RIDDLESDOWN, Croy. – As the Riddlesdown ensemble arrived for this week’s parkrun, an extraordinary fireball formerly known as the Sun surfaced in the Croydon sky.

It was supposed to be someone else writing the report for you this week but sometimes it’s possible to forget! I wonder if I can say that next time? Anyway I’ve put it together but have been helped by including quotes from the many runners who went for the post run gathering at the Horseshoe.

First I want to give you some quotes that sum up the enthusiasm for the event despite the elements.

‘Splish, splash, splosh. I loved the puddles and went through the middle of them all! At last, Riddlesdown parkrun in the rain. I loved the challenge of the course.’ Pete Gibson

‘Grey and wet and miserable. A cold, slippery and squelchy day – brilliant fun!’ Anon

‘Mud and cold but lots of bright faces’ A different Anon

After forty-six dry runs we did think it couldn’t happen. We’ve previously had rain before and after the run but today, our forty seventh event, was officially the first Riddlesdown parkrun in the rain. It was raining fairly heavily as the volunteers huddled under the gazebo hoping that there would be more than three runners.

They were not let down as the runners arrived, slowly, and by nine o’clock sixty-nine runners were ready for whatever the elements could throw at them. However, the majority of runners were most concerned with wet feet, wet grass, puddles and lakes.

‘I was running past the half way point when I saw a rather large puddle, and then I saw a dog swimming in it.’ Steve Stockwell

Riddlesdown has a special type of mud that’s thin and slides independently from the ground underneath. Along the trail section through the trees the wet stones become treacherous, waiting for the unsuspecting footfall. 

 ***

At the start line Nicki, our run director, had plenty to announce before the run. The usual welcome to new runners included a group identified by their ‘Roundshaw parkrun on tour’ t-shirts.

Next Nicki encouraged everyone to spend just fifteen minutes of their time completing the SparkLE questionnaire. More people are needed to take part so that as many parkrunners as possible are represented, from addicts to occasional runners and even those that have registered but not yet run. The findings will help parkrun when it comes to setting up new events, and it is an opportunity for you to give something back to parkrun. So PLEASE do it and badger all your friends too.

The survey can be found by clicking on the following: https://www.survey.lboro.ac.uk/sparkle-1

Some important dates to remember –

Our first year anniversary run/celebration will be on Saturday 14^th July. Be there! 

Monday 4^th June – there will be an extra bank holiday Riddlesdown parkrun. The theme will be royalty so let your imagination flow and dress in something appropriate if you wish. Her majesty may be amused!

Tuesday 5^th June – Nonsuch are holding an extra parkrun.

The winner of Riddlesdown's Sweatshop monthly prize was also announced. Chris Hall is a thoroughly deserving winner. At this point, with runners getting increasingly wet and cold on the start line, all the many details of how wonderful and deserving he is were left unsaid (see previous news article) and the photo shoot was left until later in the warmth and dry of the pub.

The timers were ready and it was time to - GO! Some said they started off slowly as muscles were cold and stiff and many were still wearing raincoats. However, up front the challenge had been set and two men set off determined not to let the conditions, or each other, beat them.

The Men

On arrival, first timer, Neil Reissland had said he wouldn’t let Alan O’Connor win. The marshals watched eagerly to see who would appear first out of the trees. At that point they were side by side, neither giving an inch. Not far behind was Andy Del Nevo who was chasing hard. The three were all on for good times, maybe not PBs but there was not much concession to the conditions.

During the second lap Neil edged in front and managed to keep his promise, winning in a time of 18.08. Alan was just thirteen seconds behind, making this his eighth time he has finished in the top two places out of ten runs at Riddlesdown. There were handshakes between the two after; Neil thanking Alan for helping him around the unknown course and Alan thanking Neil for helping him run a fast time. It could be said to be 1:1 to Neil and Alan as, although Neil was in front at the finish, Alan achieved a higher age grading.

‘I would like to thank Alan John O’Connor for showing me the way round the first lap on my first visit to Riddlesdown’ Neil Reissland

Once finished Neil Reissland was quick to dress against the cold and run back down the course to cheer in his fellow Roundshaw parkrunners.

