I may have made this up but I am sure that the last time I checked on the average number of runs each person does who has been part of parkrun it wasn’t as many as 6.2.   Looking around this morning at the regular show of hands for new runners there was a fair scattering but perhaps not as many as other weeks and yet we had 174 runners.    

Today was the 125th Richmond parkrun. Looking back at Richmond parkrun:  on 14th March 2009 there were 97 runners (and I managed to come 66th with a slower time than I recorded today coming in 106th); on 15th March 2008 there were 66 runners and the first Richmond parkrun on 20th October 2007 had 42 runners.  Among those first runners were Andrew Woodhouse, the late Stephen Instone, Wiebke Kortum and the recipient of today’s 100 t-shirt, Jerzy Krol.   

More runners running more regularly, together with the enormous and understandable success of parkrun means, as we learned today in Karen’s pre-race pre-amble, two new local parkruns.  One in Kingston and one in ‘Old Deer Park’.

The news of new and very local parkruns elicited, for me, mixed emotions:  delight that parkrun is so popular and that more people will have the opportunity to participate in a truly local event; but a slight anxiety that some regular Richmond Park parkrunners may be less regular to this event.   Richmond parkrun is such a friendly, mutually supportive and therapeutic (in more ways than I can count) event that the selfish bit of me doesn’t want it to change.  That said, the opportunity to visit other events without having to get up much earlier is also rather agreeable - and I suspect, will further prove that Richmond Park parkrun remains the most beautiful and challenging.

Kingston parkrun begins next week and the link is already up and running.  It takes in a lot of the towpath between Kingston and Teddington Lock (so will have its own delights).  I am sure that Old Deer Park will be similarly charming, but perhaps occasionally waterlogged?

The 14 ‘first-timers’ today were fabulously dotted across the, approximately, 20 minute spread between finishers.  Among them, Iona Robertson from Shettleston Harriers (a visitor, perhaps from the Glasgow parkrun) came in 12th overall with a time of 19.18; Paul Chapman from Belgrave Harriers came in 13th; Celeste Biever of Barnes Runners finishing in a time of 21.32 came in 45th; coming in 75th with a time of 23.20 was Emma Bracey, and 172nd with a time of 35.49 was Ravi Dhindsa.  

Notable pbs (I can’t mention Neil Chesterton again) were Ben Carter (JM15 - 19) with a time of 19.02 and Jacqueline Millett (VW55 - 59) with a time of 22.52 and a hugely impressive age graded result of 81.05%.  Jacqueline also currently leads on the Ladies Points and appears untouchable.  

Adam Vandenberg of Hercules Wimbledon AC (SM 25 - 29) notched up his third win in as many visits to Richmond parkrun.  The aforementioned Iona Robertson came in first for the women. 

Good luck to Kingston for next week.   

I don’t know about any of you in the parkrun clubs, but I was pretty pleased when I got my 50 club t-shirt.  After what seemed like an eternity of missed Saturday morning lie-ins and lung-busting effort up Richmond hill, picking up the little red t-shirt was a real sense of smug self-achievement.  On Saturday, there was no t-shirt to collect, but I joined another club the existence of which was at least part of the reason I got my 50 club shirt in the first place:  the sub 17 club.    Pride rather than material possessions is granted to the runners in this select group and I’m pleased to have made it as the 23rd Richmond parkrun member (although I think most of the others managed it in significantly fewer than the 54 attempts at Richmond parkrun that I needed!).

Many thanks to the volunteers and supporters at the end of the race who were amazingly supportive cheering me along.  Particular thanks also to lead bike, Holly, who was encouraging throughout the race and particularly on the last hill as I wanted to fold and give up.  Apologies to all that I couldn’t be a bit more gracious in receiving the support - if it hadn’t felt that my lungs were just about on fire from about 3km out, then I may have been able to acknowledge you! 

The other significant milestone of the day goes to Annemarie Goodridge of Ranelagh Harriers who joined the 50 club on Saturday.  Not only this, but she did so in style with a 1 second PB in 30:20.  Annemarie’s 50 has come over the past four years starting in Bushy Park.  After seeing the light and coming across the river, Annemarie has only once been tempted back to her old stomping ground of and claims the rare distinction of a better PB at Richmond than Bushy.  Well done Annemarie and enjoy receiving your t-shirt shortly!

Elsewhere, there must have been fairly benign conditions as there were loads of personal bests recorded on the day (54 of 183 runners) so neither Annemarie nor I were alone in taking advantage of the anticlockwise tailwind!  The pacers were out as well which no doubt assisted many of the PBs.  One word of advice though if you are chasing one of the pacers:  it is alleged that many of them vie for the calf guards on offer for the most accurate pacer and slow up towards the end to get as close as possible to their desired pace (naming of course no names).  So if you’re really going for a sub 25 time (for example and of course not targeting this particular pacer) and you feel beaten at half way point, don’t feel too dejected as more than likely the last kilometre will be at a far more leisurely pace.......

