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From the 1st September to the 30th October, Bushy parkrun will be working in partnership with PRO-ACTIVE South London in promoting the LOVE2 awareness campaign for women and children.
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Race Report - Event 219 - 28th August 200 |
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Carnage at the start
The sun was shining as the eager runners prepared for the off in Bushy Park and I decided to join my fellow athletes in the Saturday morning jaunt around the park. Just after 9.00am we were away but progress almost came to an abrupt halt as I saw at least four runners hit the deck. The rain that we come to expect during the British summer had made conditions in the first kilometre somewhat slippery underfoot and parkrunners on both sides took evasive action to avoid a similar fate. No serious injuries were brought to my attention post event which is a relief. Just remember to be careful during the early scramble at the start.
The results side of things
Will Cockerell (Belgrave Harriers) (SM35-39) was the first known athlete to cross the finishing line today with a time of 16:04. Will equalled his PB at the venue which he achieved at Event # 239. Will has now completed 30 parkruns: twenty six at Bushy and four at Wimbledon Common; he has amassed 8 victories at the Bushy park venue. Will’s margin of victory over the second placed athlete was an impressive 56 seconds. August has proved to be a rather successful month for Mr Cockerell with victories at Event # 316 and 317. Third man to cross the line and second known athlete was Basil Wallace (Herne Hill Harriers) (SM35-39) with a time of 17:00. Basil has now completed 31 parkruns, 19 of which were at Bushy. His PB here remains at 16:39 which he notched up at Event # 299. Basil has also run twelve times at Wimbledon Common where his PB remains at 17:01 which he achieved at Event # 186. Eleven seconds behind Basil and the third known athlete on the day was Nathan Mills (Ranelagh Harriers) (SM35-39) who has now run fifteen parkruns, all at Bushy. His time today of 17:11 was seven seconds off his PB of 17:04 which he recorded at Event # 317.
First lady home was Natasha Doel (Aldershot, Farnham and District AC) (SW20-24) in a time of 17:41. Natasha was the ninth known runner to reach the finish of the 5km course. This was her second Bushy appearance and also her second victory. She last ran at Event # 289 where she finished with a time of 17:22. Natasha enjoyed a fairly comfortable margin of victory over the second lady home. Carys Mills (VW40-44) ran her first ever parkrun at Event # 318 and today she achieved a new PB, taking eight seconds off her previous time to give her 20:23. Seventeen seconds later came the third lady home with a time of 20:40. Bea Downey (VW45-49) has now completed eight Bushy parkruns. Her PB remains at 20:26 from Event # 261.
Jane Davies (Epsom and Ewell Harriers) topped this week’s age grade charts with an excellent 92.89%. She was followed by today’s female winner Natasha Doel (Aldershot, Farnham and District AC) who scored 83.69%
It’s just over a month before the points competition for this season is wrapped up. Let’s have a look at those all-important standings. Mark Gratton still leads the male competition and he is almost guaranteed to take the spoils. Mark has amassed a healthy 11879 points which means that his nearest challenger, Philip Bearman (Snr), trails by 845 points, giving him a total of 11034 points.
The ladies’ competition is still too close to call and I believe this one could go right down to the wire. Simone Rapa sits on top of the pile; she has collected 11210 points thanks to her Bushy Park exploits, but her nearest challenger, Polly Adams, has not given up the chase. Polly has totted up 11020 points which means that she is a mere 190 points off the top spot.
Total number of runners: 613. The field (known athletes) comprised 180 females and 369 males.
There were 64 unknown runners.
100 runners recorded new PBs.
There were 29 first timers.
A parkrun just round the corner…
The Kingston parkrun has now been run twenty four times and the course which follows the River Thames served up 33 athletes, 3 less than the previous week. Richmond Park provides runners with a somewhat more challenging course and has now taken place 149 times; this weekend 168 competitors positioned themselves for the 9.00am start, a decrease of 8 from the previous edition.. Wimbledon Common organized its 191st event with a field of 184, 56 less than the previous week. Further away was the Sunderland parkrun which has been held 42 times and this week 54 people completed the 5km distance.
Remember to return that token
As you make your way down the finishing funnel you’ll be handed a position token. In the moments after your 5km run it might seem easy to forget this little item but please hand it in at the token table once your results have been recorded. If you have neglected your personal barcode, please drop the token into the easily visible bucket which will be held by one of our keen volunteers – if you are looking to join our team of helpers, just get in touch via bushyhelpers@parkrun.com. It would be great to have you along.