Andy Del Nevo kept in third place to finish in a time of 19.28. He is also a first timer here, having run at ten different parkruns in south and south west London, nearly all either sub 19 or sub 20. He has previously won both at Kingston and Roundshaw.

The Women

The newcomers over came the regulars in both the mens’ and ladies’ race. Annette Shrimpton has run a total of fifty-three parkruns, mainly at Bromley where she has been second lady, but today her first time at Riddlesdown, was her first win. She ran the course with her son Ben and they kept on running all the way to registration, keen to warm up afterwards. Paula Hooks was unsurprisingly down on her fantastic PB of last week but she finished strongly in second place, wearing her recently achieved 50 t-shirt. Her training partner, Heidi Dann, was unusually a minute behind her. She ran hard to finish third lady, holding off Kate Herbert by just six seconds.

Lauren Pinkney finished fifth lady and ran her best time since March, despite saying afterwards - ‘I’m glad I completed the run. The mud was my enemy.’ 

Prisca Abalo won the award for first lady of the visiting Roundshaw parkrun team and sixth was also her highest ever gender position.

Further back down the field the runners had more time to notice and fully appreciate the conditions underfoot.

‘Everywhere I looked there was mud so if I tried to dodge it I just slipped over in another brown puddle.’ Another Anon

But it wasn’t all bad -

‘It was good fun even though the mud was horrible – but not as bad as I thought it would be.’  Anon number 4

‘I did better than I thought I would and I slipped a couple of times.’  Anon number 5

Many runners today finished with mud splattered up their backs. This shows that:

1. The course was muddy! and

2. The runner has a good heel kick, which is part of an efficient running style. (I must practise it!)

Two runners were more extensively mud coated due to lying down in it. Both Jack Carlyle and Chris Benjamin slipped and fell during the run and Jack enjoyed it so much he did an action replay for Nicki at the finish line!

Just a few PBs

Unsurprisingly there were only five PBs this week, which came from runners who have only run a few times here. All regular runners’ times were slower than usual.

Rupert McLeod returned for his second run, his first being on New Year’s Day, and took two minutes ten seconds off his time. He has run a total of forty-seven parkruns at ten different events.

Liam Rawlings took fifty seconds off to finish in a time of 22.30. He had a busy morning as he was also one of the first volunteers to arrive to help set up.

Mark Lane ran here for the second time and achieved a PB of one minute sixteen seconds.

Georgina Mattison was a first timer last week, came back again today, and took one minute eleven seconds off her time.

Neil Gough has run a total of twenty-four parkruns. He normally runs at Roundshaw but this is his third at Riddlesdown and he brought his time down by one minute nine seconds since the New Year’s Day Event

Well done to them all.

First Timers

There were fifteen first timers today. Of these just three were completely new to parkrun. Welcome to Paul Dowling, Claire Green and Ramesh Bhayani.  

Some new to Riddlesdown were Harrison Parker, Steven Jacobs and Samantha Purser. Both Harrison and Steven normally run at Norman Park, Bromley whilst Samantha has completed eight parkruns at five different events.

Others new to Riddlesdown parkrun included the group from Roundshaw. This was Neil Reissland, Prisca Abalo, Nicola and Stephen Tarrant, Jacqui Smith and Janet and Ben Nash.

Their plan was to run with us on their way to a picnic at Bewl Water! They ran, came to the pub, and then aborted the picnic plan. They may be a mad bunch but not that mad!

‘Thanks for having us, the Roundshaw parkrun on tour group. Your mud is very different to ours. You have a lovely view. We will be back for your birthday.’ Nicola Tarrant

‘It was an ankle twister but that’s what parkrun is all about, come rain or shine. Everyone seemed really friendly and Nicki (event director) especially made the Roundshaw on Tour group feel really welcome and it was nice meeting other parkrun crew.’ Prisca Abalo

‘Loved the view. We’ll be back.’ Janet Nash

We enjoyed having them all too and as one volunteer said-

‘Was lovely to see the visiting Roundshaw gang, even though all we could offer was mud, mud and mud!’ Fiona Delaney

Clubs

100 Club

Two members ran today. Kaye Benjamin has now run 189 events and Kevin Burnett has run 145.

