“Where’s everyone gone?”

Do you remember that British Airways add’ that questioned where everyone had gone. It transpired everyone had gone to Barcelona on one of their special deals.

Well I don’t think they had any special deals on offer this weekend but for some reason many runners chose not to come to Black Park on Saturday. OK any organiser would be pleased with a turnout of 265 but is statistical terms this amounts to nearly 30% drop off.

Worth waiting for!

For those that did show up it was the weather we have all been waiting for.

It did serve to create 49 PBs with many others getting close to the mark. Besides congratulating those we also welcomed 32 first timers. Thanks for coming. Without you our numbers would have been even lower.

Property left behind.

Besides a shed load of kit left behind since Black Park parkrunstarted yet another has been dispatched to the “store”. It is a quality Prostar dark/light blue top coat with “Holtspur FC” badge on the front and “McVities Jaffa Cakes” on the back. I’ll have it with the kit for the next 2 weeks. After that you will probably be able to buy it back from a charity. Shop.

Jubilee parkrun – Tuesday, 5^th June.

We have mentioned the jubilee parkrun previously and this is a nudge for you to place it in your diaries. Bring some nibbles and we shall provide drinks(soft) to send them down. Usual start time of 9am. Be prepared for it to be the bank holiday parking charge and not the concessionary rate applied to Saturday morning.

Photos.

Our photographer, George Mardall, tales some tremendous pictures each week and I’m sure you all appreciate seeing your style (and hair doo’s). However George has asked me to repeat the link to his album for the number of visits has dropped of recently. It may be that you have seen enough of your mug shots on the photos or you have lost the link.

So just to remind you all the photos that you see on the website can be viewed and downloaded direct from George’s personal album on the following link –

 http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/georgemardall       

You will also be able to pick up on archive pictures more easily.

Summary race report.

I notice only 2 runners got over the 80% age grading this week. It was also noted that the winner, Chris Bradfield, had a stonking lead over the second placed runner Tom Chisnall when they appeared along the final run in.

Chris is fast returning to fitness since being plague for ages with injury.

 Men's placings:
Chris BRADFIELD (SM35-39) of Datchet Dashers, was first in 16:50 - 9^th win in 21^st appearance.
Tom CHISNALL (SM25-29) (Unattached) was second in 18:01.
Greg MCGIVERN (SM35-39) (Unattached) was third in 18:10.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Vince ELLERBY (Gade Valley Harriers) 3844 pts.
John COBB (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 3229 pts.
Nick GREATOREX (Unattached) 3177 pts.

Women's placings:
Lauren SALISBURY (JW14) (Unattached) was first (34^th overall) in 21:25 - first appearance.
Alex GRUAR (SW30-34) (Unattached) was second (45^th overall) in 22:38 - 6 previous wins.
Lucy BARTLETT (SW25-29) of Burnham Joggers, was third (48^th overall) in 22:50.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Carolyn LOCKETT (Maidenhead AC) 3182 pts.
Barbara ALLEN (Datchet Dashers) 3148 pts.
Maureen PEDRI (Running Sisters Network) 3108 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Jackie STALLWOOD (VW65-69) was graded 80.91 % for the time 27:04 (129^th overall).
John COBB (VM55-59) was graded 80.38 % for the time 19:17 (8^th overall).
John Joseph QUIRKE (VM55-59) was graded 79.56 % for the time 19:49 (11^th overall).

The Women's course record is held by Pippa WOOLVEN who ran in a time of 17:36 on 24th December 2011 (event number 129).

The Men's course record is held by Ben LIVESEY who ran in a time of 15:09 on 10th March 2012 (event number 140).

The Age Grade course record is held by Margaret MOODY who recorded a 91.49 % run (21:45) on 9th April 2011 (event number 91).

Sunday 27th May - Start 9.30. Marlow radio inaugural 10k run along the Thames to Hurley and back. www.marlowfm.co.uk.

Tuesday 5th June. Start 9am. "Jubilee" Black Park parkrun. Bring some food. We'll provide drink.

Wednesday 6th June - Start 7pm. Race 2 of 3. Langley Park summer series. http://www.bucksvoice.net/langley-park-races. 

Sunday 24th June - Start 11am. Penn Seven and Super Fun Run. A popular summer calendar event attracting annually over 300 runners. Details of the race and entry procedure www.bucksvoice.net/pennseven.