Green Belt Relay

In a follow-up to my request for runners a couple of weeks ago, I’m pleased to say that I’ll definitely be going ahead putting together a team for the Green Belt Relay as I have over half a team of definite and maybe runners (split between one day and two day runners).  In summary (and at risk of repeating myself) for those of you who do not know what this is, it’s a 220 mile relay organised by local running club the Stragglers around the outskirts of Greater London on towpaths, footpaths and quiet country lanes, with the course split into 22 stages starting and finishing at Hampton Court / Kingston.  The relay is run over a weekend (set for 22 / 23 May this year) with teams of 11 (i.e. each runner running 2 stages).  The stages are between 8 and 13 miles approx.  Full details of the event, including course details, previous results, entry details etc can be found on the event’s website below:

http://www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/

Can anyone who may be interested in running in the Richmond parkrun team e-mail me at the following e-mail address: jamesandruthflood@googlemail.com .  As for two weeks ago, the questions that I’d like you to answer in your e-mail are as follows:

Are you:

a definite

a maybe

possibly if I only have to run one stage

happy to be a reserve runner to be called upon in the event of a team member getting injured / pulling out nearer the time

Do you have a car and would you be willing to assist in helping other runners to their start / from their finish?  As you can imagine the logistics of a continuous race with starts and finishes in different locations and often in fairly non public transport friendly locations means there needs to be a fair bit of co-operation and co-ordination between team members.

Would you be willing to run one of the North / East / Southeast London stages (as most of you I am guessing are Southwest London based, these are the most inconvenient for each of us to get to)?

When I have e-mail addresses of enough runners, I can then start thinking of team names, running legs for each runner, transport etc...

Enough for now, the racing stats are below:

In his 54th appearance, James Christopher FLOOD (SM30-34) of Stragglers won for the 13th time in a time of 16:50. Brian THURSBY (SM---) representing Letterkenny AC took second by 23 seconds recording 17:13. Eoin O'CONNELL, (SM35-39) of Serpentine RC placed third in a time of 17:22.

In her 37th appearance, Anna CRITCHLOW (VW40-44) of West 4 Harriers won in a time of 19:08 for the 33rd time. Anna CRITCHLOW beat Liz KILLIP (VW45-49) representing St Mary's Richmond AC by 99 seconds recording 20:47 in the process. Christine MEEK, (VW50-54) of Hillingdon Triathletes placed third in a time of 22:06.

In today's Age Graded competition, Anna CRITCHLOW recorded a performance of 81.27%

In the points competition Connor PATTERSON has a lead of 56 points over second placed Ben CARTER. Jacqueline MILLETT leads Sally WOODWARD GENTLE by 104 in the ladies competition.

This week there were 23 first timers.

54 runners recorded PBs, bringing the total number since the Richmond Park started to 3246. In this time, 3109 runners from 163 different clubs have completed the race 13593 times covering a distance of 67,965 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.

Wiebke Kortum! Well done Wiebke again and there was only 1 second in it. We had 5 brilliant pacers out this month and some very accurate times. Thanks to all our pacers, if you fancy giving it ago, please contact richmondhelpers@parkrun.com and remember if you are the most accurate pacer you win a pair of Compression Calf Guards courtesy of John Brame at RGActive.

Charlie Cooper - 20 min pacer - actual time 19.45

Neil Chesterton - 22.30 pacer - actual time 22.32

Andrew Brown - 25 min pacer - actual time 24.55

Wiebke Kortum - 27.30 pacer - actual time 27.31

Mason El-Hage - 30 minute pacer - actual time 29.04

The February winner of the coveted Richmond parkrun Monthly Sweatshop prize is Steve Jessop. The prize is awarded to the athlete who has shown long term dedication as well as consistency and improvement over the month.

Steve first ran with us at Richmond parkrun in January 2008, getting very close to the coveted red t-shirt he has now done 44 parkruns, all bar one at Richmond. Of his 43 Richmond parkruns he has set PBs 13 times!  Steve joined us for all 4 parkruns in February. Over the last 2 years Steve has managed to drop almost 2 and a half minutes off his 5km time bringing his PB down to 22.17. Being one of our most regular faces this year I am sure we’ll be seeing more improvements soon – especially with a new pair of trainers on his feet!

We'd like to thank Hugh Brasher of Sweatshop for his generosity and to congratulate Steve on his achievement. His prize is a new pair of running shoes fitted at the Teddington Sweatshop.