Thanks to the photographers
I would like to thank the latest addition to the Bushy Park photography clan, Rodney Howard Mcculloch. Rodney took advantage of the camera friendly conditions, producing some excellent shots. Despite the wet grass, Rodney found an excellent spot around the 3.5 mark on the course and you can view his photos at the following address: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bushy/Photos.aspx. Thanks also to our other photographer on the day, Stuart Swindell. Stuart was stationed at the finish line which allowed him to capture the six hundred and thirteen park runners as they bounded towards him.
I’m back…
After a somewhat extended break from Bushy park reporting duties I am pleased to inform you that I am resuming writing duties for the month of September. I am sure the deer will be thrilled. Many thanks to Ray F who has delivered excellent coverage of Bushy parkruns over recent weeks.
A la semaine prochaine.
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Race Report - Event 318, 21st August 2010 |
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Race Report - Event 318, 21st August 2010
No News This Week
Nothing much to write about this week. No longest parkruns, no World Cup, no European Athletics, no fiftieth birthdays of parkrun personnel. Looks like its back to the old refuge of “It was a Saturday. About 600 people turned up, they ran 5K, and then went home.”
Did I say no European Athletics? (Of course I did, even I can remember what I put in the previous paragraph). Well . . .
. . . I have mentioned both Mo Farah and David Moorcroft in recent weeks (read some of the stuff below this report if you have missed it) so here is a nicely timed follow-up.
As you are probably aware, at a Diamond League meeting in Zurich this week, Farah set a new British 5K record time of 12:57.94, becoming the first Briton to breach the 13 minute mark. His performance took the British crown away from David Moorcroft, whose then world record time of 13:00.41 has stood as the British standard since 1982..
After the race Farah acknowledged the enormous contribution made by his participation in a Bushy parkrun, back in November 2005. Actually, I have just made up that bit – the acknowledgement I mean, not his Bushy participation.
What he might have said instead was that he had got the edge he required from competing directly against me in the last two BUPA London 10Ks, which take place each year on the second May Bank Holiday. He has won this event on both occasions but I got much closer to him this year – my wave had actually crossed the start line before he had finished.
So what else? I was pleased to note that “vuvuzela” had made it as a new word into the Oxford English Dictionary. In 2010 it has definitely been one of the new entrants into our everyday vocabulary along with, of course, Eyjafjallajökull. To the best of my knowledge, parkrun has not yet joined the seemingly growing list of sporting enterprises to have banned vuvuzelas, although I suspect that you may need to run faster than an angry (or even an amorous) stag if you tried it on too much in Bushy Park.
In the absence of Ray C, Danny N stepped up as our day’s Race Director with the megaphone, rather than vuvuzela, as his instrument of choice. Under what has become the standard August grey skies, he had an important announcement to make - as a new initiative towards performance enhancement in the final straight, a wasps’ nest had been placed about 200 metres from the finish line, next to the bench behind the refreshment stall. There was a definite buzz about the place as the starting line-up digested this unexpected news.
The Results Bit
Wasps or not, it was Mike Trees (Belgrave Harriers) who stung all the opposition, his time of 16:50 being the only sub-seventeen minute performance of the day. It was Mike’s eleventh Bushy “gold” and he finished 29 seconds ahead of second-placed first timer Joel Birmingham. Bushy regular Mark Gratton (St Mary’s Richmond AC) took third spot in 17:25. Just three seconds behind Mark were both Rodney McCulloch and Justin Mitchell (Woking AC).
First in the Female field was Vicky Callaway (Stragglers) in 19:56 Vicky was followed by two Bushy first timers, Carys Mills in 20:31 and Vanessa Blackburn in 21:09.
Adam Villard’s (Stragglers) PB of 17:31 was sufficient to see him lead the Junior Male field, with Ollie Garrod (Epsom & Ewell Harriers) next in 17:48. Both Adam and Ollie achieved top ten overall finishing positions and another Junior, Eoin O’Brien (St Mary’s Richmond AC), took the eleventh overall spot with his 18:00.
Katherine Melotte topped the Junior Female list with 22:56 and needs just two more outings for her 50 shirt. For the second successive week, Natasha Gallagher was second, this time with 25:07.
There were just two age-gradings of over 80% this week. One was Mike Trees, at 85.54%. But the other was yet another 90%-plus performance by the amazing Jane Davies (Epsom & Ewell Harriers). Jane’s 21:10 saw her finish fourth in the female field and earned her an age-grading of 92.60%. It is no surprise to note that Jane is the current holder of Bushy’s age grade records for both the VW 55-59 and VW 60-64 categories.