Sunday 1st July - Start 11am. Iver and Wexham Olympic celebration 5k super fun run. Langley Park. Bands, stalls, catering and more. FREE race entry.  Details http://www.bucksvoice.net/langley-park-races.

Wednesday 4th July - Start 7pm.  Race 3 of 3. Langley Park summer series. http://www.bucksvoice.net/langley-park-races/ 

Barcodes

A quick reminder to please make every effort to bring a printed copy of your barcode with you. We do our best to be accomodating and will always manually record barcodes that do not scan, but parkrun policy is officially 'no barcode, no result', so please don't expect us to record you without a barcode. The volunteers give up their time to give you a run, and in return all we ask is that you remember to bring your barcode. For some volunteers their work continues after the event to process the results, and missing barcodes only extend this process.

Please note that barcodes displayed on phones will not scan.

Have you SparkLEd yet?

SparkLE is the "Study of parkrun on Lifestyle and Exercise" being performed by Loughborough University and Imperial College NHS Healthcare Trust. They had a target of 6000 completed questionaires and with a couple of weeks to go they're just a couple of hundred short, so if you haven't taken the survey please consider giving it a go. All the data is confidential and depersonalised, and you will be helping out on a survey that should prove what we all know - that parkrun is good for you.

You can take the survey here.

Jubilee Bank Holiday parkrun

On Tuesday 5th June we'll be holding a special parkrun to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Feel free to dress up to celebrate the day and maybe bring a picnic, and all being well be may even have an alternative route for you to run.

Weekly Results

After the miserable weather of recent weeks Spring returned in Black Park today as runners were greeted with warm sunshine and light winds, and even a finishing straight that wasn't one long puddle. 81 people took advantage of this to record new best times. Barbara Allen would also like to thank the kind gentleman in a yellow shirt who stopped when she fell, and she hopes you didn't lose too much time.
 

Men's placings
Chris ODDY (SM25-29) of Abbey Runners Leeds, was first in 17:21 - first win in third appearance.
Henry GODDARD (JM15-19) (Unattached) was second in 18:38.
Daniel RETTER (SM25-29) (Unattached) was third in 19:01.

Women's placings
Vanessa TAYLOR (VW40-44) of Hillingdon Triathletes, was first (10th overall) in 19:40 - 9th win in 13 th appearance.
Tamsin NEALE (VW35-39) of Burnham Joggers, was second (12th overall) in 19:46 - 18 previous wins.
Alice HECTOR (SW25-29) (Unattached) was third (42 nd overall) in 21:57.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Vince ELLERBY (Gade Valley Harriers) 3752 pts.
John COBB (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 3136 pts.
Nick GREATOREX (Unattached) 3095 pts.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Carolyn LOCKETT (Maidenhead AC) 3095 pts.
Barbara ALLEN (Datchet Dashers) 3069 pts.
Maureen PEDRI (Running Sisters Network) 3025 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Kirsten STILWELL (JW14) was graded 79.93 % for the time 22:40 (57^th overall).
John COBB (VM55-59) was graded 79.08 % for the time 19:36 (9^th overall).
Vanessa TAYLOR (VW40-44) was graded 77.80 % for the time 19:40 (10^th overall).

This week there were 313 runners, of whom 20 were first timers and 81 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 24 different athletics clubs took part.

Black-park parkrun started on 18th July 2009, and since then 4,026 different runners, including participants from 188 athletics clubs, have completed 28,111 runs covering a total distance of 140,555 km, and there have been 6,197 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Pippa WOOLVEN who ran in a time of 17:36 on 24th December 2011 (event number 129).

The Men's course record is held by Ben LIVESEY who ran in a time of 15:09 on 10th March 2012 (event number 140).

The Age Grade course record is held by Margaret MOODY who recorded a 91.49 % run (21:45) on 9th April 2011 (event number 91).

Finisher 229 and others unknown.

Sometimes in our world of electronic communication not everything goes according to plan. Yesterday token 229 was scanned but was found to be corrupt and for that reason could not be married up with a runner. As a result that position is shown as unknown. If YOU were the person that collected finish token 229 then let us know. The results will be updated and you’ll get another tick in your tally of runs for a t-shirt.

Now about the others shown as unknown.

There are many reasons for these “unknowns” and we had to deal with a few today. It goes without too much shouting that parkruns are informal and are for you to get out and enjoy a 5k jaunt around your local park. However there is a competitive edge to it from the front runners leading the pack to the back markers chasing their own personal best (PB) performances. The only formality we ask is that you bring your personal barcode with you each time. It is the only unique reference to who you are.

