Anyone for Dennis?

It was parkrun eve (otherwise known as a Friday) and I was nervously watching the weather reports hearing about the imminent arrival of Storm Dennis. I was planning my Bushy Pilgrimage for parkrun day this weekend and as I watched the list of cancellations grow due to the imminent storm and parkruns which were already flooded, began to wonder if it would be able to go ahead. As a parkrun ambassador in South Africa, a bit of wind, rain and mud were not going to stop me but this weekend was my only chance on this trip to go back to where it all began and as I was also bringing my youngest Granddaughter (age 8) along for her very first parkrun, I really wanted her to have Bushy parkrun as her first one.

Barcode ready!

parkrun day arrives, and I’m up bright and early and with some trepidation I check yet again to make sure Bushy is not on the casualty list for today. With spare trainers, dry socks and extra jackets all packed I go and grab my Granddaughter and we make our way from the middle of Kent to Bushy parkrun. As we arrive the wind starts to pick up, but we find a happy bunch of volunteers setting up and are greeted with huge smiles and introduced to the RD for the day. We also met a very special young man Wally and Craig. Wally had some of his family with him today to mark his 499^th parkrun which really was special as they are not able to be there next week for his 500^th. Craig came from Scotland with a very large bag of treats for the volunteers as he was doing his 150^th parkrun today.

Craig with his goodies from Scotland

Mike TIVNEN did the first timers briefing this morning and greeted not just myself from South Africa, but also parkrunners from Vancouver and Brisbane along with 41 first timers and 116 parkrunners visiting Bushy for the first time. Despite the wind he still managed to put smiles on everyone’s faces, firstly telling us how he had been invited to attend that very first time trial and didn’t go because it was a day just like today (and now regrets it LOL), explaining their double funnel and also telling my Granddaughter where the best puddles and mud for jumping in were, even though she only had trainers on and not welly boots – Thanks Mike ‼

Now it was time to parkrun. Ray COWARD RD for the day got the crowd assembled, and went through the pre-run briefing for today, including the pacers that they had today. Then we were ready to go. This was quite a sight, I’ve seen parkruns with this many parkrunners before in South Africa plenty of times, so the large number was not anything new for me, but to see this crowd so spread out with such a beautiful wide starting area and everyone had so much space really was a spectacle.

Very soon with the field thinned out and as we mostly walked our way around this beautiful parkrun we were greeted by very friendly marshals (all wrapped up in nice big warm coats, hats, scarves and gloves) all of whom were clapping, congratulating everyone and giving them warm smiles as they passed by them. As we went by we decided all these heroes needed to be in our pictures for the day after all there is no parkrun without volunteers, and they made everyone feel so welcome. Every marshal took the time to tell my Granddaughter how well she was doing and some giving her high 5’s along the way. To see the way that made her smile was heart-warming.

We were also lucky enough to come across a herd of deer, mostly sheltering under some trees but we were lucky to have one stag in close proximity on one side of the path and 4 deer walking towards us on the other side. Then as we were on the final stretch two swans were close to the bank of the pond, yet another spectacle.

The finish at Bushy was a very warm welcome even on a cold windy day. We passed the timekeeper to yet more congratulations, collected our finish tokens and couldn’t resist the photo of my Granddaughter with one of the scanners just before she had her barcode scanned for the first time.

Although it’s true you can be certain of a warm welcome to any parkrun you attend, Bushy has to be on every parkrunner's bucket list. You not only get the very warm welcome, but you get a magnificent park, the wildlife roaming close by and you get to see just where parkrun all began, it’s a “wow” combination. Today there were 70 volunteers who turned out on a cold, windy day to allow 1295 parkrunners to do parkrun – I would like to personally thank each and every one of them for their time and commitment, and also those behind scenes who we rarely see on the volunteer rosters yet spend their time during the week answering emails, looking after social media and doing all those other tasks which need to happen behind the scenes every week in order for parkrun to take place.