Mark Gratton’s lead over Philip Bearman (Snr) in the male points table stands at 851 points.
In the female points table, Polly Adams has seized back second place from Helen P Jones but Simone Rapa still has the upper hand, with a 196 point lead.
The Stats Bit
How many?
- There were 598 finishers, 543 of whom registered their result, leaving 55 as “Unknown” (9%).
- There was an average of 41 finishers per minute between 20 and 25 minutes
Who Were They?
- There were 69 First Timers (13% of identified runners)
- 66% of the field was male, 34% female
- There were 72 Junior (under 20) runners (13%) and 36 runners age 60 or over (7%)
- The predominant age group for men was 45-49 (24%) and for women 35-39 (20%)
How Fast?
- There were 80 PBs (about 15% of identified runners)
- There were 49 finishers in under 20 minutes (8% of the total field) and 151 in 30 minutes or over (25%)
- The overall / male / female mid-point times were 26:05 / 23:49 / 29:26
- The overall / male / female top decile (top 10%) times were 20:16 / 19:39 / 24:30
“Pacer Day” – Episode 2
I commented last week about our Pacers who stepped into the limelight on 14th August. The limelight did not extend to my having named them, so here they are for your commendation and gratitude:
- Mark Gee (22 minute pacer), Santosh Rai (24), Kevin Stone (26), Andy Smith (28) and David Stewart (30)
Well done guys . . . and thanks also to Philip Bearman (Snr) for his late addition as the twenty minute man.
We aim to field Pacers on the second Saturday of each month, so their next outing is due for 11th September. If you would like to volunteer your services then contact Andy Pillidge through BushyHelpers@parkrun.com
A Record Week for Token Taking
After three age-grading records last week, there was yet another record set at Bushy this Saturday – we lost eight position tokens, the most that have gone missing in any one week. As the person who has to make temporary replacements, I do have a vested interest in their return.
Apparently all eight seem to have belonged to “named” (as opposed to “Unknown”) runners so the people concerned will be receiving an email asking for our precious tokens to be returned. Please respond positively if you have inadvertently walked off with a token – there is no penalty, just thanks for its safe return!
Is This Your Number?
Speaking of position tokens, I occasionally extol the sterling work carried out by Volunteers and the need to supplement the regular pool. This is particularly true for the “Numbers” and “Numbers Assistant” roles. These are the unfailingly cheerful people you see at the end of the Funnel, handing out your token.
Jan F has been our Numbers Supremo for some time now and, if she was not my wife, I would probably throw in at this point the odd compliment and expression of gratitude on behalf of us all. Maybe some of you can do it when you next see her.
Jan makes the point that she would like to run occasionally and, in any case, it would be far better to have, say, three or four teams of two people so that the task can be rotated. It is good fun. At the token end of the Funnel you get to meet all the runners, often bathed in sweat and breathing heavily (I mean the runners, not you), and there is even time for words of witty repartee with those at the front and back ends of the field.
These are important positions, in that it is critical that Funnel keeps moving at peak times to avoid a backspill over the finish line. So there is a requirement for good organisation – it really does help if the numbers are handed out in sequence (!) – a calm head and manual dexterity.
The latter is important because, for about ten minutes, tokens need to be handed out at a rate of about one per second, a bit like dealing cards. At this point, I am reminded of a late-sixties track (oh no, I can hear you say, here he goes again – well, I don’t care) by The Who - I mean “Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand”. Mary Anne may well have been pretty (“the prettiest in the land” in fact) but she would not have been suited for Numbers.
If you (or you and a friend or partner together) can help spread the load in this important area, simply contact BushyHelpers@parkrun.com. Your offers will be gratefully received and, as they say in all the best job adverts, full training will be provided. And you will enjoy it – honestly.
And finally . . .
I announced my impending break from reporting somewhat prematurely a few weeks back, but you will relieved to note that my co-correspondent Alex M will have the journalist’s blunt pencil tucked firmly behind his ear from next week.
Ray F
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Race Report - Event 317, 14th August 2010 |
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Race Report - Event 317, 14th August 2010
It’s All About Fifty
It is a great cause for celebration! It was exactly fifty years ago this month that Brian Hyland’s “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” hit the number one spot in the USA. Remember it? : “Two, three, four / Tell the people what she wore”. In the UK, “Apache” by The Shadows topped the charts, displacing themselves backing Cliff Richard’s “Please Don’t Tease”. The good times did indeed roll.