50 Club

We had eleven runners already in the 50 club and today they were joined by Steve Stockwell. He has run forty-seven of these at Riddlesdown, two at Banstead and one at Roundshaw. He ran his first parkrun at Banstead on 28 May 2011 so has managed to reach his fiftieth in less than a year. This shows true commitment to parkrun.

10 Club

Five juniors running today have already joined this club. They are James Rady, Jack Carlyle, Ben Clark, Lauren Hall and Lauren Pinkney.

The Volunteers

The rain doesn’t deter people from running, it can even be described as refreshing, but that would not necessarily be echoed by the volunteers. Not only did they get wet but also cold. However, they still cheered on the runners, timed everyone precisely, wrote down runners’ details in illegible scrawl using fingers that refused to cooperate and photographed the fun. It’s thanks to them that the event can take place. The volunteers this week were:

Alexander Green, Ange Norris, Brian Taylor, David Condon, Donna Williams, Dylan Wymer, Fiona Delaney, James Simon Hall, Jess Summers, K Scourfield, Katie Davey, Kaye Benjamin, Kenneth Hooks, Lee Dobson, Les Huitson, Liam Rawlings, Mark Cawood, Mark Jackson, Mary Tobin, Morgan Quinn, Nicki Clark, Owen Cawood, Roz Cawood, Sally-Anne Jackson, Steven Stockwell, Sylvie Green, Ted Robinson, Tessa Billups

Once the runners had crossed the finish line and registered few hung around chatting. They were keen to head for home or the welcome warmth of ‘The Horseshoe’, the post run venue. The signs were collected, counted and loaded onto the trolley, and Brian Taylor ran an extra lap to check nothing was left on the course. Several volunteers then had a futile fight with the gazebo, as their cold fingers could not operate the button to push away one of the legs. The battle was lost, the gazebo had won and it was put away on the top of the trolley, to be folded away at a later date.

It was a larger than normal gathering at ‘The Horseshoe’ including some first timers and some regular Riddlesdowners who do not normally go, so there was much chat and laughter. They serve excellent tea and coffee, often with a complimentary mint chocolate, and today we were treated to some home made cakes. Sylvie Green made some lovely flapjacks and Sara Hall made some luscious lemon drizzle cake. It was well worth being there!

To finish I’ll leave you with a quote that sums it up for us all –

‘Loved every minute of it!!’ Another Anon (but it could be any one of us)

Riddlesdowners running elsewhere

A wet bank holiday weekend is obviously an ideal time for running as several people were running at other events. Here’s news of the ones I’ve been told about. Always let us know what other races you’re doing and they will be included. It’s interesting to hear about the variety of events that exist and it may inspire others to give them a try.

Frimley Lodge parkrun – Monday 7^th May

Steve Stockwell ran this event, which was held on the Monday due to the normal Saturday event needing to be cancelled. You can read his report of the event on his blog.  http://www.blog7t.com/ He finished in seventy-second position in a time of 22.13. So having joined the 50 club today (as mentioned above) he has already completed another and is on his way to joining the 100 club.

Richmond Half Marathon – Sunday 6^th May

Natalie Glover ran as part of a ladies team for South London Harriers. I don’t have her time but her team came third.

Reigate and YMCA 'fun' runs – Sunday 6^th May

This was a ‘Cawood’ and ‘Jackson’ day out in the rain and mud. Especially well done to Mark who has not raced in a while.

Adult 5 mile:

Mark Jackson. Finish position 81. Chip time 39.09

Sally Jackson. Finish position 118 Chip time 40.42

Roz Cawood. Finish position 208. Chip time 45.10

Under 8's Mile

Isobel Cawood. Finish position 70. Time 9.27

Lilia Jackson. Finish position 82. Time 9.42

Under 12's Mile

Owen Cawood. Finish position 6. Time 6.29

Mark Cawood looked after bags whilst resting before his sprint triathlon the following day. I don’t have any results of this yet.

1066 relay – Sunday 6^th May

A fantastic off road event that largely follows the 1066 long distance footpath. Being a relay, it’s a club event, so if you belong to a club, tell them about it for next year. Ange Norris ran it for Dulwich Runners and, if you show any interest at all, will enthuse about it to you in great detail. 

