Up and running

 

Picture the scene, it's Saturday May 11th and the 131st day of 2013. The sun is shining, well mostly, and the trees are suddenly every conceivable shade of green, their leaves rustling in the breeze. The fishermen are, well fishing, an array of animals are enjoying breakfast and the geese are proudly showing off their young. Yes, Spring has finally, really, properly, triumphantly arrived in East Park these last few weeks and what else could you want to do other than run a couple of times around the lake, oh, and as fast as you possibly can? So, for anyone who was doing just that for the very first time, welcome to parkrun - brilliant, isn't it!

This week there were 320 participants, including 29 first timers with 61 running faster than they had done before (around 22% of those eligible). As always there were happy runners young and old, runners with dogs and runners with buggies, and there was even someone who appeared to be doing the reverse route (did anyone dare to tell him!)

We congratulated Sylvia BOARDLEY on joining the 100 club this week. Sylvia first joined us in August 2010 and has a best time of 33:50.

Jackie WRIGHT and Sara ROOKYARD earned their 50 t-shirts and check out how Sara celebrated the occasion in the stats below. Jackie’s first run was in April 2011 and Sara joined us in September 2010.

Juniors Jack DERBYSHIRE, Cody SUTTON and Meg SUTTON made it their 10^th runs on Saturday.

It was great to see Chris DOCHERTY, a parkrun tourist from Main Beach in Queensland, Australia. Chris is originally from Hull and this was her first visit back in around 50 years. Her time of 24:33 was also enough to secure her first place in the Age Grades this week, an impressive 82.55%.
Another parkrun tourist, Paul Gerald ADKINS, generally parkruns in the Manchester area and his first visit to Hull with a time of 20:27 gave him second place, 78.40%, in the Age Grades.

Here are the rest of the stats:
Men's placings:
Oliver TRUBY (SM20-24) was first over the line in 17:39 - a new pb and his first win in 12 appearances.
Ivan DALEO (SM35-39) was second in 17:50.
Tom BOLTON (JM15-19) was third in 18:12.

Women's placings:
Sara ROOKYARD (VW40-44) celebrated her 50th parkrun by coming first (14th overall) in 19:46, her 10th win. Her time also gained her third place, 77.82%, in the Age Grades.
Carla HEADSPITH (SW25-29) was second (28th overall) over the line in 21:21, a time that gave her an amazing new pb, some 4 mins 20 secs quicker than her previous best time.
Jennifer Louise COATES (SW30-34) was third (37th overall) in 21:34

For the younger runners Charlie PHELAN came in first for the boys in 22:43 and Cody SUTTON was first for the girls in 26:17, great running guys.

To PB or not to PB:

We had a trio of pacers this week and looking at the results it seems that we may have inspired a few of you. Josh NORMAN (30 mins), Rob ALEXANDER (24 mins) and myself (28 mins)

Meanwhile Iain McGOWAN swapped his immaculate pacing skills for a stunning new pb of 21.04 on his 40^th run

John PRITCHETT made it 3 in a row with a new time of 21:15

Karl ROLSTONE’s new pb of 22:17 was his 4^th in succession – keep it going Karl!

Kate ADKINS does some parkrun touring but her 6^th run at Hull in 24:05 was also her 'fastest anywhere' time

Ian WRAY recorded a new time of 27:35 on his 33^rd run

Laura CROSBY edged closer to sub 31 on her 19^th run with a new pb of 31:09

The average time that it takes to run Hull parkrun is 27:54 and, obligingly, Carol BURNHAM became Ms Average this week.

Meanwhile Tony LEWIS became the 33,000th runner to complete the Hull parkrun course.

Whilst I'm on statistics, (yes, I'm fast becoming a parkrun anorak), I noticed that 48 red t-shirt owners in the parkrun community were eligible to secure 100 club status this weekend with Sylvia joining Tom (UK parkrun country manager) and Helen Willams in celebrating this great achievement. Meanwhile, one of the most interesting post-run conversations is invariably how we all discovered parkrun so I would also like to mention new 100 club and 15 time Hull parkrun participator Rich Kenington, not least because he is responsible for changing my Saturday mornings for ever. Thanks Rich and hope you’re still wearing that badge!

In other news, it was lovely to catch up with so many Hull parkrunners at the Beverley 10k on Sunday, hope everybody had a good run, and as I was doing my 'research' for this week's report, I came across this useful little website:

http://www.runnersmedicalresource.com/

It looks very informative for those just starting out but should also be good ‘revision’ for those Hull parkrunners preparing for future 10ks, half-marathons, oh and even marathons apparently!

