|
Richmond parkrun 2nd Birthday and the presentation of the Stephen Instone cup.
A very special celebration of 104 parkruns in Richmond Park was made even more moving by the presentation of the first Stephen Instone memorial cup for the men’s points prize.
Karen Weir should have received an award herself, however, for remembering and presenting the greatest number of prizes in one Saturday. First we had the t-shirts for Junior 10 runs; adult 50 (Andrew ‘Kew’ Brown and James Flood among the recipients) and then the second only 100 t-shirt which was presented to Duncan Brown (more of later).
Following the run, which must have come close to the Richmond parkrun record for number of runners (191), there were further presentations.
The first ever presentation of the ‘100’ t-shirt was back at the beginning of this year and to Stephen Instone. Stephen had not only run more runs than anyone else at Richmond parkrun (accumulated at both Richmond and Bushy Park) but was also streets ahead in the men’s points league. Very sadly, Stephen died suddenly in July but it is testament to his talent and dedication that it wasn’t until Duncan Brown’s last Richmond run in September that Stephen was beaten by just 2 points.
Shelley Instone, Stephen’s widow, was there to receive the original points cup but also to present the new Stephen Instone cup to Duncan. This is the cup which will now be presented each year to the men’s points winner.
The winner of the women’s point prize this year was Alison Dicks - who has not only run a lot and fast but has also regularly volunteered.
The beautiful thing about the points prize, however, is that you can climb up the league table just by turning up a lot and you don’t need to be that speedy (I can personally vouch for this). The other great tip is to volunteer. If you volunteer at least three times in one year you receive the maximum 300 points. If you have never considered volunteering I would thoroughly recommend you give it a go. It gives you a surprising new perspective on the run. Having spent the vast majority of my running time coming somewhere in the middle (if I am lucky) it is a total revelation being at the finish line to see the winners come through in spectacular fashion (particularly the remarkable James Murdoch); or sitting at the laptop and putting names to faces; or tail running and remembering what it was like to start at parkrun.
Karen then followed up the points prizes with special prizes for parkrun spirit. Among the recipients of these were the fabulous Heather, Nigel and Holly. It was a treat to have Heather with us again today - letting her protegees at Bedfont parkrun fly solo for the day.
Those runners held captive by the promise of raffle prizes (and the consumption of fairy cakes) were not disappointed: race entries; massages and water-bottles proved a huge pull. And as if no one wanted it to end the very last ticket had to be drawn several times before a winner was found.
I would like to add my own personal thanks to all the organisers of the Richmond parkrun, including Karen, Lou and Ironman Dan. You are heroes. Happy Birthday.
Here are the race details:
In his 4th appearance, Danny NORMAN (SM30-34) of Stragglers won for the 1st time in a time of 17:19. Steven EVANS (SM30-34) representing Unattached took second by 47 seconds recording 18:06. Simon NICHOLL, (SM30-34) of Unattached placed third in a time of 18:10.
In her 26th appearance, Isobel REA (SW30-34) of West 4 Harriers won in a time of 19:29 for the 14th time. Isobel REA beat Lee COOLE (VW55-59) representing Unattached by 129 seconds recording 21:38 in the process. Alison DICKS, (SW30-34) of Ranelagh Harriers placed third in a time of 22:26.
In today's Age Graded competition, the extremely bouncy Lee COOLE recorded a performance of 83.44%.
In the points competition Nigel ROTHWELL has a lead of 0 points over second placed Mason EL-HAGE. Ingrid WAGNER leads Philippa METHERELL by 0 in the ladies competition.
This week there were 23 first timers.
47 runners recorded PBs, bringing the total number since the Richmond Park started to 2650. In this time, 2560 runners from 135 different clubs have completed the race 10441 times covering a distance of 52205 kilometers.
The male course record is held by Daniel AGUSTUS who ran 15:50 on 15/08/09, event #96. The female equivalent is held by Susie BUSH who ran 17:14 on 01/11/08, event #55.
p.s. Sorry I didn’t get the names of all of winners - I had forgotten my handy reporter’s notebook.
|