Riddlesdown parkrun elsewhere on the web:

We’re on Facebook! Find our page and like it, it provides links to all things about Riddlesdown parkrun, and parkrun in general! http://www.facebook.com/riddlesdownparkrun

We’re on Twitter, come tweet with us!

All the photos from all the events can be found, perused and downloaded from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riddlesdown/sets/

And finally....  (last but definitely not least) there is The parkrun show, a weekly podcast which is an audio roundup of the ‘goings on’ from the weekend in the world of parkrun. All the episodes can be downloaded from itunes. This week, there be Pirates! Click here to listen to the most recent episode: bit.ly/IUrIpN

*** 

Some stats

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition: 


Steven STOCKWELL 4118 pts


David CONDON (Collingwood AC) 3833 pts


Paul M.J. GROVES 3697 pts

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition: 


Sally-Anne JACKSON 3775 pts 


Lauren PINKNEY 3413 pts

Paula HOOKS 3176 pts

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores: 


Alan John O'CONNOR (VM50-54) was graded 81.02 % for the time 18:21 (second overall)


Neil REISSLAND (VM45-49) was graded 79.41 % for the time 18:08 (first overall)


Andy DEL NEVO (VM45-49) was graded 72.86 % for the time 19:28 (third overall)

This week there were 69 runners, of whom 15 were first timers and 5 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 10 different athletics clubs took part.

Riddlesdown parkrun started on 2nd July 2011, and since then 829 different runners, including participants from 75 athletics clubs, have completed 3,269 runs covering a total distance of 16,345 km, and there have been 764 new Personal Bests.

The Women's course record is held by Clare ELMS who ran in a time of 18:20 on 1st January 2012 (Event #29).

The Men's course record is held by Kevin QUINN who ran in a time of 15:31 on 27th August 2011 (Event #9) 


The Age Grade course record is held by Clare ELMS who recorded an 89.27 % run (18:20) on 1st January 2012 (Event #29). 

Report, with many thanks, by Ange Norris!

The April winner of the Riddlesdown parkrun Monthly Sweatshop Prize is Chris Hall.

This prize is awarded to athletes who have shown consistency, commitment and improvement at the event.

*We interrupt this report to urge all Riddlesdown parkrunners to participate in the following:*

SparkLE (Study of parkrun on Lifestyle and Exercise)

If you haven’t yet done so, please find time to complete this questionnaire. parkrun want the study to reflect the whole spectrum of parkrun participants, irrespective of how often they run so please take part yourself and spread the word. The only restriction is that all participants need to be over 18. It will take you less than 15 minutes to complete – that’s less time than you spend running each parkrun. The findings will help parkrun when it comes to setting up new events, and it is an opportunity for you to give something back to parkrun. The survey can be found by clicking on the following: https://www.survey.lboro.ac.uk/sparkle-1

After a week of April showers and the wettest drought since records began, the subject of the weather was on everyone’s minds. This was our 46^th event and up to now all have been dry. Was this about to change? That certainly seemed the case as we left home in the rain. On arrival the gazebo was put up despite unfounded optimism and belief in our destiny to have dry runs.

Nicki and Jen had carried out a course inspection on Friday evening and declared it swampy - marsh monsters were allegedly sighted. (There was a duck, swimming on the puddles. There was! – ED) By 8 a.m. the registration area was up and Mark and Owen, David and Brian, and Dylan and Ange set off in different directions across the Downs to mark out the course and report on current course conditions. Surprisingly, the lakes of last week had partially soaked away, leaving the possibility of ‘island hopping’ much more achievable.

By 9 a.m. with a group of enthusiastic runners assembled on the starting line, the run was not going to be precipitation free but the official line is that ‘It didn’t rain, there was drizzle with attitude!’ The heavy rain had happened overnight – when Alan O’Connor had left his trainers outside to dry!

