Parkrun Week 41

“People will forget what you said; people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel” – Maya Angelou

Good morning lovely Dashers. I hope that you had a marvellous weekend and are springing enthusiastically into the new week! I had another long trip to Wembley yesterday to sadly see my beloved Patriots lose (yet again) in the NFL game but was looking forward this morning to seeing all your parkrun and weekend efforts (always a highlight of my week) I must confess to some initial confusion when I looked at this weeks parkrun stats with a surprisingly low number of Dashers out there but then I realised that it was both the Lytham Green 5 and the British Fell Relays so there were definitely some legs being saved.

And, as ever, you absolutely smashed it! The relay team, despite being pulled together at short notice finished in a hugely credible position and there was a fantastic turnout at Lytham – with some superb results. A particular shout-out to Linda Coffey who won her age-grouping (the over 25’s obviously…) but there were some great times generally across the board. Well done to you all.

So, parkrun this week had a small but lovingly formed group of Dashers, covering 9 courses by our gang of 12. Nonetheless, as always, you excelled with no less than a quarter of our merry gang finishing in top-10 positions – take a bow Helen Woodcock (5th at Dungloe), Diane Dudgeon (2nd at Witton) and Jez Turner who finished 8th at Danehy Park which (he said enviously) is on the outskirts of my favourite City, Boston USA. The course is close to Harvard so Jez is obviously chanelling his inner intellectual side. Speaking of Harvard, it’s a little known fact that I am, in fact, a Cambridge drop-out………..the diet that is, not the University! 

Anyway, enough of this frivolity, it is important to recognise these great performances and also a huge milestone. Many congratulations to Diane Dudgeon who, not only got a podium finish, but did so while celebrating her 100th parkrun. Many congratulations, Diane!

With the low turnout numbers this week, there were naturally few changes to the Championship tables although David Seddon did make a significant move forward in the men’s league with an 8-position climb from 34th to 26th. David has recently entered the Championship fray and could easily make a top-10 bid later in the year. George Thompson also had a good week with his run at Preston recording his best percentage score of the season. Yours truly, by some miracle, also managed to plod round in a season-best score this week, albeit it was at pancake-flat Morecambe. I’ll take it though…For now, however, the Top 3 remain unchanged with Brian Shaw, Simon Smith and Jez Turner continuing to set the pace.

Only 4 ladies competed in the parkrun Championship this week and, although Helen Woodcock closed the gap on those above her, it wasn’t quite enough to change the order in the league table with Linda Coffey, Jacqueline Shaw and Diane Dudgeon showing the way.

And so onto week 42 with parkruns next week on the eve of the Accrington 10k so make sure your legs are nicely rested. I’m not aware, weather permitting, of any local cancellations so we have a free run at a choice of events. So, keep safe and well and, of course, happy parkrunning!