Saturday 30th November was a very cold start & then a heavy fog developed. We had a heavy frost which lingered for much of the morning and a couple of hours of thick fog. Wytham Country Park held up well however, and the parkrun course was better than expected. Despite the frost on the ground, the course was largely clear of icy puddles.

This week we had 128 particpants who ran, jogged, jeffed & walked their way around our delightful course. First over the line was Alan Wheeler in a cracking time of 19:44. Very impressive considering the conditions underfoot. First female to finish was Samanatha Cuttell who gained a new PB in 25:33.

An Interesting coincidence is that we had 128 participants this week - as the average number of runners per week at Boston parkrun is currently 128 and the average run time is 31:05. As time goes on the participation levels are gradually increasing and the average run time is probably getting slower. We see this as progress as it means we are welcoming more people to our parkrun family. It’s incredibly rewarding to see new people start their running adventures at Boston parkrun.

We had 7 first timers to parkrun. Welcome to Tony Bailey, Chris Patchett, Evelyn Sands, Michael Gould, Phil Stanfield, Georgina Stanfield & Paula Meeds. We hope you enjoyed yourself and come and run with us again soon. We had a number of tourists visiting from Worcester (Malvern), Basildon (Essex), Keighley (West Yorkshire) & Guildford (Surrey). Do come back and visit again.

We had 6 runners worth of a special mention who achieved over 70% age grade. This is a phenomenal achievement especially considering the conditions. Well done to Nick Baker, Alan Wheeler, Steven Roberts, Terry Fone, Carol Cottingham & Jean Day. The Age Grade gives an indication of how well the parkrunner has done relative to their age and gender. Anything over 70% is classified as a regional-level runner. (80%+ is a national level runner). The highest age grade we have ever had at Boston is Cath Wheeler who achieved a staggering 87.8% on the 11th August 2018.

Dawn Gould from Pitsea Running Club in Essex celebrated her 50th parkrun as a tourist. And Heather James celebrated her 100th parkrun. Well done to you both on fantastic achievements. We also had 2 x 25 volunteer role milestones. Harrison Knight, one of our regular Juniors, celebrated his 25th time volunteering as did Steve Langford. Well done to you both. Both Harrison & Steve have carried out a range of volunteering roles including timekeeping, barcode scanning, tail walking, pacing, event-day course check, run report writing, carpark marshalling and finish tokens. We are always grateful for volunteers and provide full training for all activities. It’s really rewarding and you will get to make a lot of friends in the process. Some of the roles you can even still run the actual event as well.

Thank you also to the rest of this weeks volunteers. This week they were…….. Shirley BELL, Diane BURRELL, Sarah BURTON, John BURTON, Richard CAVE, Carmen CLARK, Roger DEPPER, Sue DUCKWORTH, Janet EDWARDS, Neil GOODWIN, Terry HUDSON, Simon JACKSON, Megan JONES, Simon KNIGHT, Harrison KNIGHT, Tanya KNIGHT, Steve LANGFORD, Ruben LANGFORD, Adam LUCAS, Paul MADDISON, Shaun MCGARRY, Sharon MEEDS, Clifford SANDS, Andrew SIMPKIN, Christine SIMPKIN, Matilda SMITH, Clare TEESDALE, Anna THOMPSON, Maurice TOMPKINS and Mick TOZER.

This week we started a collection for the Food bank. This is a really worthy cause which helps out families that need a little extra assistance. We had a good range of donations so thank you to those who have already helped. We are collecting anything new & unopened, within sell by dates. Especially useful is cereals, pasta, canned fruit, canned vegetables, toiletries, tea, coffee, UHT milk and baby food. Please do bring a few items if you are able. This time of year is especially difficult for many families in the local area. We will continue to collect next week and the following week (7th & 14th December).

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves at parkrun this week. I will bid you farewell and hand over to Sarah Burton who is our RD (Run Director) for next week. Happy running folks……….

Boston parkrun Event number 214 23rd November 2019

This week 109 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 4 were first timers and 5 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 11 different clubs took part. Hello everyone who braved the almost cross country run today. Congratulations to Debbie Petley on her 50^th parkrun.