Men

Alan O’Connor started off deceptively slowly but by the bottom bend he was ahead and as he went through the trees he sped up and had a clear lead. As the runners crossed the sleeping policemen Dylan Wymer was in a good position in the following group but at the path he stopped to go to do his duties as numbers assistant. Alan stayed comfortably out front to win in a time of 17.49. This is his fourth win out of nine runs at Riddlesdown and his fourth fastest run. He has also won 8 times at Roundshaw and once at Nonsuch. Mark Cawood had to work hard to come in second in front of Ross Gentry but held him off to finish three seconds ahead. Ross had an excellent run, finishing in his second fastest time, just two seconds outside of his PB. At half way Brian Taylor was with them both but lost a bit of ground in the second lap to finish fourth. Andy Davis also had a strong first lap then slowed a little to come in sixth.

Women

Ange Norris won the ladies event in a time of 21.02 having been spurred round most of the course by Steve Stockwell and came in ninth overall. Second was Paula Hooks who finished with a PB (details later), in her highest ever gender position and twenty second overall. Ten seconds behind her, in a time of 24.05, was Sally-Anne Jackson, who finished in her second fastest time ever.

PBs

It may have been wet underfoot but that didn’t stop 12 runners achieving a PB, which is a fifth of the field if you discount the first timers.

Lee Dobson and Paula Hooks’ brilliant PBs are mentioned in the update on marathoners below.

Andy Leigh returned for his second run here, both this month, and knocked four minutes and forty seconds off his time. Hopefully Andy will soon be running even faster times as he has a previous PB at Banstead Woods of 20.44.

Rachel Tomkins took ten seconds off her PB, which she set last August.

Sarah Broom set a new PB last week and again this week. Today she ran one minute thirteen seconds faster.

Daniel Hubbard was a first timer last week and now he has run a PB of two minutes and twenty nine seconds.

Michael Patch achieved his fourth PB out of six runs, this week improving his time by one second and overall by one minute thirty five seconds since 10^th March.

Alison Lee also ran her fourth PB out of six runs, and took off thirty two seconds.

Christina Hubbard ran her fourth PB out of seven runs and improved her time by thirty eight seconds since last week.

Mia McCarrick wins the honour of achieving the biggest PB as she knocked off an incredible six minutes thirty seconds.

Alex Parris ran another PB this week, taking eighteen seconds off her time and getting very near to going sub 33.00. Although she has previously run under 33.00 at Banstead Woods, I am impressed that she is improving her 5k time now after one hundred and twenty three parkruns. It is inspiring to us all to keep trying.

Jamie Ahmt ran for the first time last week and has now taken a fantastic five minutes and two seconds off his time.

I enjoy writing about everyone who has run a PB as it encourages others and shows that, whatever the speed, a PB is attainable by us all!

Although not a PB runner this week, Les Huitson deserves a mention. Returning from injury he ran sub 22.00 for the first time so it won’t be long before he is running the times he was in 2011.

First timers

Six people were completely new to parkrun. They were Paul Fowler, Adam Pullen, Helena Wang, Georgina Mattison, Stephen Peterson and Cody Watkin. Welcome to them all and especially well done for turning up for the first time in damp conditions.

Four other people were new to Riddlesdown. Michael Chappell, of South London Harriers, has run three previous times at Banstead Woods but we may not see him back for a while as he is an infrequent parkrunner, never having run more than one parkrun in a year. Des Keogh and Amy Locke have both run before at Banstead Woods and Nonsuch and Thomas Gough has run twice at Roundshaw. We’re spoilt in this part of the country as we have so many parkruns to choose from. Many people run regularly at the same one while others enjoy visiting different courses.

 Clubs

10 Club

There were three juniors running today who have earned their 10 t-shirt and are all well on their way to reaching the 50 club. Ted Robinson has run 19 full 5k events, & 2 Junior parkruns. Owen Cawood has run 24 events and Tim Pinkney (the younger) 30 events. Both Owen and Tim have run at Banstead Woods as well and Ted has run at Bushy Juniors.

50 Club

Two runners completed their fiftieth event here today. Andy Davis has only run twice at Riddlesdown, his previous time was back in October last year. He started running parkruns in June 2007 and has run his other 48 times at Banstead Woods.

Nigel Davidson has run fourteen here, thirty at Roundshaw, five at Banstead Woods and one at Lloyd Park. Nigel completed his first parkrun in January 2008.

