After weeks of frustration caused by cancellations and muddy conditions when it was possible to run, the mini heatwave during the week dried out the course and provided a near perfect surface for the 87 runners who joined us in the welcome spring sunshine. “Near" perfect, because the heavy dew made the dog-leg turn rather slippery, as several runners discovered to their cost, fortunately without sustaining any injuries.

The results produced the usual crop of interesting statistics, but pride of place must go to the Snook family, Dad Lee and children Sam and Amy, all of whom recorded new PBs! Excluding first runs, of course, has that ever happened in the history of parkrun? Certainly not at Woodside. Mum Melanie was on hand to cheer them on from her marshalling position, but we should have asked her what she had given the family for breakfast, Shredded Wheat, perhaps? (other breakfast cereals are available, of course).

First-timer Phill Brown led the field home and commented afterwards on our Facebook page: “…my first ever parkrun and I can assure you I’ll be back, loved it!” Robert Wilson was the second runner to finish and one of 12 recording new PBs, Julie Figgures the first lady for the 5th time.

Among this week’s tourists we were delighted to welcome four runners from Bicester, whose photos, along with many others, are on our Facebook page, thanks to Hannah Storm. We had lots of positive feedback about the course, the run itself and the welcoming atmosphere in the pavilion. The “Friendly Games” may be over, but the friendly parkrun goes on.

The fog on the Tyne it's all mine all mine...

I could hardly see across to the Pavilion when I arrived this morning but quickly spotted Darren Price busy as ever, setting up for the 82nd time.  That must be a record!  Many thanks also to Darren's helper, Nigel Smith, for your prep work as well - it is always appreciated.  Also congratulations to our tail walker, Andy Moore, for your first volunteering role - it is so appreciated!

So pleased to see we doubled our runners from last week and congratulations to our stalwart 67 runners and 12 volunteers who turned up and ran in what was good running weather - sorry about the mud!

Special congratulations to our 6 new PB's today especially Lisa McGinnis who just gets faster and faster, and our first timer, Jonathan Humphreys, who managed a sub 24m on his first parkrun...

What can you do next week?

And to the results

Lymington Woodside parkrun
Event number 82
14th April 2018

This week 67 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 17 were first timers and 6 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 12 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 12 volunteers:

Darren PRICE • Kay MITCHELL • Stuart GREEN • Nigel SMITH • Andrew MOORE • Prue BAKER • Peter ALLEN • Janet ALLEN • Sarah BUNCE • Bette KEEPING • Lisa WYNNE • Liz SANDERS

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Lymington Woodside parkrun Results Page.

The male record is held by Phil RADFORD who recorded a time of 16:44 on 23rd July 2016 (event number 3).
The female record is held by Caroline HOYTE who recorded a time of 18:47 on 19th August 2017 (event number 57).
The Age Grade course record is held by Michael USSHER who recorded 88.32% (17:07) on 8th October 2016 (event number 14).

Lymington Woodside parkrun started on 9th July 2016. Since then 2,481 participants have completed 8,092 parkruns covering a total distance of 40,460 km, including 1,503 new Personal Bests.

IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK!
Having staged our last event four weeks ago, we were desperate to get going again. The course looked soft but perfectly OK on Friday afternoon, and the forecast was for “light” rain overnight. The BBC weather dictionary obviously does not have the same definition of “light” as the rest of us, because it poured for several hours, returning Woodside to what, since Christmas, has been its normal soggy state.
However, after much deliberation, we decided to go ahead, and were delighted when 61 runners turned up for a mudbath. Someone likened it to the school cross-country runs of yesteryear (remember losing plimsolls in the mud?), but the chief difference is that parkrunners actually choose to run in a quagmire, it’s not compulsory.
Once again, Richard Penn left the other runners standing – or were they just stuck in the mud? – storming round, or maybe through, the course to finish in the impressive time of 18.42. Cathryn Lower also obviously liked the conditions, as she was the first lady home with a barcode and recorded a new PB. Congratulations Richard and Cathryn!
We welcomed visitors from Dublin and Sheffield as well as a number of new parkrunners among the total of 17 first-timers, so we were pleased that we had decided not to cancel at the last minute. Do come and see us again when we hope the course will have dried out. After all, British Summer Time starts this weekend (what happened to spring?).
Despite the mud, today was just what we needed to remind us why we do parkrun after the cold, wet cancellations of recent weeks. Our volunteers did their usual brilliant job, with a smile, and our runners survived the ordeal without a word of complaint, some of them even seemed to enjoy it! What a brilliant, positive way to start the weekend, doctors should be prescribing it (some do, apparently!).

After yet another blank Saturday and the previous week’s additional problems caused by overnight vandalism to the pavilion, it’s good to be able to report that what was only our fourth parkrun of 2018 passed off without any major incidents.
A freezing start to the day, with temperatures more suited to the Winter Olympics than Woodside, developed into a beautiful sunny morning, though the shaded start area at the start made the 48 runners who braved the cold eager to get running. With no new parkrunners and no tourists, probably for the first time ever, briefing notes were kept to a minimum and the race to get back to the warmth of the pavilion began. Although we love to welcome walkers, their absence this week meant that our 13 hardy volunteers did not have to endure the cold for too long either.
Thankfully, the ground at Woodside had dried out considerably, though the going was still soft in places where the thaw had begun, whilst elsewhere it was still frozen, so hard and uneven. Despite these variable conditions, 7 runners achieved new PBs, among them the first runner to finish, Dave Daniels, who came home in 19m40s. Our first lady finisher was Karen Wardle, with a time of 23m28s.
Unfortunately, and here an apology is due, none of the runners will have received their correct time in the automatic email sent out when the results were submitted. This was because the stopwatch we used omitted the first two runners and gave the first runner the time of the third and so on down the list. Thanks to runner Ed Carrell, who spotted this and emailed his concern, we were able to make the necessary corrections. Incidentally, we are at a loss to explain why this watch downloaded 45 runners, then 46 and finally 48, the correct number. Maybe, unlike our volunteers and those runners who wore shorts yesterday, stopwatches don’t perform well in the cold?
Talking of which, the coming week’s weather forecast is not looking too good. Snow news is bad news …

Another cold start but at least the rain held off until 35 minutes in!  Refreshing shower to cool off our hardy 79 runners and 13 volunteers.  

First challenge of the day was to clear the broken glass from outside the pavilion - many thanks Nigel Smith for conjuring up a broom and helping clear the mess from our overnight "visitors"...

Lovely to welcome Chris Archibold, our former ambassador, back to the run and his son Dominic who immediately volunteered to do the finish tokens.  Great time after a layoff and injury Chris!

And to the results:

Lymington Woodside parkrun
Event number 78
10th February 2018

This week 79 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 27 were first timers and 4 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 15 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 13 volunteers:

Hannah STORM • John MACINNES • Darren PRICE • Kay MITCHELL • Dominic ARCHIBOLD • Stuart GREEN • Nigel SMITH • Peter HARWOOD • Prue BAKER • Nigel MUSSETT • Linda WALKER • Bette KEEPING • Liz SANDERS

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Lymington Woodside parkrun Results Page.

The male record is held by Phil RADFORD who recorded a time of 16:44 on 23rd July 2016 (event number 3).
The female record is held by Caroline HOYTE who recorded a time of 18:47 on 19th August 2017 (event number 57).
The Age Grade course record is held by Michael USSHER who recorded 88.32% (17:07) on 8th October 2016 (event number 14).

Lymington Woodside parkrun started on 9th July 2016. Since then 2,435 participants have completed 7,882 parkruns covering a total distance of 39,410 km, including 1,486 new Personal Bests.