 Some results & Pacers

parkrun First Timer and Colombian running champion Muriel Coneo looking strong and finishing fourth overall in 17:31

Third week of the month means pacers. This week the crack team was Stefan, Rob, Jeremy, Kevin, Krysia, Andy, Adrian and Tim


Did we ever say that pacing drives you slightly mad...
 

And finally... here are a couple of running taps...

Cat & Sam - blowing hot and cold in the funnel - he is running the London Marathon for Water Aid

 
and finally, finally... meet Sanka - Marshal point 2 at Church Grove Gate is his favourite spot...

Same time next week...
 

Nickie Sale (with additional material from Andrew Howarth).

Thanks also to Wendy Stokes for some of the photos.
 

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Interested in volunteering at Bushy parkrun? Please e-mail bushyhelpers@parkrun.com

Want to give feedback? Have anything to say or want anyone mentioned in future run reports? Please e-mail bushyoffice@parkrun.com

The calm before the storm

Weather/ conditions: cool and dry, a bit muddy underfoot, no wind. (Next day, Bushy Park was closed because of high winds)

Headlines

1480 runners

54 volunteers

171 first timers at Bushy parkrun – 124 visitors and 47 brand new parkrunners

148 new PBs

A common question put to us Bushy parkrunners when we go on the road is, how do you manage so many runners? I suppose the answer is that, funnel aside, we largely manage ourselves. The start line is getting ever wider. Yet almost 1500 runners (and walkers) seem to converge onto the path by the cricket pitch at 1km with no friction at all. I’ve seen more argybargy in the Pheasantry coffee queue. Even accidental tumbles are rare. Today was splashy in places, slippery in others, but a huge field of 1480 runners got round in just over an hour, with results processed less than an hour later. It is truly impressive.

Milestones

Steve AXBEY and Martin SMITH ran their 250^th today. Steve’s first parkrun was at Bushy park in 2006, when it was still Bushy Park Time Trial. To record your time you sauntered up to a person with an excel printout and gave your name and finish position. Steve describes how it worked:

“Back in those days the marshals had a paper printout of everyone who was registered - so about 2000 names - in alphabetical order. We arrived at the marshal, announced our name "PLEASE GIVE YOUR SURNAME FIRST, THEN FIRST NAME" they used to say in the announcements pre-run (I think it might even have been Ray, even that long ago). The marshal would find you on the list and then you would then announce your position, which they noted down against your name.

Later they had a laptop, but it was still the same process - announce name and then position.

Then eventually they got scanners.”

Can you imagine the queue there’d be if we did that now? (Yes you can. Did I mention the Pheasantry?).

Milestones

Black tees on the way for six new members of the 100 club: Khurram KHAN, Philip GODDEN, Peter FAN, John HOOKWAY, Michelle NOURSE and Mary ESTALL. Peter and John were both making the Bushy pilgrimage for the first time. Peter’s home parkrun is Ellenbrook Fields, which sounds rather lovely: “a privately-owned nature reserve adjacent to the University of Hertfordshire Sports Village outdoor pitches on de Havilland Campus, Hatfield.” John’s a peripatetic runner, with roots at Kingsway parkrun in Gloucester.

Red 50 tees for Mark FRAMPTON, Chris WOOLLEY, Jon HARPER, Jenny THORNE, Colin LEA, Sharon MORTASSAGNE, and Angela MILLS visiting from Lee-on-the-Solent/ Southampton.

Unofficial milestones for Allan BRAY running his 400^th parkrun, Paul SIMON on 300, Jane LILLYWHITE, Merran SELL and Andrew DAVIDSON on 150.