And for those with a sporting inclination, it was in August 1960 that Tottenham Hotspur started their most famous season, which culminated in them being the first twentieth century side to achieve the League and FA Cup “double”. (And, whisper it if you’re a Spurs fan, it was the last time that they won the League).
It was also in August 1960 that the Rome Olympics started, in which British swimmer Anita Lonsbrough won gold in the 200m breaststroke in a world record time. Britain’s only other gold medal was gained by the bespectacled Don Thompson, in the 50 kilometre walk. And a little known American boxer called Cassius Clay won the Olympic Light-Heavyweight title – I wonder if he went on to achieve anything else in the sport.
But all of this pales into background when compared with the fact that two of the driving forces behind parkrun were both born in August 1960, just a few days apart from each other. For Paul Sinton-Hewitt (PSH), parkrun’s founder, it was a double fifty celebration on Saturday as he was proudly wearing his newly acquired 50-parkrun shirt. And for Roger Wilson, the other fledgling fifty year-old, this was his 206th parkrun, and his 161st at Bushy. I am sure that both were duly embarrassed and, hopefully, rather touched, by the rousing chorus of “Happy Birthday” which echoed out lustily from the assembled starting-line throng
Despite the rather gloomy skies (but thankfully no rain) there was a festive air with balloons, cakes and even a special “VIP”” finishing line for PSH – doubtless photos will be appearing in due course. And to complete the celebration of parkrun movers and shakers, Chris (“Crispy”) Wright received his 100-Club shirt.
Oh well, that’s this week’s report completed . . . ah, hold on a second, I think there was a 5K run going on somewhere amongst all that as well. Here goes, then.
The Results Bit
I can more or less repeat last week’s opening paragraph as, for the second successive week, Will Cockerell (Belgrave Harriers) beat the rest of the field by a mile (a note for my reader - there is a bit of literary licence in that phrase). This week he recorded 16:05 – the third occasion in which he has hit that time this year. Just to update what I wrote last week, this was Will’s eighth Bushy run in 2010 and his times have all been within an 18 second range – consistent as well as excellent.
The next identified finisher was Nathan Mills (Ranelagh Harriers) in a PB of 17:04. Just a second behind him was junior (JM14) James Murdoch (Thames Valley Harriers), with a third consecutive Bushy PB. It was great to see James finish so strongly amongst the top runners of the day and, to cap it, his 17:05 set a new Bushy record for the JM14 age category.
As for the men, there was a very familiar leader at the front of the female field, with Sonia O’Sullivan (Thames Hare & Hounds) recording 17:53. Sonia’s time equalled the Bushy VW 40-44 record set in 2008 by Anna Critchlow. Charlotte Saunders (also Thames Hare & Hounds) followed with 19:17 and next was Sally Stubbs (Runnymede Runners) on 20:07.
After James Murdoch, the next Junior Male finisher was Bushy regular Conor Kissane-Wood (Merton Mini-Marathon Trial) with 18:56. Jessica Wenlock (Thames Turbo Triathlon) was the first Junior Female, finishing with 22:17. Behind Jessica was Natasha Gallagher on 23:13.
There were an impressive nine age-gradings of over 80% this week – remember that I commented when there had been none a few weeks back. Veteran Sue Lambert (Serpentine RC) topped the list, her 25:33 giving 86.76%. Sue’s age grading eclipsed even the elite grouping of Sonia O’Sullivan, James Murdoch and Will Cockerell who were next in the list. She also ensured a third update of the day to the Bushy age grade records, her time setting a new standard for the VW 65-69 group.
Mark Gratton’s lead over Philip Bearman (Snr) in the male points table stands at 829 points.
In the female points table, Simone Rapa’s lead over Helen P Jones is 177 points, with Polly Adams just a further 23 points further back.
The Stats Bit
How many?
- There were 548 finishers, 496of whom registered their result, leaving 52 as “Unknown” (9%).
- There was an average of 46 finishers per minute between 20 and 25 minutes
Who Were They?
- There were 60 First Timers (12% of identified runners)
- 69% of the field was male, 31% female
- There were 62 Junior (under 20) runners (13%) and 35 runners age 60 or over (7%)
- The predominant age group for men was 45-49 (19%) and for women 40-44 (20%)
How Fast?
- There were 112 PBs (about 23% of identified runners) – see below for more on this.