The event was made possible by 26 volunteers: A huge thank you to them all, especially as it was a touch damp again. Please let us know if you can help for future events, it’s great fun. Barry M NORTON • Janet NORTON • Margaret COOPER • Judith JAIN • Kerry MCCRAINOR • Sarah BURTON • Steve LANGFORD • Mick TOZER • Christine SIMPKIN • Harrison KNIGHT • Mark HOUSAM • Matilda SMITH • Andrew SIMPKIN • Maurice TOMPKINS • Paul HIDE • Nicola HOUSAM • Debra PETLEY • Carl REAR • Keith TOINTON • Sue DUCKWORTH • Dawn COBB • Adam LUCAS • Georgina LIDGARD • Clifford SANDS • Carol NORTON • Lynda STOCKWELL

We were joined today by Firefighters from Boston Fire Station, who came along to promote fire safety, recruitment and the new SHERMAN initiative, which is aimed at supporting vulnerable people in our community. As the wife of a fireman it was great to see my parkrun family supporting the fire brigade family. Talking of vulnerable people, Boston parkrun starting next week is collecting for the local foodbank. Food/drink in cans/boxes new and unopened. For example cereal, tea, coffee, toiletries, pasta, canned veg/fruit and baby foods.

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

The female record is held by Gemma HOLLOWAY who recorded a time of 18:28 on 25th December 2017 (event number 115). The male record is held by Adam HOLLAND who recorded a time of 15:52 on 14th July 2018 (event number 143). The Age Grade course record is held by Cath WHEELER who recorded 87.80% (21:11) on 11th August 2018 (event number 147).

Boston parkrun started on 24th October 2015. Since then 3,855 participants have completed 27,392 parkruns covering a total distance of 136,960 km, including 5,160 new Personal Bests. A total of 432 individuals have volunteered 4,937 times.

We certainly weren’t blessed with the weather for Boston parkrun #210 and our 4th birthday. It was wet, wet and more wet.

However, it didn’t dampen the spirits or proceedings in any way. In honour of the birthday celebrations the RD team kicked off with a specially adapted run brief to the tune of ‘Let’s do the time-warp again’.

We had the County Linx radio bus (Andrew and Doug) present and Snak Shax (Ian) a much-appreciated bacon roll van. We also had a Halloween theme and lots of you ran (& volunteered) in brilliant costumes.

For more fantastic pictures see our facebook page ( Thank you David Dales!)

There was a prize for the best dressed runner which was won by Dianne Burrell. Thanks to V-fitness who donated a £20 voucher. Fancy dress was obviously helping her running as Dianne also achieved a PB.

We even had a parkrun dog dressing up today.

Extra special thanks needs to go out to the hi-viz hero’s today who did an amazing job in such horrible conditions. Without these volunteers the event could not run.  Thanks to:

 Maria BAKER, Timothy BURRELL, Sarah BURTON, Lesley BUSWELL, Carmen CLARK, Michael CORNEY, Billy CRIDLAND, Samantha CROSS, David DALES, Roger DEPPER, Matthew EGGLETON, Janet GENT, Neil GOODWIN, Jimmy HEARN, Nicola HOUSAM, Terry HUDSON, Tanya KNIGHT, Bethany LINES, Adam LUCAS, Sharon MEEDS, Carol NORTON, Clifford SANDS, Steve SHORTIS, Christine SIMPKIN, Andrew SIMPKIN, Clare TEESDALE, Andrew WELCH, Melanie WHEELER, Fiona WRISBERG

There were 141 brave participants who ran, jogged and jeffed around our beautiful (and did I mention wet) parkrun. First over the line was Craig Hallett in 18:16 and first female was Tanya Knight in 24:39, despite stopping to pick up various parts of fancy dress midway.

We had a total of 8 tourists this morning from Leeds, Liverpool & Nottingham.  We also had 3 brand-new runners to parkrun. Welcome to you all, we hope to see you again soon. It was also nice to welcome a number of club runners from the region too.
We had 17 PB’s recorded. A special mention goes to Matthew Eggleton who absolutely smashed his PB by over 2 minutes! Well done Matthew, keep up the good work.

As we all know parkrun is a fantastic community of runners.  4 years running here at Boston and we regularly top 200 participants.  parkrun is a fantastic way to make friends, boost your spirits & fitness and spend time with family & friends.  Where else would you want to be at 9am on a saturday morning?  Even if it is pouring with rain.

Fiona Wrisberg is your RD next week.  If you are interested in volunteering please eMail us (bostonhelpers@parkrun.com) or send us a message on facebook.  Happy running folks!

Run report by Tanya Knight

Thanks Tanya for a wonderful report.  As ED I just wanted to add my own thanks to everyone, not only for today but for the last four years.

A group of people who often get overlooked are the core team, they put a lot of time and effort into making every event the success that they are.  They do rosters, check emails, check kit, wash hi-viz, deal with queries, attend meetings, mend kit, liaise with other agencies, learn songs and much more.  All this while keeping a watchful eye on Health & Safety, policies and rules.

DFYB - its a parkrun thing!