Great news this week; with thanks to everyone who was able to make a donation, our new defibrillator battery and pad pack has arrived. The battery is valid until 1 December 2025, so we can now rest assured that, in the unfortunate event that we needed to use the defibrillator to help either a parkrunner or another Barking Park user, we are equipped to do so.

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart of someone who is in cardiac arrest. This high energy shock is called defibrillation, and get a stopped heart beating again. It's an essential part in trying to save the life of someone who’s in cardiac arrest.

The defibrillator that our lovely parkrunners, and a donation from local running club Barking Road Runners, helped us to buy a few years’ ago actually talks you through what you need to do in an emergency so you don’t need to be trained to use it. And the shock won’t work if the casualty’s heart is still beating, so there is no risk at all of getting it wrong. Sorry if we bore you every week by saying that we have a defibrillator available, but we want to everyone to know that it is there to help if it is needed.

This week 91 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 9 were first timers and 11 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 11 different clubs took part.

Congratulations to our first finisher James Connor, whose time of 15.01 was a new Personal Best and only nine seconds off our course record. In second place was Samuel Crane (20.04) and in third was Steve Chissell (20.17). First female finisher was Anna Crawley (21.14) followed by Hanna Mason (21.32) and Jess Collett (22.14).

In addition to James, Personal Bests were achieved by Ed Osborne, Carole Adams, Kelly Drake-Tapscott, Monni Shirley Cacoujat, Bence Maroti, Barry Rowell, Shafin Khan, Muhammed Yusuf, Kevin Grant, and Lorraine Allen.

We welcomed three brand new parkrunners this week: Akhil Reddy, Keighley Luff and Dan Warrington.

The event was made possible by 17 volunteers:

Philip PEARSON • Ronald VIALLS • Alison FRYATT • Chris HESLEGRAVE • Mark NEW • Aftab SARWAR • Hafsa AFTAB • Denise GRAHAM • Jason J M LI • Harrison K H LI • Gwyneth M W LI • Leslie JAY • Joe STACEY • Lai OGUNSOLA • Rosie FFORDE • Maya BUTT • David BOTTERILL

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barking parkrun Results Page.

The female record is held by Lydia HALLAM who recorded a time of 17:42 on 12th August 2017 (event number 267).
The male record is held by Paul MARTELLETTI who recorded a time of 14:52 on 25th December 2017 (event number 287).
The Age Grade course record is held by Breege NORDIN who recorded 91.10% (21:55) on 7th September 2019 (event number 376).
Barking parkrun started on 28th July 2012. Since then 4,321 participants have completed 34,616 parkruns covering a total distance of 173,080 km, including 5,152 new Personal Bests. A total of 428 individuals have volunteered 5,027 times.

FANFARE: A total of 427 individuals have now volunteered 5,000 times at Barking. We are all unpaid volunteers so a huge 'THANK YOU' to everyone who has given up a Saturday morning since we launched in July 2012 to make Barking parkrun happen. If you fancy volunteering (it's very straightforward and great fun), just let us know.

This week's event was made possible by 11 volunteers:

Philip PEARSON • Alison FRYATT • Robert COURTIER • Richard NEWMAN • Lorraine ALLEN • Carlos BASTIDAS • Alan CRANMER • Lai OGUNSOLA • Charity ANYIKA • Pascalia PAMBA • Maya BUTT

We had 127 finishers, the second highest since parkrun returned in England on 24 July. First finisher, Kieran O'Hara, posted the fastest time - 16:36 - since we returned, a new Personal Best.

A further 17 participants also recorded new Personal Bests: well done to Anna Crawley; Joshua Ezissa; Adam Burrell; Collette Thompson; Maria Mendez; Karen West; Joyce Golder; Ina Howlett; Marc Delehanty; Qasim Tariq; Neha Sankaran; Kevin Howett; Muhammad Yusuf; Ruth Botterill; Diane Akinmolasire; Malva O'Connell; and Kirsty Macauley.

Andrew MacFarlane achieved the highest age-grading score of 77.73%.

There were 16 first timers at Barking, of whom five were totally new to parkrun: Ben Paisley; Gemma Edwards; Mimi Hortop; Michael Hortop; and Joe Marcus. Welcome!

The full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barking parkrun Results Page.

The female record is held by Lydia HALLAM who recorded a time of 17:42 on 12th August 2017 (event number 267).
The male record is held by Paul MARTELLETTI who recorded a time of 14:52 on 25th December 2017 (event number 287).
The Age Grade course record is held by Breege NORDIN who recorded 91.10% (21:55) on 7th September 2019 (event number 376).

Barking parkrun started on 28th July 2012. Since then 4,299 participants have completed 34,419 parkruns covering a total distance of 172,095 km, including 5,133 new Personal Bests.