- There were 52 finishers in under 20 minutes (9% of the total field) and 93 in 30 minutes or over (17%)
- The overall / male / female mid-point times were 24:47 / 23:20 / 28:00
- The overall / male / female top decile (top 10%) times were 20:06 / 19:36 / 23:11
“Pacer Day”
We had pacers at two minute stages between 22 and 30 minutes on Saturday, with Philip Bearman (Snr) volunteering his services as a last-minute “20 minute man”. (By the way, Philip’s time was exactly 20:00!). As usual, our thanks are due to all who put themselves forward for this.
Here is my homespun PB / Pacer analysis – it is entirely unofficial. As noted above, there were 112 PBs - 23% of the identified field. Of these 112:
- 21 were outside what I have defined as being “pacer range” (ie they were less than 19 mins or over 31 mins)
- Of the remaining 91, 30 were on their second or third Bushy run, when a PB is in any case more likely – let’s call that “below pacer vision”
Removing “outside range” and “below vision” from my sample leaves 61 PBs – about 55% of the total PBs - for whom the Pacers may well have positively contributed. Among the 61 were three 100-Clubbers, including Paul Killick in his 194th Bushy outing.
Focus on the Flying Fifties (to Fifty Fours)
With Paul and Roger entering the fifties, this seems as good at time as any to have a look at the competition they will be facing in the 50-54 age group. On Saturday there were 53 runners in that age range, 41 men (14% of male field) and 12 women (9% of female field).
For these 50-54s:
- First Man : David Pimm (26.2 RRC) with 19:27 (age grade 76.44%)
- First Woman : Ramona Thevenet-Smith (Woking AC) with 21:07 (80.11%)
- The men’s mid-point time was 23:35 – about the time that both Paul and Roger recorded.
- The women’s mid-point time was 28:36.
The Bushy course record for men’s 50-54 was set by Chris Finill on 11 July 2009 (Event #258) in 17:04 (Age grade 86.43%). For women, the Bushy record is held by Lynn Wilson on 17 March 2007 (Event #133) – she clocked in at 19:34 (Age grade 86.46%).
And finally . . .
. . . a family affair. On top of all the fifty celebrations and age grade records, there was a double hundred achievement announced by Ray C at the start - two more members of the 100-Club. Doesn’t that happen every week? I hear you ask – a least in my imagination. Well, yes . . . but not normally quite like this.
The two centurions were the father-and-son combination of Duncan and Ben Grant. In fact Ben had just beaten his Dad to the century but both received their 100-Club shirts on Saturday. Duncan and Ben have been running at Bushy since March 2008 – so they can’t have missed too many weeks – and here’s to many more to come.
Ray F
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Race Report - Event 316, 7th August 2010 |
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Record Tracks and Track Records
I think that we were pretty lucky with the weather on Saturday. It had obviously rained overnight, so it was a bit soggy underfoot, but at least there was no precipitation during the parkrun time. Which is more than can be said for a bit later in the day when we were lashed with what weather forecasters alliteratively term “short, sharp showers”. We can be grateful that we escaped that lot.
As the heavens opened, and mindful that have just got into August, I started to hum a song that some, like me, of a certain vintage (which is just a nicer way of saying “really old”) may recall from the early sixties. I mean, of course, Carole King’s hit “It Might As Well Rain Until September”. But the normal sunny service was resumed on Sunday. In fact it was more a case of “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” – a 1964 hit for Gerry & The Pacemakers -as I toiled my way around the Wimbledon 5K Dash. In my case, it definitely was not “The Winner Takes It All”.
Anyway, I have already digressed before I have even started. What I was going to say was that, having written about Mo Farah’s achievements last week, I was motivated to do some research on records relating to the 5K distance. Hence my stunningly clever headline of “Record Tracks and Track Records”. OK, I won’t give up the day job.
Probably not too surprisingly, both the male and female 5000 metre outdoor world records are currently held by Ethiopians, at 12:37:35 (Kenenisa Bekele) and 14:11:15 (Tirunesh Dibaba) respectively. At those times at Bushy, I am hoping that I will be seeing the cricket pitch in the next five minutes or so – you can probably gauge your own equivalent reference points on the course map.
One of the many things I learned in my research is that there have been five British holders of the IAAF-recognised 5000 metre outdoor world record since the Second World War – three male and two female. Can you name them? Don’t all go rushing off the internet now – have a think about it and, if I remember, I will give the answer at the end of this week’s column.
The Results Bit
The current world record for the Bushy parkrun in August in a year ending in zero is emphatically held by Will Cockerell (Belgrave Harriers), whose 16:20 was nearly a minute ahead of the rest of the field. This was Will’s seventh Bushy run in 2010 and his times have all been within an 18 second range – consistent as well as excellent.
