 31st to 28th. The leaders remain Brian Shaw and Simon Smith but both Jez Turner and Andy Smith moved closer after their excellent runs at Burnley.

Much kudos if you managed to read this far. It’s been a marathon week in every sense but I had to do all your amazing runs justice. Once again, if we have anyone that has recently joined and I have missed please let me know and I will correct things next week.

Next week sees the 20thAnniversary of parkrun which is quite the milestone from its humble beginnings in Bushey Park. I’m not aware of any local cancellations so we should be set fair for another great week. Keep smiling and happy parkrunning!