A man running on his female partner’s ticket is a classic distortion to the results. Some of these are blatantly obvious and are spotted as the results are scrutinised. Others are reported by “eagle eyed” runners who finished behind a female and subsequently find a male on the results list. When these situations arise we have to revisit the results and make adjustments.

There has been more than one case of a male registering as a female by ticking the incorrect box on the registration form. This error is not flagged up as we scan the barcodes after each race. Once again it is up to you “eagles” out there to let us know.

BUT most of the unknowns are those who forget to bring their barcode on the day. We continue to bang on about “NO BARCODE, NO RESULT”.

Congratulations.

No, this is not for winning anything on Saturday. It is for the record number of parkrun t-shirts that were collected from the table. I still have a few so here are some names.

Junior 10 run t-shirt.
Ellie Wallis and Steven Ilott.

Senior 50 run t-shirt
Mike Driver.

100 run t-shirt.
Mark F Taylor.

If you know any of these please let them know. For those not listed I’m aware they know and will collect next time at the run.

Langley Park.

The Langley Park summer evening 5k, race 1, due to run on Wednesday 9th May is cancelled. The other 2 races, Wednesdays June 6th and July 4th will sill proceed as planned. Remember start times are 7pm for both races. Café will remain open.

Marlow 5 mile road race.

Details of next weekend’s Marlow 5 mile road race is on the upcoming events tab. This is one not to miss. Riverside venue, chip timing, cafes, Thames walks and Marlow cafes and bistros. You can also take part in the race with the best goody bag in the circuit.

Donations and Expenditure.

All parkruns are free and although the business side of the operation is met, such as race licence and insurance through UK Athletics, by very generous sponsors – you see them listed on various emails, no funding is available for our day to day expenses such as awards, prizes, extra kit such as a first aid bag and the megaphone. Also no volunteer receives any travel expenses.

The recently introduced donation fund now addresses that side of our expense bill. Thank you all for your donations to the fund. Let me now go over a few ways in which we shall be spending that money – after David and I have got back from our Caribbean cruise and counted what’s left over.

We have been in discussion with the park rangers about having some permanent markers set out to give definitive positions for the start, finish and kilometre markers. Also corner posts for those who like to run the 5k during the week without getting lost.

You may remember the South Bucks 10k road race was established before the donation scheme to address our expenditure. We have accumulated a small surplus and once our foreseeable costs are met there will be a small donation to a local charity.

South Buck 10k Road Race.

The previous paragraph referred to this race. Though we do have your donations to cover parkrun expenses the race itself proved popular with the runners. For that reason we have decided to run it again.

It will be held on Sunday 30th September with a 9.30 start. Queries are already coming in.

Car parking is FREE within Black Park and the race assembly and registration is in our usual place.

On this occasion we do need many more volunteers to turn out and marshal the course as the roads will be open to traffic and a visible presence is required both for runners and vehicles. Please place this in your calendars.

Race summary report.

Many times I find myself extolling the strength of Wycombe Phoenix juniors and the way they regularly find themselves in podium positions. Well it was the turn of one of their veteran runners to raise the Phoenix flag.

Philip Morris JONES did just that on Saturday winning in a time of 18.17 and 11 seconds ahead of the second place runner from Tri-Anglia (check out the pun) Richard HANSEN.

This week there were 374 runners – record for Black Park, of whom 34 were first timers and 65 recorded new Personal Bests.

Despite that only 2 managed to get inside the 80% age grading. Claire Donald was only 0.07% short of breaking through the 90% grading and joining the company of Margaret Moody with over 90%. Maybe next time.

Men's placings:
Philip Morris JONES (VM45-49) of Wycombe Phoenix Harriers & AC, was first in 18:17 - first win in 24th appearance.
Richard HANSEN (VM45-49) of Tri-Anglia, was second in 18:28.
Henry GODDARD (JM15-19) (Unattached) was third in 18:43.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Vince ELLERBY (Gade Valley Harriers) 3656 pts.
John COBB (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 3044 pts.
Nick GREATOREX (Unattached) 3018 pts.

