The forecast was for freezing cold frosty weather at Reading parkrun today? It didn't quite happen as predicted but at least it was dry and fairly sunny with no rain.

241 Runners made it to today's event.

A first timer finished in first place today: Mark Worringham from Reading roadrunners completed the course in a time of 18:37, so well done Mark!

Julie Murphy from Lagan Valley AC was today's first lady finisher in a time of 20:20 and her first time at Reading parkrun! 

Congratulations to Claire Seymour on completing 50 parkruns, 100 will be the next target for Claire.

34 first timers joined us today down by the Thames so well done to you all.

Kerry Aylmer was today's Race Director along with the many merry volunteers who did another fantastic job, and as we know this parkrun event would not happen without these wonderful people. 

Today's pictures are on the website with many thanks to Tom Robinson and Peter Cook.

Results:

Men's placings:
Mark WORRINGHAM (SM30-34) of Reading Roadrunners, was first in 18:37 - first appearance.
Duncan LAURIE-PILE (SM35-39) of Sandhurst Joggers, was second in 18:49.
Simon ELSBURY (SM20-24) of Reading Roadrunners, was third in 18:52.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Tim CHESHER (Reading Roadrunners) 1729 pts.
David Lewy LEWIS (Unattached) 1623 pts.
Christopher T KELLY (British Airways AC) 1578 pts.

Women's placings:
Julie MURPHY (VW35-39) of Lagan Valley AC, was first (18^th overall) in 20:20 - first appearance.
Jane A DAVIES (VW50-54) of Reading Joggers, was second (33^rd overall) in 21:50 - 2 previous wins.
Silje Skorve SKARPEID (SW25-29) of Reading Roadrunners, was third (45^th overall) in 22:28.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Joanna GREENWOOD (Unattached) 1773 pts.
Jenny Angharad TORENGA (Unattached) 1655 pts.
Gina HOPKINS (Reading Joggers) 1380 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Jane A DAVIES (VW50-54) was graded 79.77 % for the time 21:50 (33^rd overall).
Marit Johanne SKORVE (VW50-54) was graded 75.70 % for the time 22:42 (49^th overall).
Murray HOGGE (VM50-54) was graded 75.40 % for the time 19:43 (10^th overall).

This week there were 241 runners, of whom 34 were first timers and 34 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 14 different athletics clubs took part.

Reading parkrun started on 12th September 2009, and since then 2,894 different runners, including participants from 140 athletics clubs, have completed 17,788 runs covering a total distance of 88,940 km, and there have been 3,859 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Annie BAUMBER who ran in a time of 18:13 on 26th November 2011 (event number 111).
The Men's course record is held by Tom LERWILL who ran in a time of 16:00 on 22nd October 2011 (event number 106).
The Age Grade course record is held by Paula FUDGE who recorded a 91.95 % run (20:43) on 30th April 2011 (event number 82).

Sunshine! How good did that make you feel? Even though the ground was soft and slippery in patches the mild morning was very welcome. 

We had our second highest ever turnout of 263 finishers and an amazing 44 first timers were among them. Greg Sudell was one of the first timers although he has been a regular at Basingstoke with 87 parkruns to his name.

First to finish was first-timer Harry Gee, in 17:45, and our first lady to finish was Ellie Barnes, in 18:59, who also managed to squeeze out a new personal best into the bargain. Ellie improved on her previous best by 5 seconds and also came in under 19 minutes. Well done Harry and Ellie.

Speaking of personal bests we had 27 this week which does suggest that conditions underfoot were a bit better than last week.

Well done to the brave young chap who took a tumble at the muddy bit before the bridge but picked himself up and carried on.

Thank you to our volunteers who were all on good form especially the marshals who were  suitably vociferous on giving out warnings of slippery hazards. Boyko Gerov, who was on set-up duty will be wondering if he should have brought his gardening gloves with him, with the amount of clearing fallen bits of branches on the paths through the woods that was required.

Lucy Perrin was today’s Race Director and did her usual excellent job. The clearest instruction was “I am stepping back as Event Director in March and someone needs to step up to the plate” or something along those lines. I did notice lots of heads bowed examining feet and no eye contact as Lucy looked around for that special person...took me back to my schooldays.