Katrina Parris runs in the JW14 age category but is already in the 50 club, having completed 54 events. A fantastic achievement.

100 Club

We had three runners today already in the 100 club. For the second consecutive week Alex and Justin Parris and Kevin Burnett all ran, notching up another run towards their 250^th. I thought it might be interesting to work out who will get there first based on their progress up until now. So I did a bit of mental arithmetic and worked out the following –  

Justin will reach the 250 club in January 2015, Alex in February 2016 and Kevin in July 2015.

However, never believe statistics, as this didn’t take into account any fluctuations in attendance so it’s anybody’s game. Keep reading the reports to find out!

Update on the marathoners

I’m not sure if it is recommended to do marathon training to improve your 5K time but our runners are proving this to be the case.

Not only did Lee Dobson run an excellent PB in last week’s London marathon but also achieved a PB of forty three seconds today. His training has improved both his stamina and speed. He was delighted with his marathon result but is now looking forward to a well-earned rest and some running without the pressure.

Ross Gentry ran his second fastest time today and was only two seconds outside of his PB.

Paula Hooks ran a PB here only two weeks after her marathon debut at Brighton. She ran twenty three seconds faster than her previous record, which is all the more impressive as this had stood since October 2011, although she equalled it in March of this year.

Heidi Dann, who also ran the Brighton marathon, ran her second fastest time today just 12 seconds outside of her PB.

Other Riddlesdowners who ran the London marathon, Darren Speedy, Natalie Glover and Ian Carlyle, were not here today.

We had some other regulars this week who were granted leave. It may seem that this is going to be a weekly mention in my reports but I do like people to realise they’re missed when they’re not here. Both Jess Summers and Carlos Garcia were busy elsewhere. I’m told that one was off to cheer on the Eagles at Crystal Palace to a 1-2 defeat (worthwhile?) and the other was buying a prom dress, but I’m not sure who was doing what! Another who was waving his scarf on the terraces was Peter Emery (possibly giving his support to a more worthy cause – oh yes! - ED) who went to Southampton.

Riddlesdowners at the Hogsmill

Several of our ladies ran the Hogsmill 5, which is a low-key, scenic race, partly on road and partly on paths along the Hogsmill River in Ewell. Barb and Francis discussed their race tactics over coffee at the Horseshoe, considering the weather forecast of rain and yet more rain. And rain it did! They all ran in raincoats but needed wellies as well, as they started off splashing through a river that partly covered the track. They all ran extremely well and should be very proud of themselves.

26^th - Francis Gibson   44.24

36^th - Barb Remfrey    45.24

68^th – Kaye Benjamin 48.28

69^th – Sylvie Green     48.30

Total ran – 163

Volunteers

Although it didn’t actually rain, the air was damp and all the volunteers were well wrapped up (except one in his shorts). Even if the runners don’t smile and say thanks as they pass (it’s called being in the zone), they are always appreciative. I would personally like to thank them all but today I would like to say a special big thank you to Dylan Wymer. He began volunteering at Banstead Woods, then came to the inaugural Riddlesdown event where he has been in the volunteer team every week since except when away on holiday. Although he looks forward to the time when he is free of his knee injury and can run 5k regularly, he thoroughly enjoys volunteering here. He will even get out of bed at 6.15 a.m. a feat that is virtually impossible during the week without the aid of a bucket of water.

(This photo is my favourite photo of Dylan at Riddlesdown. Taken in the summer, it shows his affection for his Mother, the lovely Ange, and before he gets too cross at seeing this here, he should remember it could’ve been worse – I still have the photos from BWp, Dylan! - ED)

The reason I’m mentioning him today is that this was his 50^th volunteering event and, as he often does multiple tasks, his 100^th volunteering responsibility. (Congratulations, thank you and well done, Dylan. We are lucky to have you! – Ed.)

This week our thanks go to –

Ange Norris, Barb Remfry, Brian Condon, Chris Hall, David Condon, Dylan Wymer, Emma Brooks, Jen Allum, John Foan, Julie McDonald, Katie Davey, Kaye Benjamin, Kenneth Hooks, Lauren Hall, Luke Talbot, Madeleine Brooks, Mark Cawood, Matilda Brooks, Morgan Quinn, Nicki Clark, Sally-Anne Jackson and Sophie Gibson.