Women's placings:
Claire DONALD (VW50-54) of Purple Patch Runners, was first (8th overall) in 19:22 - second win in 4th appearance.
Julie MURPHY (VW35-39) of Lagan Valley AC, was second (15th overall) in 19:55 - 1 previous win.
Amy COPE (SW30-34) of Serpentine RC, was third (19th overall) in 20:15.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Carolyn LOCKETT (Maidenhead AC) 3002 pts.
Barbara ALLEN (Datchet Dashers) 2986 pts.
Maureen PEDRI (Running Sisters Network) 2937 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Claire DONALD (VW50-54) was graded 89.93 % for the time 19:22 (8th overall).
John Joseph QUIRKE (VM55-59) was graded 80.58 % for the time 19:34 (11th overall).
Kirsten STILWELL (JW14) was graded 79.99 % for the time 22:39 (71st overall).

The Women's course record is held by Pippa WOOLVEN who ran in a time of 17:36 on 24th December 2011 (event number 129).

The Men's course record is held by Ben LIVESEY who ran in a time of 15:09 on 10th March 2012 (event number 140).

The Age Grade course record is held by Margaret MOODY who recorded a 91.49 % run (21:45) on 9th April 2011 (event number 91).

 

A few short messages.

This week there were 296 runners, of whom 28 were first timers and 49 recorded new Personal Bests in atrocious conditions.

Despite that 2 age category records were beaten on Saturday, event #147, 28th April.

Michael HISCOTT, the race winner, improved on the SM25-29 category with 81.82. Guy BOWLES improved on the SM30-35 with 81.19%.

Track success for Ladies winner.

Wycombe Phoenix harriers had the first lady to finish in Lucy Rogers. Lucy has been having some recent track successes in the 3,000 metre races.

Splish! splash!

On watching the runners approaching down the final 600 metres it occurred to me that the distance being covered was extended by the ducking, diving and swerving around all the surface water collected along the track.

For the winner this seemed a sensible method to adopt for he was running in a new pair of racing shoes. Surprisingly despite all the mud the shoes came out of it pretty clean. Have a look at the side picture.

Summer 5k evening series.

The 5k summer evening series is a series of 3 x 5k country trail races in nearby Langley Park. These give the opportunity to stretch one's legs after a day in the office without impacting on those chasing PBs and league points at Black Park. Cafe will be open untill 8pm for those missing out on a meal.

The races are organised by the same parkrun team so you are guaranteed quality as well as value for money. Check out the website for more information on entry details www.bucksinfo.net/langley-park-races.

Change in the Ladies points league.

Carolyn LOCKETT  has taken over as leader in the ladies points league. Only 4 points seperate the 2 leading protagonists, Carolyn and Barbara ALLEN. However I'm not writing Maureen PEDRI off just yet.

Summary race report.

Men's placings.

Michael HISCOTT (SM25-29) (Unattached) was first in 15:46 - first appearance.
Matthew AXE (JM15-19) of Wycombe Phoenix Harriers & AC, was second in 16:12 - 3 previous wins.
Guy BOWLES (SM35-39) of Datchet Dashers, was third in 16:34 - 1 previous win.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:

Vince ELLERBY (Gade Valley Harriers) 3561 pts.
John COBB (Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC) 2956 pts.
Nick GREATOREX (Unattached) 2937 pts.

Women's placings:

Lucy ROGERS (SW20-24) of Wycombe Phoenix Harriers & AC, was first (7th overall) in 19:01 - third win in 5th appearance.
Karmen PARDOE (VW40-44) (Unattached) was second (15th overall) in 19:43 - 3 previous wins.
Claire DONALD (VW50-54) of Purple Patch Runners, was third (18th overall) in 19:48 - 1 previous win.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:

Carolyn LOCKETT (Maidenhead AC) 2914 pts.
Barbara ALLEN (Datchet Dashers) 2910 pts.
Maureen PEDRI (Running Sisters Network) 2859 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:

Claire DONALD (VW50-54) was graded 87.96 % for the time 19:48 (18th overall).
Margaret MOODY (VW60-64) was graded 87.32 % for the time 22:52 (63rd overall).
Matthew AXE (JM15-19) was graded 84.57 % for the time 16:12 (second overall).

The Women's course record is held by Pippa WOOLVEN who ran in a time of 17:36 on 24th December 2011 (event number 129).

The Men's course record is held by Ben LIVESEY who ran in a time of 15:09 on 10th March 2012 (event number 140).

The Age Grade course record is held by Margaret MOODY who recorded a 91.49 % run (21:45) on 9th April 2011 (event number 91).
Today 5 runners scored over 80%