It was a bit of a celebration last week as we launched our 100^th Cambridge parkrun. The time’s simply flown by and I hope you’ve all enjoyed the last 100 runs as much as we’ve enjoyed organising them. We saw 313 runners take part, which is the kind of number we never imagined we would get - really great, hope you all had fun!

First off, thanks to the volunteers who made it all possible – there wouldn’t have been a 100^th Cambridge parkrun without you. Volunteers last week were:

Adam SCOTT  •  Alan MIDDLEBROOK  •  Anita LEWIS  •  Ben SIMONSON  •  Brodie EVANS  •  Charles BARKER  •  Diane POTTER  •  Gareth Riley LEWIS  •  Graham DARLING  •  Hannah COOKE  •  Heidi UFF  •  Helen D JOHNSON  •  Istvan JACSO  •  James KILLICK  •  James RYAN  •  James STOCKER  •  John UFF  •  Jonathan ESCALANTE-PHILLIPS  •  Luke CARMAN  •  Margaret PHILLIPS  •  Mark HAZLEHURST  •  Mary HOLMES  •  Matthew TURNER  •  Paula KESSLER  •  Richard LYLE  •  Samuel D JOHNSON  •  Suzie HALL  •  Vanessa TOONE

The big ups

Of course, a huge well done to everyone who took part! Before we look at the men’s and women’s placings, I’d like to give special recognition to some runners who caught my eye in last week’s results. If you need motivation to get out of bed and get to parkrun on a Saturday morning, then the following people are a great example of what you can achieve:

• Julie Holmes ran a fantastic new best time of 26:20. This alone would be cause for celebration, but when you consider that Julie set a PB of 27:13 in December 2011 it’s even more impressive because that’s almost a minute off her best in a short space of time!
• Speeding their way to the 50 club, Julia Sudbury (43 runs) and David ‘man in a dress’ Irwin (44 runs) clocked up brilliant times in last week’s chilly conditions earning PBs of 25:54 and 21:43 respectively. Julia started running parkrun in a creditable 33:17 back in April last year. I think you’ll all agree she’s made some phenomenal progress to get the new best time.
• Sorrel Langley-Hobbs completed her 28^th Cambridge parkrun in a new best time of 24:07. Well done, Sorrel!
• Continuing his consistent improvement, Chris Poultney flew round his 54^th run in a time of 21:41. Chris is one of our longstanding runners, he joined us on our second event waaaay back on 6^th February 2010. He ran 26:03 then, so he’s another runner to have taken considerable chunks of his early times.
• Another parkrunner demonstrating that hard work pays off, Ritchie Carter has reduced his time from 27:21 in June last year to a speedy 21:24. Good work, Ritchie!
• There’s a ticket to the sub-21 club with Kristy Guneratne’s name on it. In her 65^th Cambridge parkrun, she ran a super-fast 21:09!

 Chris Johnson – belated awesomenesses to you!

 Last time I had a looksee through the results to decide who to pick out for fame and recognition, I totally overlooked Chris Johnson. So, well done on your PB back in November! Chris did his 44^th Cambridge parkrun last weekend. He needs to shave off just one more second to be under 19 minutes. You can do it!

Men's placings:

Dan STAITE (SM35-39) (Unattached) was first in 17:02 - first win in 4^th appearance.
Chris DARLING (JM15-19) of Cambridge Triathlon Club, was second in 17:08 - 3 previous wins.
Till Jakob Wenzel WAGNER (SM25-29) (Unattached) was third in 17:36 - 1 previous win.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Chris JOHNSON (Unattached) 3560 pts.
Tom James MATTHAMS (Unattached) 2591 pts.
Iain WOOD (Cambridge and Coleridge AC) 2513 pts.

Women's placings:

 
Sophie TOOLEY (JW14) of West Suffolk AC, was first (18^th overall) in 19:24 - 5^th win in 8^th appearance.
Nicki DAVIS (SW30-34) of WaldenTri, was second (22^nd overall) in 20:05 - 7 previous wins.
Christine ANTHONY (VW45-49) of West Suffolk AC, was third (31^st overall) in 20:31 - 1 previous win.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Diane BUNCH (Unattached) 3784 pts.
Kristy GUNERATNE (St Radegund RDC) 3686 pts.
Alex GEOGHEGAN (Unattached) 3081 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Sophie TOOLEY (JW14) was graded 83.93 % for the time 19:24 (18^th overall).
Sebastian ANTHONY (JM14) was graded 80.13 % for the time 17:42 (4^th overall).
Christine ANTHONY (VW45-49) was graded 79.77 % for the time 20:31 (31^st overall).

