Some of you may have noticed that there were a few problems with the results this week, but thanks to our Run Director Andy Caie these have now been sorted out. It’s a pity, really, because I was excited about writing a run report when over 80 out of 240 people got PBs, some by 7 or 8 minutes! However, I knew something was wrong and puzzled over the results for a while, but it was Andrew “Sherlock” Brown who realised that the previous week’s times had been used.

After the correction, there were still an impressive 42 PBs. Possibly the PB of the week was by Joachim Trostmann (VM60-64) who achieved a PB after 136 parkruns, all but 3 of these at Richmond. Peter Bowker is also on a good run of late, achieving his 4th PB in two months after 41 runs, and John Lowit in his 31st parkrun at Richmond has dipped below the 30 min mark for the first time.

Other notable achievements this week were Giuseppe Perdoni and Adrian Smith both joining the 100 Club, and Jonathan Denham Tompkins completing 50 runs. In the juniors, Bruno Duder has earned his 10 run t-shirt. Well done to all of them.

When looking through the results, I noticed just how many of our runners have 100, 50 or 10 run t-shirts – 78 runners in total. Two weeks ago I was at North Beach parkrun in Durban with our Event Director Karen Weir and her husband Peter. The three of us, all wearing our 100 t-shirts, were treated like celebrities. But in Richmond you’re soon going to need a 250 club t-shirt to stand out. Franz Werndle is likely to be the first to join this select group; he is currently on 244, with 191 of these at Richmond Park. However, Clive Lester has done all his 228 runs at Richmond, and Sean Egan, in third place on 215, has done all but one of these at Richmond. Sally Woodward-Gentle is fourth, with 206 of her 208 runs at Richmond. I wonder how will we celebrate these achievements?

In somewhat muggy weather, but reasonable conditions overall, the first finishers this week were Craig Maclellan in a new PB of 18:14, followed by Jack Congdon on 18:57 and an unknown runner in third. Rebecca Bunting was once again first woman on 20:38, with Charlotte Carter at 20:57 (a new PB) and Samantha Pickford in 21:15. The highest age graded score was Ewan White’s 77.11%. Congratulations on good running.

I am pleased to report that Richmond parkrunners are continuing to be helpful regarding the new regime of locking bikes by the railings and keeping to the paths. Which is just as well, considering the suggestion made by my son at a recent visit to our parkrun when the problems of increasing numbers of runners were explained to him. He suggested that, in the tradition of Richmond Park, we could have a cull of runners, taking out the last 5 finishers each week. (Calum – aged 21! – is constantly upset by the signs warning of deer culls.) We quickly pointed out that this was not in the spirit of parkrun, and anyway we’d have a lot of trouble finding someone to volunteer for tail runner. It’s probably better just to keep to the new rules. And to all this week’s 24 first-timers, please don’t be alarmed – you are very welcome!

And on the topic of volunteers, thank you as always to all of you.

Finally – a young person’s Oyster card was found after the event. Andy Caie will bring it along to Saturday’s parkrun to return it to its owner. And we all wish Gary Wimbledon a speedy recovery from his recent surgery.

Enjoy your running.

Jacquie

He's been with us for a long time and is almost a member of the 100 club. Since running the London marathon this year, he's been unstoppable with weeks of PBs. So it gives me great pleasure to announce that the winner of the Sweatshop prize this month is Serge Lourie. A true deserving recipient due to his consistency, PBs and volunteering efforts.

We'd like to thank Hugh Brasher and the Sweatshop for providing our monthly prize. Serge wins a lovely new pair of trainers, fitted by the Sweatshop in Teddington.

Still life in the old dog yet.

Firstly apologies for the Fenton/Benton moment before the run today. Our normally relatively subdued and loyal (ish) hounds found a new lease of life having had the unexpected joy of meeting Phillippa earlier than expected (and thus rewarded with dog treats a good 3 minutes before time) and attempted to share the joy with a much better behaved black spaniel. Olive, the naughtiest of our two, will now be kept on a lead until all temptation is out of her way.

The other waggy tailed, over bouncy, older dog who will soon be made to stay on a lead is Mr Serge Lourie. Whatever it is that Mrs Serge Lourie is feeding him I want some. Serge, VM 65-69, recently ran the London Marathon. He vowed to himself to run a marathon every decade of his life and this year was the marathon for his 6th decade (although I don’t think he ran one in his first two decades - a note for pedants). He was always a good runner, claiming 3 hours 30 mins as his fastest marathon time but in this past decade his 5k time had settled at anywhere between 28 minutes and 31 minutes. Today he recorded his fifth pb in as many weeks coming home in a time of 24:22. Serge, himself, puts it down to having lost a lot of weight in his marathon training. We call for a drug test. These are his recent times:

4th May 26:21; 11th May 25:59; 18th May 24:44; 25th May 24:42 and 1st June 24:22.

I am particularly peeved as this week’s time is only one second off my own pb - and I know he intends to pick that off when he next runs in a fortnight.

The other runner with almost equally impressive stats is Marguerite Poulter. She recorded her 4th pb in a row this week. Today she finished in a time of 27:30 (was anyone pacing 27:30?) and over the past few weeks she has steadily carved seconds off her earlier pb of the 11th May when she finished in a time of 28:16.

It was a rather lovely day for running. Warm but not too hot; the park looking particularly verdant; and the deer a little way off. The kilometer markers of a later 10k run were, perhaps, a little off putting or offering of false hope - showing 3k when we’d barely travelled 1. The famous circular headwind was, for once, taking a day off and the pacers were out to help anyone who needed a little extra push.