I don't know about you, but I am seriously fed up with this miserable winter weather! I really wasn't looking forward to Race Directing in the rain again, however as always within a few minutes of getting to the park and people starting to arrive I remembered why I do this. The smiling faces, endless enthusiasm and just general joy at being out running as part of the parkrun community in such a beautiful location - so thanks guys for making my morning (despite the on/off showers) - and that goes for the volunteers too! (I'd also like to thank you for your patience with the results registration queues, we really do try and get it done as quickly as possible - but seem to keep being hindered by technology breakdowns - we are working on it!)

We were visited today by several young athletes from St Mary's Richmond AC and what a successful morning they had. Resplendant in blue and white vests, they filled 6 of the top ten postions including taking 1st and 2nd. Also despite the terrible weather forecast there were a terrific 33 first timers some of whom had defected for the week from Bushy - so a big welcome to all of you.

We were also joined by Simon from the Teddington Sweatshop, one of parkrun's generous sponsors to present all finishers and volunteers with a voucher for £15 off a pair of trainers - an unexpected bonus, especially if you are anything like me and desperate for a pair of shoes not actually stuffed with newspaper and covered in mud, still drying out from my last run in the park!

Its March on Monday, so hopefully when I see you all next Saturday, spring will have sprung! Now for the all important stats:

From the reduced numbers this week, it appears that many of our leek-laden brethren are either still celebrating across the Severn or perhaps more simply the mining wages don’t extend to affording them the luxury of paying the entrance fee for the return journey to walk their feet on these pleasant pastures green......   Alright, so I know that later on in the day there was a Ranelagh mob match which may have impacted on the numbers, but in light of last week’s comments, I thought I’d add my own theory to the running numbers volatility from week to week.

The main news of the day relates to three newcomers to the 50 club.  Peter Dry  of Fetcham and Leatherhead Dashers managed to make it first of the trio finishing in 22:22.  Peter’s parkrun history is split fairly evenly with most of his runs at either Richmond (24) and Wimbledon (20) with the remainder at several other of the London parkruns.  Looking at his recent history, it’s clear that he knows which is now his preferred course with Richmond occupying 8 of his last 10 in his ‘Most Recent Runs’ tally.  Second up to join the 50 club was Elio Zentilin finishing in 26:15.  Elio’s early parkrun history back in 2007 concentrated on Bushy until in he ‘did a Franz’ seeing the light and concentrated on the more undulating Richmond Park.   Last of our trio of 50 club newbies and acting as back marker for the day (clearly enjoying the scenery with his slowest run to date) was Simon King finishing in 34:39.  Simon’s parkrun history, like many others, started over in Bushy before leaning in the Richmond direction.  Unlike some of our other runners, however, Simon remains a bit of a ‘Bushy dabbler’ with some recent runs across the Thames.   Anyway congratulations to all of you and enjoy receiving your new shirts shortly!

Green Belt Relay

Now, this may appear somewhat in retort to parkrun’s now ‘Most Wanted’ Mr Elders, but I can assure you that I had mentioned this to a couple of Richmond parkrunners a couple of weeks ago before the ‘evil’ parkrun debate started - I have been mulling the idea of trying to put together a Richmond parkrun team for the Green Belt Relay.  For those of you who do not know what this is, it’s a 220 mile relay organised by local running club the Stragglers around the outskirts of Greater London on towpaths, footpaths and quiet country lanes, with the course split into 22 stages starting and finishing at Hampton Court / Kingston.  The relay is run over a weekend (set for 22 / 23 May this year) with teams of 11 (i.e. each runner running 2 stages).  The stages are between 8 and 13 miles approx.  Full details of the event, including course details, previous results, entry details etc can be found on the event’s website below:

http://www.greenbeltrelay.org.uk/

For now though, in order to ascertain if there is sufficient interest to put in a team, can anyone who may be interested in running e-mail me at the following e-mail address: jamesandruthflood@googlemail.com .  The questions that I’d like you to answer in your e-mail are as follows:

Are you:

1.

a) a definite

b) a maybe

c) possibly if I only have to run one stage

d) happy to be a reserve runner to be called upon in the event of a team member getting injured / pulling out nearer the time

2.

Do you have a car and would you be willing to assist in helping other runners to their start / from their finish?  As you can imagine the logistics of a continuous race with starts and finishes in different locations and often in fairly non public transport friendly locations means there needs to be a fair bit of co-operation and co-ordination between team members.

3. 

Would you be willing to run one of the North / East / Southeast London stages (as most of you I am guessing are Southwest London based, these are the most inconvenient for each of us to get to)?

Depending on the responses I receive over the next couple of weeks, I’ll decide  on whether to try and put a team together and how to compose it.  As I don’t want to upset some of the local running clubs by ‘poaching’ runners who might otherwise run for teams that these clubs may enter (despite being a Straggler myself), preference will go to runners who don’t have any allegiance to clubs that would otherwise submit a team.  I will also consider entering a non-qualifying team if I have lots of runners who would be keen on only one leg each rather than the two that would be required to participate in the official race (I don't envisage our team coming anywhere near winning the Green Belt!).  Anyway, hopefully we can muster enough interest to put in a Richmond parkrun team and maybe encourage some of the other parkruns to enter a team for a parkrun challenge.  Let me know!