And somehow we still managed to beat the rain... it’s just starting as we are beginning to write these notes...! Apologies for a slight delay in processing today’s results; they had to be adjusted for a runner who crossed the finish line twice (once on each lap!) and another who hadn’t completed the full course. In sorting all this out it is just possible that one runner with a time of about 48 minutes has been omitted – if this is the case we apologise sincerely and will be happy to correct the results if you email us with details at barking@parkrun.com.

In a much-reduced field today we welcomed two parkrun first-timers: Neha Sankaran and Shannon Butterfield, as well as visitors Muhammad Yusef, Hannah Knight (who adds Barking to an impressively long list of different parkruns from all around the UK and beyond, and was also the first female finisher) and Mitchell Willitts (who travelled all the way from Doncaster and was rewarded by finishing in second position).

Despite the low turnout six runners celebrated well-earned PBs today: Tom Wagstaffe, Fola Awe, Brendan O’Mahony, Harjinder Sahotay, Chameli Khan and Malva O’Connell – well done to all of you.

We didn’t spot any milestones this week, but there are a few significant ones coming up in the next few weeks... Please remember to let the Run Director know on the day if you have reached a milestone run to make sure we don’t miss you and allow everyone to celebrate your achievements.

Thank you to Richard Newman again for taking today’s photographs: here is a link to a video of the start: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/s5n72nx5k82h2c9/AADBD2K8uSln8k79ApssoyLba?dl=0 and here is a link to the pictures taken: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ry94a4290vwdlcr/AAB4fSsk0a5T_Tkl_CTtFxUHa?dl=0.  There were quite a lot today so there will be some more added.

Also a huge thank-you to all the other volunteers today which meant we had every role filled and the course fully marshalled.

We are doing surprisingly well for volunteers next weekend (August bank-holiday Saturday) – we just need a couple of barcode scanners to fill all the major roles. Please email us at barking@parkrun.com if you would like to help out: if you haven’t volunteered before you will be most welcome and we’ll show you everything you need to know and do on the day.
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FEMALE RESULTS (1) Hannah Knight: 25:51; (2) Sally Bridge: 26.08; (3) Birte Brosig: 28.42 (PB). Harjinder Sahotay in 33rd place had the highest age-graded score (59.77% as well as her PB).

MALE RESULTS (1) Kieran R M O’Hara: 17.07; (2) Mitchell Willitts: 20.38; (3) Tom Wagstaffe: 21.39 (PB). Kieran also had the highest age-graded score (75.37%).

This week 69 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 5 were first timers (including visitors) and 6 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 7 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 16 volunteers:
Philip PEARSON; Robert COURTIER; Faye SPOONER; Mick MOOHAN; Richard NEWMAN; Chris HESLEGRAVE; Martin SMITH; Joyce GOLDER; Jason J M LI; Leigh LI; Harrison K H LI; Gwyneth M W LI; Irma CERNYCHIENE; Charity ANYIKA; Pascalia PAMBA; Maya BUTT.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barking parkrun Results Page.

The female record is held by Lydia HALLAM who recorded a time of 17:42 on 12th August 2017 (event number 267).

The male record is held by Paul MARTELLETTI who recorded a time of 14:52 on 25th December 2017 (event number 287).

The Age Grade course record is held by Breege NORDIN who recorded 91.10% (21:55) on 7th September 2019 (event number 376).

Barking parkrun started on 28th July 2012. Since then 4,266 participants have completed 34,175 parkruns covering a total distance of 170,875 km, including 5,101 new Personal Bests. A total of 427 individuals have volunteered 4,979 times.

What a difference a day makes – well, a week anyway. Pleasant sunshine replaced last week’s downpours and there was nothing to dampen the spirits of today’s 124 runners; this was more than a 50% increase on last week, though we’re probably not allowed to attribute the increase to ‘fair-weather runners’... Since our return three weeks ago we haven’t experienced the traditional head-wind (head-on gale?) along the lake but rest assured we have plans for it return in the autumn.

A big welcome to six parkrun first-timers: Adam Burrell, Arun Chopra, Qasim Tariq, Jem Dodia, Theivendram Ravi and Kirsty Macaulay. We hope you enjoyed your first run and look forward to welcoming you again in the near future.  Also welcome to 24 first-time visitors to Barking from other parkruns, including sizeable contingents from Harold Wood Running Club and Havering ’90 Joggers.

16 runners celebrated the summery weather with PBs: Robin Smith, Gary Mellish, Jason Tyler, Adrian Davison, Tom Wagstaffe, David Dixon, Carole Adams, Linda Smith, Brendan O’Mahoney, Rabea Begum, Samantha Wratten, Amanda Keasley, Birte Brosig, Alice Barry, Barry Rowell, and Harjinder Sahotay – well done to all of you.

Carole also completed her 50th parkrun today, while other notable milestones were Micky Ball (100 runs), Russell Lowe (150), and Mark New (300). We do our best to spot and announce milestones at the start of each run so everyone can celebrate your achievements, but please let the Run Director know on the day if you have reached a milestone run to make sure we don’t miss you.