Thanks to the volunteers

Jacquie ALLIX, Veronica BEANEY, Donald BELL, Jack BENNETT, Natasha BRAMBLE, Helen CARRINGTON, Patti CHADHA, Lucas CURTIS, Lola DACHTLER, Zoe Alison FAIZ, Sheila FERGUSSON, Ray FRANKS, Christine FRY, Erin GOODWIN, Paige GOODWIN, Suzanne GREEN, David HOPPE, Gabriel HUXLEY-JENNINGS, Amber JACKSON, Robbie JONES, Juliette JOWIT, Lucy KATESMARK, Bert KIDWELL, Jim KINROSS, Katie KNOTT, Catelin LE FRANC, Courtney LE FRANC, Margaret LE FRANC, Selma LEE, Gert LINDEQUE, Fiona MCANENA, Susie MCNICOL, Sophia MONS, Grace MORENO-MASEY, Diane MULLEN, Emma May MURPHY, Helen NICHOLLS, Meera PANCHARATNAM, Megan PORTER, Layla POWERS, Callum REID, Rosie RENDALL, Ian RILEY, Krysia SMITH, Adam STEPHENS, Carol SWAFFER, Peter David THOMPSON, Alex TICKELL, Mike TIVNEN, Michael TROTT, Lia TYNAN, Colby WALLACE WATERSON, Simon WESTGARTH, Andrew John WINGATE

Speedy runners

Fastest men

Ryan KEANE                17:11                SM25-29           75.07%

Jonathan STONE          17:55                SM30-34           72.56%

Will RAWLING               17:57                VM40-44           77.16%

Fastest women

Isabel CLARK                17:29                SW30-34           85.03%

Michelle DILLON           18:26                VW45-49           86.98

Cordelia PARKER         18:32                SW25-29           79.86%

Fastest junior girls

Monica DEAKIN            JW11-14           71.60%            21:57

Harriet WILTSHIRE        JW11-14           68.93%             22:48

Sabina MERT                JW11-14           70.63%             23:33    New PB!

Fastest junior boys

Adam Y CONWAY         JM15-17            72.04%             19:01

Felix ALLEN                  JM11-14            75.39%             19:14

Zach HORN                   JM11-14            73.98%             19:36

Top age grades

Liz KILLIP                     VW55-59           90.07%            20:39

Michelle DILLON           VW45-49           86.98%             18:26

Judy M. NUTTING          VW80-84           85.42%             31:12    New PB! Again!

Isabel CLARK                SW30-34           85.03%             17:29

Laurence DUFFY          VM55-59           82.53%             19:16

Cordelia PARKER         SW25-29           79.86%             18:32

Andrew DELL'ANNO      VM55-59           79.56%             19:39

Stephen HIRD               VM50-54           79.23%             18:37    New PB!

Jackie from Footscray

Liz is Event Director of Victoria junior parkrun in Glasgow

Margaret was visiting from Tasmania

Alan was visiting from Yeovil Montecute parkrun

First timers Maya with mum Adele

Mark from Black Park parkrun near Slough

Mary who is back at parkrun after a 15 year absence. Last time Mary came to parkrun the whole barcode thing was rather informal, so she’s not in the results this week. Please come again Mary.

Christine from Woodhouse Moor parkrun, near Leeds

Friends Molly, Gerry and Jackie meet up at Bushy

JB, Julie, Charlotte and John, here for John's 100th and JB's 50th

Richard, Cameron, Louise and Georgia, all first timers, all inspired by Richard's New Year's resolution (he says)

Richard is Event Director at Footscray, which he started when he thought Bexley was getting a bit busy. He is also a regional ambassador for parkrun UK. He came to Bushy today with a group of Footscray volunteers.

Token sorting is a major task these days. In some places they run a parkrun with a team this size.

Fiona McAnena

Don't forget you can now follow us on Instagram
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Twitter at www.twitter.com/bushyparkrun
and for Bushy parkrun on facebook
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Interested in volunteering at Bushy parkrun? Please e-mail bushyhelpers@parkrun.com

Want to give feedback? Have anything to say or want anyone mentioned in future run reports? Please e-mail bushyoffice@parkrun.com

We've not left

Weather/conditions: Breezy, chilly, brightening up / Drying ground for the most part

(Photo (c) Maarten D'Haese)

It’s great to have something for everyone that will last down the ages and the generations. Who knows how many will be parkrunning in 47 years time but I imagine that it will still be at least as popular here, in the rest of Europe and far beyond as it is now - getting people together for 1 hour every Saturday for a run, a chat and a coffee.