It was probably hard work trying to catch Will - Anthony Jackson (Sittingbourne Striders) came closest with 17:13. He was followed by 100-Clubber Mark Gratton (St Mary’s Richmond AC) on 17:33 – the same time as he recorded the previous week when he finished in twelfth position.
The first identified female finisher was Sharon Andrew (26.2 RRC) with a near-PB time of 21:19. Sharon was only two seconds ahead of Sandra Cragg, who did set a new PB in her third Bushy appearance. First-timer Lillias Griffiths (Epsom Allsorts) completed a tightly packed trio – just nine seconds separating them all! - with her time of 21:28.
The familiar figure of James Williams (Colets), in his 101st Bushy run, led the Junior Male field, his time of 18:30 giving him twelfth overall position. Aaron Moran (Tiffin Boys) was next, in 18:54, with Philip Bearman (Jnr) (Kingston AC & Polytechnic Harriers) hot on his heels just three seconds later.
St Mary’s Richmond AC once again led the Junior Female field, this week it was the turn of Eleanor Woolfe, whose time of 21:42 saw her finish fifth in the female field. Eleanor was followed by Jessica Wenlock (Thames Turbo Triathlon) in 22:21.
There were two age-gradings of over 80%. Top of the charts was Will Cockerell on 81.22% and first-timer Mchael Waine (Woking AC) notched 80.04%.
Mark Gratton’s lead over Philip Bearman (Snr) in the male points table stands at 786 points.
In the female points table, Simone Rapa’s lead over Helen P Jones has narrowed to 72 points, with Polly Adams still in the running.
The Stats Bit
How many?
- There were 560 finishers, 501 of whom registered their result, leaving 59 as “Unknown” (11%).
- There was an average of 43 finishers per minute between 20 and 25 minutes
Who Were They?
- There were 53 First Timers (11% of identified runners)
- 67% of the field was male, 33% female
- There were 68 Junior (under 20) runners (14%) and 30 runners age 60 or over (6%)
- The predominant age group for men was 45-49 (21%) and for women 35-39 (also 21%)
How Fast?
- There were 102 PBs (about 20% of identified runners).
- There were 50 finishers in under 20 minutes (9% of the total field) and 116 in 30 minutes or over (21%)
- The overall / male / female mid-point times were 25:20 / 23:38 / 28:49
- The overall / male / female top decile (top 10%) times were 20:09 / 19:48 / 24:05
“Pacer Day” – next Saturday . . .
Pacers will take to the course next Saturday (14th August) so, if you are after that extra fillip to help in knocking those few extra seconds off your time, find yourself a runner in a brightly coloured tabard with a time on his or her back to suit your taste. They will definitely help you to “Keep On Running” (a UK No 1 for The Spencer Davis Group in 1966).
If anyone would like to join the pacing team please drop an email to bushyhelpers@parkrun.com. Pacers run at Bushy Park on the second Saturday of every month. We aim to try to provide pacers at 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, and 30 minutes and would be happy to fit in more times in future, if we have extra pacer volunteers.
A thank you to the Volunteers . . .
To be honest, this section could be in every week’s report but then it would just become wallpaper, so we’ll remind you occasionally instead.
We had a great team of Volunteers on Saturday, who all contributed to yet another successful event for over five hundred people. There is no “news” in that, because it happens every week – but it would not happen without sufficient Volunteers to help with Registration, Funnel Management, Marshalling etc. In fact, some weeks (like on Saturday) the Volunteer list looks decidedly short and we have to rely on some helpers on the day to make it all work.
So it is a big “thank you” to the Volunteers and a special mention for Ray and Ann Coward, who contribute so much to the success of the event. Just about every Volunteer I have spoken to has enjoyed the experience and you can find out more about it on this link:
And remember to say “thank you” to the Volunteers you see on the day – without them, you would not participating.
. . . and whilst on the subject of helping
Below this report you will find an appeal for more people to become involved with the Bushy parkrun “behind the scenes” team – do take time out to read it and step forward if you can.
And finally . . .
Ah yes. Three men and two women - British. The men: Chris Chataway (1954 – who held the record for ten days), Gordon Pirie (1956) and David Moorcroft (1982). The women’s world record was not recognised by the IAAF until 1981, when the first holder was Britain’s Paula Fudge. The other British record holder was the South African born barefoot runner Zola Budd, in 1985. Easy, wasn’t it? For a while, they were all “(Simply) The Best”.
Ray F
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