Once she had finished her run Sally-Anne Jackson headed off to do another lap to collect up the signs and make sure no runner was lost or stuck in a swamp. This is an important job, as we should always leave the Downs as we find them. It also means that it’s nearly time for the pub! 

Our run director may have preferred a quiet post run cup of coffee today or possibly had her mind full of items old, new, borrowed and blue. When she welcomed all the runners at the start she encouraged them to join us all at the ‘Horse and Groom’. Recently she called it the ‘Horse and Jockey’ but we know it is actually ‘The Horseshoe’ so a group of us all went and interrupted her quiet contemplation.

One topic of conversation was the pending first anniversary. The date for the anniversary celebrations is still undecided, but will be revealed in the near future. Many people have been part of making this year a great success and we’d love you all there for the event plus post run celebrations, so please try to keep the first couple of Saturdays in July free. If anybody has any suggestions/comments on how we can celebrate, speak to one of the Event Management Team – Nicki, Kaye or Morgan. One suggestion is for a naked run! Before you quickly cross it off from your diaries or turn up in your birthday suit, I’ll explain. Apparently a naked run is where all the runners are without any form of technology or time keeping to help pace themselves. Another suggestion is for the run to take place backwards i.e. from the normal finish line to the start, not us all running backwards, but that might be fun too!

Another topic of conversation was running pains. We learnt about the benefits of making circular jaw movements whilst running. I was told that it would either prevent or relieve stitch like discomfort around the shoulder blade. It would also be beneficial for the entertainment of fellow runners and a great photo opportunity!

It’s always a surprise how a couple of hours can pass so quickly each week but, once again, we managed to sit and chat until the rain came so we enjoyed a ‘refreshing’ ride home.

Another enjoyable time. See you all next week.

Riddlesdown parkrun elsewhere on the web:

We’re on Facebook! Find our page and like it, it provides links to all things about Riddlesdown parkrun, and parkrun in general! http://www.facebook.com/riddlesdownparkrun

We’re on Twitter, come tweet with us!

All the photos from all the events can be found, perused and downloaded from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/riddlesdown/sets/

And finally....  (last but definitely not least) there is The parkrun show, a weekly podcast which is an audio roundup of the ‘goings on’ from the weekend in the world of parkrun. All the episodes can be downloaded from itunes, or click here to listen to this week’s episode, and spot the Riddlesdown mentions: bit.ly/IoJvrr

Report by Ange Norris

***

The stats

Men's placings:


Alan John O'CONNOR (VM50-54) was first in 17:49 - 4^th win in 9^th appearance.


Mark CAWOOD (VM40-44) was second in 19:54 - 1 previous win.


Ross GENTRY (SM30-34) of South London Harriers, was third in 19:57. 

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:


Steven STOCKWELL 4031 pts.


David CONDON (Collingwood AC) 3758 pts.


Paul GROVES 3616 pts.

Women's placings:


Ange NORRIS (VW50-54) of Dulwich Runners AC, was first (9^th overall) in 21:02 - 17^th win in 31^st appearance.


Paula HOOKS (VW45-49) was second (22^nd overall) in 23:55.


Sally-Anne JACKSON (VW45-49) was third (24^th overall) in 24:05.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:


Sally-Anne JACKSON 3775 pts.


Lauren PINKNEY 3317 pts.


Ange NORRIS (Dulwich Runners AC) 3160 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:


Alan John O'CONNOR (VM50-54) was graded 83.44 % for the time 17:49 (first overall).


Ange NORRIS (VW50-54) was graded 79.71 % for the time 21:02 (9^th overall).


Nigel DAVIDSON (VM50-54) was graded 71.59 % for the time 20:46 (8^th overall).

The Women's course record is held by Clare ELMS who ran in a time of 18:20 on 1st January 2012 (Event #29).


The Men's course record is held by Kevin QUINN who ran in a time of 15:31 on 27th August 2011 (Event #9).

The Age Grade course record is held by Clare ELMS who recorded a 89.27 % run (18:20) on 1st January 2012 (Event #29).