Thank you to Richard Newman for combining the duties of marshal and photographer today – his photos can been seen at https://www.dropbox.com/sh/q64um26biggt49h/AADCeb2JYOICtc2i-yKXFP7Ca?dl=0.

URGENT!!! An early appeal for volunteers for the next two weeks please (Saturday week is the August bank holiday weekend when some of our stalwarts may be away).  We particularly need to fill the key roles of timers, scanners and finish tokens. If you would like to help on either – or even both – days please just send us an email at barking@parkrun.com. If you haven’t volunteered before you will be most welcome and we’ll show you everything you need to know and do on the day.

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FEMALE RESULTS (1) Sue SPONG: 24.05; (2) Belinda RICHES: 24.11 (3) Carole ADAMS: 24.59 (PB). Linda SMITH in 33rd place had the highest age-graded score (83.75%).

MALE RESULTS (1) Robin SMITH: 17.30 (PB); (2) Gary MELLISH: 17.39 (PB); (3) Spencer EVANS: 18.54. Andrew MACFARLANE in 9th place had the highest age-graded score (76.89%).

This week 124 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 30 were first timers and 16 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 15 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 10 volunteers:  Philip PEARSON, Mary BURKETT, Faye SPOONER, Richard NEWMAN, John LANG, Chris HESLEGRAVE, Dee HANMORE, Charity ANYIKA, Lettice BROWNE and Pascalia PAMBA.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barking parkrun Results Page.

The female record is held by Lydia HALLAM who recorded a time of 17:42 on 12th August 2017 (event number 267).

The male record is held by Paul MARTELLETTI who recorded a time of 14:52 on 25th December 2017 (event number 287).

The Age Grade course record is held by Breege NORDIN who recorded 91.10% (21:55) on 7th September 2019 (event number 376).

Barking parkrun started on 28th July 2012. Since then 4,261 participants have completed 34,106 parkruns covering a total distance of 170,530 km, including 5,095 new Personal Bests. A total of 427 individuals have volunteered 4,963 times.

We are parkrunners, we are not cricketers, rain does not stop play! In fact rain has never stopped Barking parkrun, thick snow and ice a couple of times and a cultural festival in the park, but never rain.

Here we go with another weather related run report, wet ? moist ? no i think i will go with soggy. Put it like this, although it has never happened, we do consider the risk of someone drowning in the lake, we rarely worry about anyone drowning on the run course. Spare a though for your event director Alison having to contend with 30 degree heat in Majorca, although i am sure she would have much preferred to have been with us, NOT.

I am still rusty after the restart and apologise that the volunteers didn't get their thank you in the run briefing. Massive thanks to you all ,as we regularly say we can not go ahead without you. Massive thanks to the hardy soles who turned out to take part also, as without participants we do not need volunteers.

Perhaps not surprisingly not too many first timers today but welcome to tourists from Stanmore, Lowestoft & Foots Cray, the latter represented by their event director, Richard Furze completing an impressive 275th parkrun. At the other end of the scale welcome to Rebekah Loftman, undertaking parkrun number 1. The other first timers were Richie Harris, Herbie Loftman & Hayley Maud. Our final 'first timer' was Lorraine Allen however, you seem to have registered a second time, if you can email into us or speak to the RD next week we can provide you with your original athlete id number, to correct this situation. Congratulations go to Paul Tabor a Barking regular, for completing parkrun number 150, & Dawn Holmes 50

An impressive 10 pb's today(in that weather) so hearty congratulations to Joe Stacey, Jane Rukin-White, Jess Collett, Adrian Davison, James Kelly, Joyce Golder(again), Shafin Khan, Emma Botterill, Fenley O'Connell & Malva O'Connell.

FEMALE RESULTS: 1; Jane Rukin-White 21.47 2; Jess Collett 21.50 3; Tracey Sheehy 23.22  Highest female age graded score Mary Frances O'Brien 74.71%

MALE RESULTS: 1;Joe Stacey 17.53(pb) 2; Stephen Philcox 18.12 3; Richie Harris 19.45 Highest male age graded score Stephen in second place 84.43%.

 

This week 80 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 6 were first timers and 10 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 14 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 11 volunteers:

Philip PEARSON • Robert COURTIER • Mick MOOHAN • Richard NEWMAN • Chris HESLEGRAVE • Carlos BASTIDAS • Maria Ivonne BARRERA • James BYERS • Pip HARRINGTON • Greg ADAMS • Irma CERNYCHIENE

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barking parkrun Results Page.

The female record is held by Lydia HALLAM who recorded a time of 17:42 on 12th August 2017 (event number 267).
The male record is held by Paul MARTELLETTI who recorded a time of 14:52 on 25th December 2017 (event number 287).
The Age Grade course record is held by Breege NORDIN who recorded 91.10% (21:55) on 7th September 2019 (event number 376).

Barking parkrun started on 28th July 2012. Since then 4,231 participants have completed 33,982 parkruns covering a total distance of 169,910 km, including 5,079 new Personal Bests. A total of 426 individuals have volunteered 4,953 times.