Enough for now, the racing stats for this week are below:

In his 52nd appearance, James Christopher FLOOD (SM30-34) of Stragglers won for the 12th time in a time of 17:07. Chris BAILEY (VM45-49) representing Highgate Harriers took second by 62 seconds recording 18:09. David WILLIAMS THE 2ND, (SM20-24) of Unattached placed third in a time of 18:49.

In her 1st appearance, Kate BROWN (JW15-19) of St Mary's Richmond AC won in a time of 19:15 for the 1st time. Kate BROWN beat Liz KILLIP (VW45-49) representing St Mary's Richmond AC by 89 seconds recording 20:44 in the process. Alice HEWITT, (JW15-19) of Unattached placed third in a time of 21:16.

In today's Age Graded competition, Liz KILLIP recorded a performance of 79.66%

In the points competition Ben CARTER has a lead of 15 points over second placed Connor PATTERSON. Jacqueline MILLETT leads Sally WOODWARD GENTLE by 80 in the ladies competition.

This week there were 22 first timers.

22 runners recorded PBs, bringing the total number since the Richmond Park started to 3171. In this time, 3054 runners from 160 different clubs have completed the race 13246 times covering a distance of 66230 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.

This is to update you and thank you for the fund raiser held on 30th of January 2010 to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.
I am pleased to tell you that thanks to the generous contributions of those who participated in that race, my School (International school of London) was able to collect £ 735 for the Organization "Doctors Without Borders".   


I am truly grateful for the support from parkrun as well as all of those who contributed. 

Andrew Woodhouse’s call to arms yields an heroic show of volunteers

Thursday 4th February, Andrew sent out an APB for volunteers.  At the time of him emailing only 1 of the 10 volunteer posts had been taken.  Saturday morning, like a scene from a Thomas Hardy novel when across a bleak and empty horizon from every direction come villagers striding purposefully over hills to save the harvest from a storm, volunteers appeared.  Timers; lead-bike; tail-runner; registration and pacers.  Such is the love for parkrun and the power of Andrew’s emails.  

Our pacers this week were Andrew ‘Kew’ Brown; Justin Bateman; Sally Bamford and Alfonso Roca (although I couldn’t find him in the results list).  I am sure that the official results will soon be announced but by my amateur reckoning Andrew, pacing at 22.30, may be receiving the prize for most accurate pacer coming in at 22.29.  My spies, however, noted that Andrew finished his pacing with a characteristic sprint for the last k.  He can count himself responsible, however, for Michael Glazebrook’s new pb of 22.47.  Justin Bateman, pacing at 25.00 came in at 24.47 and we suspect may hold himself responsible for Nick Baird’s new pb of 25.47 (his third pb in a row) as I saw him sticking pretty close for the majority of the course.  Sally Bamford, pacing at 27.30 came in at 27.43.  All performed magnificently.  It is far harder to pace this course than it looks.  The one and only time I have paced I think I came in 40 seconds under and was not thanked by a group of knackered looking runners who, like fools, clearly thought I knew what I was doing.  

Thank you, all pacers (and Michael for unofficially pacing me the week before).  

Two first time runners to Richmond parkrun came in 2nd in the men’s race and 2nd in the women’s race.  They were Karl Free (18.22) and Libby Cameron (20.48)  both representing the Metropolitan Police AC.  James Flood (conquering a niggling achilles tendonitis) and Rachael Holmes may be pleased to see that they outrun the blues and twos to win in 17.16 and 20.38 respectively.  

In a little local battle the team from Kew are getting very close indeed with a new pb from Neil Chesterton.  Lee Coole, who didn’t run this week, is currently leading this affectionate competition with a pb of 21.02; Andew ‘Kew’ Brown’s pb stands at 21.05 and Neil, mid London Marathon training, has a new pb of 21.09.  

Thank you, all volunteers for another splendid run.  202 runners.  Is that a record for a non-mob match week?

Here are the official stats:

Well done to Andrew  - at only one second off his target pace he has proved he is an extremely accurate pacer!

I'd like to invite all runners to have a go at pacing! We put our pacers on the first Saturday of the month and it gives our less experienced runners an idea of their running pace and also helps people achieve their target times. It really is a volunteer role that is appreciated by many of our runners and means you also get to run as well as volunteer - its a win-win situation. It would be great if more people would step forward to give it a go.

We are keen for runners to act as pacers for every finish time from 20 mins right up to 40 mins at 2.5 mins intervals. So please think about what time you could do and email richmondhelpers@parkrun.com

The most accurate pacer each month wins a pair of Compression Calf Guards, kindly donated by John Brame at RG Active.