Peter Cook’s photographs are always very good but the better weather and the position of the finish made for some really excellent shots. Thanks Peter!

Results

Men's placings:
Harry GEE (SM30-34) of Tri20, was first in 17:45 - first appearance.
Julian SHERMAN (SM35-39) of Reading Roadrunners, was second in 18:23 - 14 previous wins.
Callum HUGHES (SM25-29) of Tri20, was third in 18:48.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Tim CHESHER (Reading Roadrunners) 1453 pts.
David Lewy LEWIS (Unattached) 1427 pts.
Julian SHERMAN (Reading Roadrunners) 1387 pts.

Women's placings:
Ellie BARNES (SW25-29) of Tri20, was first (7^th overall) in 18:59 - 5^th win in 12^th appearance.
Clare LAIT (SW30-34) of Tri20, was second (23^rd overall) in 21:04.
Caroline MACASKILL (VW35-39) of Tri20, was third (35^th overall) in 22:10.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Joanna GREENWOOD (Unattached) 1509 pts.
Jenny Angharad TORENGA (Unattached) 1469 pts.
Claire Louise SEYMOUR (Reading Roadrunners) 1204 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Jane A DAVIES (VW50-54) was graded 78.22 % for the time 22:16 (37^th overall).
Ellie BARNES (SW25-29) was graded 77.96 % for the time 18:59 (7^th overall).
Sam GRAY (JM14) was graded 75.18 % for the time 18:52 (4^th overall).

This week there were 263 runners, of whom 44 were first timers and 27 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 15 different athletics clubs took part.

Reading parkrun started on 12th September 2009, and since then 2,798 different runners, including participants from 137 athletics clubs, have completed 17,044 runs covering a total distance of 85,220 km, and there have been 3,718 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Annie BAUMBER who ran in a time of 18:13 on 26th November 2011 (event number 111).
The Men's course record is held by Tom LERWILL who ran in a time of 16:00 on 22nd October 2011 (event number 106).
The Age Grade course record is held by Paula FUDGE who recorded a 91.95 % run (20:43) on 30th April 2011 (event number 82).

Mud glorious mud.....and there's lots of it at Reading parkrun!

We will be running the 3 lap route again this week and asking people to stay on the foot paths (even if it means running through the puddles) to avoid damaging the grass any further.

Thank you,

Reading parkrun.

Keith wins a free pair of running shoes from Sweatshop. Each month Sweatshop kindly donate a pair of running shoes to a worthy winner that can be fitted at the Reading store.

Keith has been a regular runner at Reading parkrun since his first run on the 2 October 2010, hardly missing a week in that time, he has ran a total of 57 parkruns. Keith can sometimes be seen at Reading parkrun disguised as a giant duck!

Keith's other passion is orienteering and he is a keen member of Berkshire orienteers.

Well done.

Lucy

We ran on the 1st of January and the 31st of December and 50 other Saturdays in between.

• 314 runners finished the Xmas Eve run - a new record attendance eclipsing the previous record of 261 set on 21 May.
• The male course record was broken three times during the year. The current record is 16:00 held by Tom Lerwill
• The female course record was broken by Annie Baumber who set the new time to beat of 18:13
• Paul Roberson crossed the finish line first 14 times in 2011
• Liz Hartney was first lady finisher 10 times in 2011
• 45 males and 37 females have volunteered at least once since the new Reading parkrun points competition year started in September
• We had an orange run, run free and Santa run
• We held our second anniversary in September
• It never rained on parkrun in 2011
• Mark Saunders retired as joint Event Director in September
• Lucy Perrin has been Event Director all of 2011 but will be retiring from the front line in March and will welcome contact from anyone interested in taking on this important role.

Many personal triumphs have been achieved during 2011: finally dragging on those trainers and getting out there for the first time, achieving a personal best, getting round without stopping, breaking the course record, coming first in the points competition, being first male or female finisher, improving an age graded percentage, volunteering for the first time and finding it is actually good fun, and finally of course, making new friends.

• Oh yes, and we had FUN!

Best of luck to all parkrunners in 2012!