Finally, as always, we need to thank our brilliant band of smiley volunteers, without whom none of this could happen. Email hullhelpers@parkrun.com to join in the fun – it’s also the perfect way to get to know other parkrunners.

Here is the link to this week’s photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/112249886643288772055/Event16520130511

Thanks to Val GARDNER and Carole TENNISON

Event 164, May the 4th be with you 2013 by Keith Conkerton

The sun was out, but so too was the wind and even for a short period we had a spot of rain, but all in all the signs are there that Summer is finally waking up from its' long hibernation. Perhaps this had something to do with the incredible amount of pb’s; there were 74 out of a field of 337 runners, meaning that roughly 1 in 5 runners recorded a new pb. We also welcomed 27 first timers, well done and please come back soon. Unfortunately we also had a high number of unknowns too, - remember if you don’t have your barcode your achievements go unrecorded. There were also some first timers of a non-human variety as the arrival of many newborn goslings and ducklings will have to get used to watching hundreds of athletes chasing the paths every Saturday morning.

Here are the statistics for this week :

Andy LYONS (VM40-44) of City of Hull AC, was first over the line in 16:54 - first appearance.

Andrew CROSS (JM15-19) of City of Hull AC, was second over the line in 17:14 - Has been first to finish on 7 previous occasions.

Steve MASON (VM50-54) (Unattached) was third over the line in 17:43 - Has been first to finish on 18 previous occasions.

Women's placings:

Phoebe LAW (JW15-19) of Achilles AC, was first (18th overall) over the line in 19:43 - third time in 6 appearances.

Sara ROOKYARD (VW40-44) of East Hull Harriers & AC, was second (19th overall) over the line in 19:43 - Has been first to finish on 9 previous occasions.

Ellie KITCHEN (SW20-24) of Warwick University AC, was third (25th overall) over the line in 20:26 - Has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.

As stated previously there were a large amount of pb’s this week and I’ve picked out a few notable ones, pb’s are always worthy of note and I’m sure I’ll have missed some special ones, but with so many happening it’s impossible to mention you all, keep plugging away and hopefully we’ll get you next time :

Vicky GODFREY is running really well at the moment and has recorded another pb with a time of 22:35, Vicky is also currently at the top of the ladies points table, keeping Jan SUDDABY at bay.

Val GARDNER has just completed a hat trick of pb’s adding running finesse to her photographic abilities.

Gary ROBINSON did it again, Gary has been regularly running in the 22 minute region and with a time of 22:09 this week will surely be getting into the 21s soon.

Andy FEWSTER went one better than Val by getting his fourth on the trot and in his 61st run achieved 20:09

Caroline FEE broke 25:00 with a time of 24:43, Caroline is another runner who is having a good string of results and is surely benefiting from the ever constant companion – her husband Gary.

We had two visitors from afar this week who used the flat and fast course at East Park to record best anywhere pb’s, Kate LANGSTAFF who normally runs in Birmingham ran at 28:35 and Alison LONIE from Newcastle completed in 29:20.

Martin WARD recorded a pb in his first six runs but has had to wait since the 7th July last year to get his latest with a time of 21:59, it just goes to show that if you keep putting the effort in you’ll get there.

Two of our younger runners that are going well at the moment are Chloe BROADBENT and Tabatha CHAPMAN, I remember Chloe smashing the 27:00 time when I was on pacing duties and she is now down to 25:53, while Tabitha has impressively improved by over 6 minutes in the last three weeks alone with a new pb of 32:50.

Talking of pacing, thanks and well done to this week's pacers Richard BARTON at 26 minutes, Iain McGOWAN at 28, and Rob ALEXANDER at 30. I know how much the pacing is appreciated by fellow runners.

We had two runners marking their 50th runs this week, Tracey PARKER and Lee EDWARDS (who celebrated with a 26:03 pb), well done both of you and here’s to your 100th.

Our two top age grades this week were Gavin DALTON with 88.91 % and for the ladies Amanda Jane DEAN with 85.46%, remarkably both were 4th in gender on the day and both have completed 22 runs – the spooky world of coincidences.

I’m happy to report that after the problems with the funnel last week we had a much smoother finish, but as the popularity of parkrun grows we are having to learn and adapt to accommodate and everyones' patience is appreciated. The volunteers as always did a fantastic job and I was particularly impressed by the girl who came all the way from Beverley to do her bit, staying right to the end and helping to return the equipment to the boat house, thanks very much.