This week there were 313 runners, of whom 29 were first timers and 73 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 30 different athletics clubs took part.

Cambridge parkrun started on 30th January 2010, and since then 3,003 different runners, including participants from 177 athletics clubs, have completed 18,674 runs covering a total distance of 93,370 km, and there have been 4,824 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Susie HIGNETT who ran in a time of 16:28 on 26th June 2010 (event number 22).
The Men's course record is held by Tom VICKERY who ran in a time of 15:47 on 26th March 2011 (event number 59).
The Age Grade course record is held by Susie HIGNETT who recorded a 89.88 % run (16:28) on 26th June 2010 (event number 22).

Finish funnel – help us, it will help you

As more people take part, we need to tweek the process with the finish area. Here’s a video of Bushy parkrun’s finish funnel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuvagW6qMmY&feature=related  Bushy has a huge turnout each week and recently had 1,000 parkrunners at an event, so this is a great example of a smooth, effective system at work in a large event. We hope to make our finish look just as good and we’re working on ways to achieve this.

In the meantime, observing the following points would help us massively:

• Don’t be a funnel ducker. Remain in the funnel and walk on through, don't duck under the tape.
• Keep moving. We need to keep the funnel clear.
• Don’t cross the finish line more than once. If you head back and help a friend round, that’s fine, but they must finish alone.
  

I’m happy if you just remember those points and ignore the next paragraph. If you’re fascinated by the ins and outs of funnel management (ooh, pun there!) then read on:

We understand that adhering to rules is about the last thing on your mind when you finish a 5k. Promptly lying down seems far more appealing, I know. Bearing the above points in mind makes processing results much easier. Where somebody ducks out of the finish, it gives us more times than finishers and causes our results processing team a headache. We don’t ask you to keep moving because we’re sadists, I promise, but if people stop before collecting a finish token, thereby allowing others to overtake in the funnel, they end up further down in the results and email us during the week to ask why – this is something which can take a while to untangle and we simply don’t have time to do it during the week. Crossing the finish more than once gives more finishers than times. Again, another results processing nightmare.

Bridges – because I know you love them

 I know, I know. You all read these newsletters for my pesky, slippery bridge updates. Well, I’ve got some good news for you.

Work to unpeskificate the wide bridge near the Visitor Centre is beginning very soon and is expected to be completed within a fortnight or so. For those who don’t know what this will involve, the existing wooden slats will be replaced with non-slip ones. If you head to the back of the Visitor Centre and walk up the ramp which leads to the viewing platform, look down: the replacement slats will be similar to those you’re walking upon.

In addition, the park rangers took a look at the narrow bridge at the far end of the course (where the first lap heads right and subsequent laps head left). In view of the pounding this bridge takes, the rangers thought it prudent to give this bridge the same treatment of depeskification*.

They asked me to thank you all for the donations made both online and to the tombola kindly organised by Jenny Parker and her mum last year which contributed funds to this cause.

Huge thanks to the volunteers!

Had a bit of a panic earlier in the week when I thought we may not have enough volunteers this weekend. I’d very much like to thank those of you who have responded to the plea for help on Facebook and Twitter and offered to help.

As our event grows, it’s imperative that our volunteer team grows too. If you wish to do your bit and would like to be added to our database of volunteers, please email CambridgeHelpers@parkrun.com We would love to hear from you.

Birthday reminder

Cambridge parkrun will be 2 on January 28. You’re all invited!

Fancy dress is very much encouraged, but by no means compulsory.

Cambridge News will cover the event and have confirmed they will be sending a photographer.

Probably wise to arrive early on 28^th if you’re planning on using the car park, because the parking machine is becoming very busy before the run and we may have more runners than usual.

Saturday mornings not enough? You just want more parkrun?

Well, that's great because you can:

Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/parkrun.cambridge

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cambrdgeparkrun

Listen to The parkrun Show: http://www.marathontalk.com/parkrun.php

Happy running and hope to see you all on Saturday!

*Thanks to Jonathan Escalante-Philips for coining the word ‘depeskification’.

Parking

The Rangers have asked me to remind you of the £2 charge for parking. The ticket machine becomes busy in the morning before parkrun, so please allow plenty of time to purchase a ticket. It’s possible to purchase a badge for £50 which allows for 6 months’ parking. These badges can be bought from the Visitor Centre and café.