Peter Bowker had threatened to pace at 25 but the one downside of this time of year, the pollen, made that impossible. That didn’t stop Master Bowker, Eric, however. He put in his second fastest time ever, finishing in 26:04. His pb of over a year ago looks under threat.

Out of the other 40 or so pbs today Lisbeth Drinkwater looked happy with her 25:56 and Olive Adams (not naughty dog Olive) took over 4 minutes off her previous run time to finish in 30:41.

In Sean Mungovan’s (VM55-59) 117th run he finished in a personal best time of 23.50. Looking back at his earlier runs (in 2009) he was coming in at around 28 minutes. Another runner I need to ask advice from.

Out of our 266 runners today Jack Congdon (JM15-19) who has grown in confidence as well as speed recorded his first first over the finish line a time of 18.33; Craig Maclellan (SM30-34) followed him in 18:46 and hot on his heels was Adrian Smith (SM 35-39) in a time of 18:54.

For the super speedy women, Susannah Weiland (VW35-39) recorded a pb to finish in a brilliant time of 19.22; Rebecca Bunting (SW30-33) also claimed a pb with a time of 20:01 while first timer Jo Ronaldson (yet to inform us of her category) representing Ranelagh Harriers finished 6 seconds later in a time of 20:07.

Ally Salisbury and Heini Furrer both claimed their 50 t-shirts today. Congratulations to them.

As I type Jacqueline Millett and Karen Weir should be close to finishing their grueling Comrades ultra marathon in South Africa. I have just looked them up and they are ‘started and running’. Poor but heroic them. Not only is it 54 miles but, looking at the route profile, it is uphill. Hopefully we will have a full de-brief next week.

In the meantime if anyone fancies something a little less daunting but no less spectacular Kew Midsummer Fete are looking for teams of 8 to compete in their first ever Tug-of-War Tournament on 22nd June 2013. I am sure that Richmond parkrun could ‘whip’ any and all comers. Do apply at kewfete.org/tug-of-war

Happy running.

Sally

Richmond parkruners on tour.

Just over a week ago Steve Wimbledon and I were lucky enough to be attending the Europa League Cup Final. We were soaking up the atmosphere outside the stadium in Amsterdam when someone come over to us. ‘Fancy seeing the Wimbledons over here’ - it was none other than Tim Collins from our very own Richmond parkrun! Small world. It was a shame that it was not a better game of football but the outcome was great if you’re a Chelsea fan, which Tim and ourselves are. It’s quite funny seeing Tim in Amsterdam as I know he goes to Chelsea every week like us but we have never seen him at Chelsea's ground!  

Also on tour very soon is Jacqueline Millet and Karen Weir, both taking on the Comrades Marathon in Africa which is an extreme mental and physical challenge (90km). Jackie is a inspiration not just to me but many others too. The encouragement and motivation Jackie has given others is great and I'm sure every one at Richmond parkrun wishes both Jackie and Karen the best of luck.   For more info on comrades visit www.comrades.com. If there are others from Richmond parkrun competing at Comrades sorry if I missed you out and good luck to you too.

We are at 291 runs at Richmond now so not too far from our 300th run - I wonder what we can come up with to mark the occasion? With so many events completed at Richmond you would think it runs smoothly and without any issues. Recently, however, there have been some concerns from Royal Parks which have threatened our parkrun’s future. There has been a great response from everyone at Richmond to make sure we can keep our run and ensure Royal Parks people are happy. Just a few things to remember: please could all bicycles be locked to the railings by the toilets opposite the finish line and not to the tree guards on the grassed area; other than the grass hill between Sheen roundabout and Sheen Gate please avoid running on any other grass especially from the start up to Richmond Gate; also remember to make way for other park users. One more thing, when ‘seeding’ ourselves on the start line can people at the front make room for the slower runners to make their way to the back rather than have them walk around the tape and onto the grass.

As always this week’s run was possible because of our volunteers - thank you to each and every one of you. Remember if you would like to get involved just go to the volunteer’s page for details. 

And so to this week’s results. With the top ten dominated by over 30s maybe they were showing the younger runners they still have it in them to run a quick time. Whilst it is a great achievement to finish in the top ten of any parkrun event it is a run and not a race. To me and to many others too, parkrun is a free 5k timed run for people of all ages and abilities. If parkrun were to become too competitive this may discourage runners who are not so quick round the 5k and parkrun could become elitist. Sorry rant over, instead of who came first I think I will single out some people who have achieved their personal bests. With 50 pb's there are a lot to choose from. The first notable pb was Serge Lourie, vm65-69, with his fourth pb in as many weeks. Four weeks ago Serge knocked his pb from 27:05 to 26:12 and it now stands at 24:42. But for how long I wonder? Then with only her second pb is Rebecca Bunting with a time of 20:02. Sarah Hutton who is more of an Old Deer parkrunner achieved her Richmond pb today with a time of 24:06. Sarah's pb at Old Deer Park, however, is 23:51 so it would seem that Richmond is more of a challenge? Then, like London buses, you wait a very long time for one and two come at once! This was the case for Michelle Howie she has waited since August last year for a pb and has got two pbs in a row with her pb standing at 25:13. Well done for everyone who got their pb this week and to everyone else for taking part.

We have two entries into the parkrun 100 club this week: Keith Hiley vm60-64 and Wiebke Kortum vw45-49 who have both done more than half their runs at Richmond. Well done to both of you on this achievement - look forward to seeing you in your new running tops soon.

Again well done to everyone taking part this week, we look forward to seeing you all again soon. And good luck not only to Jackie and Karen but any of you who are taking part in any event in the coming week.

Happy running 

Gary:)