Last weeks near attendance record may have set a new benchmark if it hadn’t been such a busy time elsewhere, we had several regulars running in longer races around the country including the Manchester and Sunderland marathons and the North Lincs ½ marathon, well done and welcome back everyone, there are many parkrunners (myself included) who start thinking that 5K seems a long long way but then surprise themselves as they start taking on greater distances.

To finish off for this week it was noticeable that the number of after run visitors to the cafe was greatly depleted this week, I’m guessing that this was due to people rushing off to see Hull City in their efforts to regain Premier League status, well done the Tigers, what a game and what a season.

Keep on Running

Late News Extra  Follow this link for this week's photographs by Val Gardner and Carolyn Barton
https://picasaweb.google.com/112249886643288772055/Event16420130504

 

PBs Aplenty

348 runners, just 8 short of Hull's record ran in event 163, contributing to a total of 37,670 worldwide (a new record) running at 235 events, which shows what a phenomenon parkrun has become. The rain held off for long enough to give us a dry parkrun, with the good conditions and our pacers helping 83 parkrunners to their PBs. 27 of today's runners were first timers, hopefully they all had a great time and will come again. Also, a big thank you to the volunteers who make this event possible.

9 runners (a Hull record?) are celebrating milestones this week.
10 runs
George DERBYSHIRE first ran in November last year. His PB of 34:17, set this week, is an improvement of 4:32 on his first run.
Brandon BONE first ran in event 134, and 4 PBs have given him an overall improvement of 2:47.
Benjamin WEBSTER first ran in event 122 and a 1 second PB this week has contributed to an overall improvement of 41 seconds.
Natasha SYRETT first ran in January this year and has an overall improvement of 7:35.
50 runs
Tony LOWTHORPE first ran in event 68 in July 2011 and has had 7 PBs to give him an overall improvement of 10:49.
Aaron BELL first ran in event 107 just over a year ago and has had 15 PBs, his latest one on Christmas day 2012.
100 runs
Vince MCGOWAN first ran in August 2010 and has had 27 PBs including an 11 run PB streak, which have brought his time down by 8:34.
Kim TURNER first ran in event 27 and has 14 PBs, the latest one in April last year, which have given her an overall improvement of 6:50.
Mark FAIRPO first ran back in May 2010, in event 8, and 9 PBs have given him a PB of 19:33, an improvement of 7:06 on his first run.

Here are the stats:
Men's placings:
Andrew CROSS (JM15-19) of City of Hull AC, was first over the line in 17:26 - 7th time in 28 appearances.
Steve MASON (VM50-54) (Unattached) was second over the line in 17:48 - Has been first to finish on 18 previous occassions.
Darren Robert EDGE (VM45-49) of Beverley AC, was third over the line in 18:56.

Women's placings:
Pheobe LAW (JW15-19) of Achilles AC, was first (14th overall) over the line in 19:41 - second time in 5 appearances.
Lauryn GARWOOD (JW14) of Beverley AC, was second (22nd overall) over the line in 20:11 - Has been first to finish on 2 previous occassions.
Whitney LARKIN (JW15-19) (Unattached) was third (27th overall) over the line in 20:46.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Jane Ruth MORLEY (VW60-64) was graded 88.04 % for the time 21:44 (50th overall).
Steve MASON (VM50-54) was graded 84.93 % for the time 17:48 (second overall).
Simon RICHARDSON (VM60-64) was graded 81.87 % for the time 19:46 (16th overall).

This week we welcomed Nicola ROLLINSON and Danny DUGGAN who both ran previously at Colwick, Laura KIRKHAM who runs at Preston, and Simon RICHARDSON who runs at York

Of the 83 PBs, all are special, but here are a few that I noticed.
James COOK's 2nd PB in 4 runs took him sub-20 for the first time.
Gary ROBINSON's 6th PB of 2013 shaved 2 seconds off his previous one.
Vicky GODFREY's 3rd PB in 4 runs was 6 seconds quicker than before.
Sarah TOCK took 26 seconds off her PB in her 80th run.
Sandy HEBDON's 2nd consecutive PB lowered his PB by 15 seconds.
Regular volunteer Val GARDNER took 49 seconds off her PB this week.
Paul GARWOOD went sub-22 for the first time in his 7th run.
Georgia SCOTT has had a PB every run, with 30 second coming off this week.

Finally, there were 13 unknowns this week, please remember your barcode or you won't get a time.

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Past parkrun photos

Late addition. Follow this link for photos by Val GARDNER and Alan GARDINER
https://picasaweb.google.com/112249886643288772055/Event16320130428