All the money raised from parking goes directly to the upkeep of the park. Consider that our largest event (332 runners) caused 1,029 miles of footpath pounding in under 45 minutes. We’re having a big impact. The park itself is not without cost – insurance, maintenance of the toilet facilities and the Visitor Centre, upkeep of pathways, play equipment and so forth runs into a colossal amount of money.

In 2008 the park was faced with closure because it was becoming impossible to meet these costs. To help ensure the park remains for future generations and for the continued success of Cambridge parkrun, I urge you all to do your bit to support Milton Country Park.

Please don’t park at Tesco. The park need to maintain neighbourly relations with the supermarket and this can cause friction. Similarly, we need to keep on the good side of local residents - we can’t stop you from parking in residential areas, but would very much appreciate you choosing to use the car park.

28 January – lots of volunteers needed!

It’s our second birthday on 28 January and I suspect we may see a record turn-out. We’ll need all the help we can get if we’re lucky enough to see unprecedented numbers. Please do get in touch if you are able to assist. Drop us an email at CambridgeHelpers@parkrun.com

We’re also a bit short of help this weekend, so if you’d like to volunteer, please get in touch via the same email address.

Birthday celebrations

We’re all looking forward to celebrating Cambridge parkrun’s second birthday on January 28. It is likely that Cambridge News will cover the event and that a press photographer will attend.

Fancy dress is very welcome!

If you’ve not taken part before, then why not make it your first event because it should be a lot of fun.

New runners

It’s great that we’re seeing many first timers taking part. If you are thinking of coming along, please take a look at parkrun’s FAQs http://www.parkrun.org.uk/faq

To familiarise yourself with the route, James Killick posted this great video on YouTube and you may find it helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2f7ib5099c

Well done, Chris!

Chris Darling’s probably known to most of you. When he’s not speeding round the course, he can often be found pacing others round to their own PBs. Chris is also famed for his interesting fancy dress… As a little thank you to Chris for his enthusiasm and readiness to help others, we put him forward to be parkrunner of the week. You can read his interview here: http://www.parkrun.com/about/news (You'll need to scroll down to the newsletter dated 12 January.)

And finally, local hero...

Cambridge parkrun regular, Peter Stevens, made the headlines this week when he used his athletic super-powers to chase down a laptop thief. Check out the brilliant article from Cambridge News here: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Theft-victim-who-caught-up-with-crook-concerned-about-youth-fitness-17012012.htm

Thanks to Peter for kindly making a donation to Cambridge parkrun to help improve youth fitness. We just hope none of our younger runners decide to embark upon a career in the smash and grab industry. :)

See you Saturday!

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s hoping 2012 is full of parkruns and PBs for everyone.

Christmas Eve parkrun

Our final parkrun of 2011 was a memorable event, not least because David Irwin threw down the gauntlet and stated that he’d be the fastest man in a dress. Not to be outdone, lots of men rose to the challenge (rather more eagerly than anyone had expected) and the eventual men’s winner was Paul ‘Makka’ Makowski in a time of 17:56. To avoid any discrimination, the women took part too and Kristy Guneratne was the fastest lady in a frock in a time of 21:44. Tracy Hutchison won best dressed for her elf and safety costume, which she wore much to the mortification of son, Angus, who strangely avoided being seen with her.

Worthy of a mention were Chris Darling in a bra, dogs Boosh and Florrie for their canine Christmassy costumes, Helen Henry in a lovely frock (hope the mud didn’t stain too badly), team BRJ for never letting us down when it comes to fancy dress, the guy who dressed as a caveman, blue Father Christmas and many others who made a special effort to look festive and fabulous.

Christmas Eve was also special in that it saw our highest ever participation with 332 runners taking part.  In addition, we had 23 volunteers who made sure the event ran smoothly, so a big thank you to: Adam SCOTT • Alison WEBB • Brodie EVANS • Clare MITCHELL • Colin WEST • Darien James O'BRIEN • Fiona MCDAID • Giovanni Emanuele CINQUE • Heidi UFF • Helen D JOHNSON • James STOCKER • John UFF • Katherine HEYDON • Katrina MITCHELL-MORGAN • Louise PRYOR • Marco WASSERSLEBEN • Mary HOLMES • Mike PINNOCK • Paula KESSLER • Ritchie CARTER • Samuel D JOHNSON • Stephen T WEBB • Suzie HALL

Facts and figures

Men's placings:
Graham RUSH (SM25-29) (Unattached) was first in 16:30 - 6^th win in 8^th appearance.
Kye LIDDLE (SM25-29) of Cambridge and Coleridge AC, was second in 16:35 - 1 previous win.
Jonathan ESCALANTE-PHILLIPS (JM15-19) of Cambridge and Coleridge AC, was third in 16:59 - 2 previous wins.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Chris JOHNSON (Unattached) 3383 pts.
Tom James MATTHAMS (Unattached) 2417 pts.
Iain WOOD (Unattached) 2330 pts.

