Heaton parkrun attracted 262 runners (and one very smart dog!) on a sparkling, frosty morning which brought plenty of impressive performances and one or two worrying moments as well.

                                     

                                    

                                 

My reaction to the icy conditions was to have a steady run round, so I was amazed to see that 38 of you recorded new Personal Bests this week. Every week I try to pick out a few PBs to mention, particularly when somebody has made a big improvement or has achieved consecutive PBs. Generally speaking, parkrunners improve steadily in their first few runs, after which PBs become much harder to achieve. So forgive me if I don’t mention you in your parkrun “infancy”, but I will get round to you if you continue to improve. By all means let me know if I am missing performances of note.

Heaton parkrun event 118 was notable for a birthday appearance on the course from our Event Director, some tricky wind and rain, and yet another record turnout of runners.

 

It was great to see the other ‘founding father’ of Heaton parkrun, Mark KELLY, back on the course as well. Mark now devotes much of his time to Oldham parkrun but clearly couldn’t resist the temptation of trying out our new course. All the best for 2012 Mark.

The large number of runners meant a long wait for registration for some people. Unfortunately that coincided with the worst of the weather, with wind and rain blowing in. Hopefully we can acquire another barcode scanner so that the process is speeded up but remember, once you have collected your finish token there is no need to queue in finishing order for registration. You can always take shelter and get some warm clothing on before joining the queue for the registration desk.  If you do need to get away in a hurry and can’t wait in the queue, please make sure you hand in your finishing token at the desk before you leave. If you find that you have accidentally taken a token away please bring it back the next time you come to parkrun.

This week we had another 36 first timers at Heaton Park, with 29 having their first experience of parkrun together with visitors from Hull, Sheffield and Cardiff amongst others. We also offered a first timers’ briefing for the first time and this will be a regular feature from now on. Although parkrun is a very simple concept, one or two things such as the finishing funnel and registration can be confusing for the first timer. Any feedback on issues to include in these briefings would be very welcome.

Congratulations to Adam WORSLEY on completing his 50^th parkrun this week, with all 50 run at Heaton Park.

                                

New Year’s Eve brought a damp and dismal morning to Heaton Park but 168 parkrunners plus assorted officials, volunteers and supporters soon raised everyone’s spirits to see out the old year in style.

As well as bidding farewell to 2011 we also said goodbye to Race Director and all-round Heaton superstar, Clare Kelly, as she takes a break from her duties at parkrun. Clare and husband Mark were instrumental in setting up Heaton parkrun in 2009 and have seen it grow from the 30 or so who ran the course in those early days to the regular attendances in excess of 200 that we see now. During that time Clare has given an enormous amount of her time, not just on Saturdays where she has performed most of the volunteer duties, but also acting as secretary to the Heaton committee. We shall miss your dulcet tones, Clare, but please take with you the very best wishes of everybody at Heaton Park and a sincere hope that you come and visit us very soon.

After more than a few well chosen words of thanks to Clare from Race Director Rick Bennett we were set on our way for the final Heaton parkrun of 2011. For me, it was a first time around the new course after holidays and cancellations and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it, even through the unavoidable puddles around the lake. I hope you’re all getting used to the course now. It would be interesting to hear your views and any suggestions – please feel free to post a comment at the foot of this report.

The final winner of Heaton parkrun 2011 was Robin TUDDENHAM (VM40-44) of Todmorden Harriers & AC in 17:52, his 7^th win. Robin was followed home by Dominic HOWELL (SM35-39) of Clayton-le-Moors Harriers in 18:15, with current Men’s Points leader Jim O'CONNOR (VM40-44) of Salford Harriers and AC third in 18:20.

In the Men's annual points competition Jim now has 1604 pts, with Marek SYNOWIEC second on 1514 pts and Phillip MEADE third on 1410 pts.

Rossendale Harriers claimed the first three positions in the women’s race on Saturday with Emma FLANAGAN (SW20-24) claiming her 14^th victory in 20:07. Her sister, Rebecca FLANAGAN (JW14) was second in 20:50 with Charlotte WADDINGTON (JW14) third in 21:35. I think the wet weather must suit the folk from Rossendale!

Sheila JONES (Radcliffe AC) still leads in the Women's annual points competition with 2047 pts.
Barbara SHUTTLEWORTH is second with1605 pts, followed by Susan BEAN (Swinton RC) on 1542 pts.

The best Age Grade score of the day went to the evergreen Sidney SACKS (VM70-74) who was graded 79.14 % for his time of 22:51. Jean DOLAN (VW60-64) was the highest graded lady with 79.01 % for her time of 25:39.

(Thanks to Colin Davies for pointing out that Jean DOLAN's run was also a new record for the VW60-64 age category. I now notice that Andrea LENNON also set a new record for the VW70-74 category on New Year's Eve. Congratulations to both ladies and apologies for the original omission.)

We welcomed 19 first timers this week, with 15 having their first taste of parkrun. A particularly warm welcome goes out to Arish, Diksha and Adhish RAJKARNIKAR who all had their first run this week. It’s always good to see new families joining us at Heaton and we hope you come back soon.

There were only 9 new Personal Bests this week, but the nasty weather probably didn’t help. In the conditions, Paul CLARK did really well to add a fifth consecutive PB to his record.

 The wet weather couldn’t take the smiles off the faces of brother and sister team, Jamie COOK and Helen KAY as they achieved their 100^th and 50^th runs respectively. Jamie is the first to reach this landmark after starting his parkrun career at Heaton. In keeping with his travelling habit, he duly celebrated by running his 101^st parkrun in Leeds on New Year’s Day. Helen put in a magnificent run to claim the 50 shirt with her quickest time since February.   

The number of 50s and 100s now appearing each week in the right hand column of our results is an indication of how much our runners love parkrun. I’m looking forward to seeing many more during 2012 when I’m sure we shall go from strength to strength. Rick has said many times that he would like to see our numbers go over the 300 mark so let’s make it happen in 2012.

See you next week and Happy New Year!!

Duncan