Women's placings:
Ruth JONES (SW30-34) of Nene Valley Harriers, was first (23^rd overall) in 18:39 - 11^th win in 15^th appearance.
Sophie TOOLEY (JW14) of West Suffolk AC, was second (27^th overall) in 19:03 - 4 previous wins.
Charlotte Tara MURPHY (JW14) of Cambridge and Coleridge AC, was third (28^th overall) in 19:04.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Diane BUNCH (Unattached) 3616 pts.
Kristy GUNERATNE (St Radegund RDC) 3496 pts.
Alex GEOGHEGAN (Unattached) 2924 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
John OAKES (VM50-54) was graded 86.80 % for the time 17:33 (9^th overall).
Sophie TOOLEY (JW14) was graded 85.48 % for the time 19:03 (27^th overall).
Charlotte Tara MURPHY (JW14) was graded 83.74 % for the time 19:04 (28^th overall).

There were 332 runners, of whom 43 were first timers and 41 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 33 different athletics clubs took part.

Cambridge parkrun started on 30th January 2010, and since then 2,924 different runners, including participants from 173 athletics clubs, have completed 18,030 runs covering a total distance of 90,150 km, and there have been 4,727 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Susie HIGNETT who ran in a time of 16:28 on 26th June 2010 (event number 22).
The Men's course record is held by Tom VICKERY who ran in a time of 15:47 on 26th March 2011 (event number 59).
The Age Grade course record is held by Susie HIGNETT who recorded a 89.88 % run (16:28) on 26th June 2010 (event number 22).

And of course, since it’s a 2012 it means the annual points competition kicks off again. You can bag yourself 300 points and some good karma just by volunteering at 3 events over the year. Email CambridgeHelpers@parkrun.com to get yourself added to the volunteer roster. We would love your help!

If you missed the Christmas Eve event or wish to relieve it from the comfort of your home, then James Killick kindly filmed proceedings from his head. Check out the YouTube video. www.youtube.com/watch

Pesky bridge update

We’ve been banging on about the pesky slippery bridge for ages and it looks like a solution is on the horizon. Within a month, the wide bridge near the Visitor Centre should have the old wooden slats removed and some nice new ones complete with non-slip surface put in their place. The concrete section after the bridge also contributes to some slipping, so some anti-slip paint’s going to be applied there. We owe a huge thanks to Milton Count Park and the rangers for doing all they can to provide a safe venue for our event – cheers guys!

Car parking stickers

The park have a fresh batch of car stickers up for grabs. They’re £50 and allow you 6 months’ parking whenever the park is open.

If you’d like one, ask either the park rangers or at the café.

Resolution runners

Each year, we look forward to welcoming resolution runners to the throng. It’s great to see new faces and what’s even greater is how many newbies become regulars. We’re very keen to support everyone in their endeavours, so if you’re thinking of taking part then please don’t hesitate! I realise that many people fear they’ll not be quick enough, but please rest assured that there is no such thing as too slow. We will support you and encourage you until you have finished the event.

If you really feel that 5k is a bit of an ask at the moment, why not build up to the challenge using a training program. I’ve heard much praise for Couch-to-5K, so check it out here: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml. If you start now, you’ll be able to join us in March! Whenever you come we’re really looking forward to welcoming you.

28 January - big birthday event and volunteers needed

We’re delighted to be celebrating Cambridge parkrun’s second birthday on 28 January. Really hope you’ll all be there to help us enjoy the event. If our last birthday’s anything to go by, they’ll be a large number of runners taking part. If you’d like to volunteer on the day, I’d love to hear from you.

Looking forward to seeing many of you tomorrow in our 99^th Cambridge parkrun!

Happy running,

Heidi

Cambridge parkrun regular, David Irwin, reckons he's going to be the fastest man in a dress this weekend. He's invited all the guys to take him on! Who's man (in a dress) enough?

Good luck, David! :)