Some Stats

1474 ran, jogged or walked on Saturday; 48 were first timers

51 volunteers made it happen – thanks to all.

The following hit 80%+ in the WFA grading – hats off to all. And especially to Judy who now seems to appear on this table every time I put it together.

Milestones – congrats to all.

400: Julie MELOTTE

250: Kris DENHAM

200: Christopher BOX, Rupert BOLE, Julia SNEDDEN, Sandra REED

100: Adrian MUNNS, Catherine GREENSTREET, Michael GREEN, Stephanie JAMES, Rachel FINN, Marisa BILLETT

50: Sarah SANDERS, Ian PATERSON , Alison STAIN, Avone KEEN, Caroline BUSBY, Sue DENARO, Paul LYNES,  Ali SHEARS, Kate CHEETHAM, Joanne PITT, Hazel BRUNT , Sarah CHEETHAM, Gert LINDEQUE

J10: Tess FLACK, Oliver HUME 

PICS

Lorraine and Darren came up from Brighton for the morning.

Howard made the short trip from Hampton to do his very first parkrun. He had registered when the barcode number was around 3.8m and now it’s close to 7m. I caught up with him on the way round – he was doing great.

Jane and David were down from Melton Mowbray – minus any porkpies. They had a good run but disappointment lay ahead for Jane as Scotland went down in Dublin.

Oliver and Thomas were over from Brockwell Park. Lovely park but with three sets of hills if you ever find yourself doing parkrun there. They’re getting married in the spring in West Cork and they’re already familiar with the parkrun scene in Clonakilty and Castlehaven. Best wishes to both for May and beyond.

This is Betsy (left) with her son Charlie. Unfortunately the husband had lost the car keys during the walk so steps had to be retraced. I hope they found them.

Susan and Andy showing the way to the newbies

Kate and Mike were over from Jo’burg. Mike has done 105 different parkruns in South Africa alone. And I think Kate said she had done 99 different ones. Needless to be say, they were delighted to be visiting BP. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

Craig Lawrence was visiting BP, the UK and Europe for the first time for his honeymoon. He’s over from Rockingham in Western Australia. He Go-Pros all his parkruns and loads them up on his Youtube channel. He said he would have Saturday’s run edited and up when he gets home in 6 weeks or so. Enjoy the rest of the trip, Craig. Watch our FB page.

Marisa (badged up) was celebrating her 100th pr with a gang of her friends and a fabulous looking cake baked by her pal, Donna.
Marisa is pictured with Nicola getting the cake ready. It was well on the way to being demolished by the time I left!

I bumped into John who’s a BP regular and hails from Stockton-on-Tees. His sport used to be ice hockey but he’s a runner now. At least he will be again soon once he gets over his Achilles injury. He can’t wait to get back but said he loves coming down to BP anyway for the chat and the atmosphere. Best wishes for the recovery, John and hope you’re back in action before long.

My favourite part of the run/course

We’ll be back again next week.

Kevin Quinn

Don't forget you can now follow us on Instagram
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Twitter at www.twitter.com/bushyparkrun
and for Bushy parkrun on facebook
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Interested in volunteering at Bushy parkrun? Please e-mail bushyhelpers@parkrun.com

Want to give feedback? Have anything to say or want anyone mentioned in future run reports? Please e-mail bushyoffice@parkrun.com

Starting Young?

We begin this week’s run report by featuring Rosanna Bartlett and her husband Andy who was on buggy duty. Rosanna was able to complete the 5k route this week while being eight months pregnant, this also marked her 50^th parkrun.

Visitors

We had a wide range of visitors this week

This couple on the right from Australia have now completed 125 different parkruns and Bushy Park was the last stop on their parkrun tour of the British Isles.

There were also visitors from closer to home coming from the county of Lincolnshire.

Volunteers

Many thanks to all of our volunteers this week:

Richard BEADLE, Donald BELL, Jack BENNETT, Phil BLUER, Shirley BUCKLEY, Lucas CURTIS, Lola DACHTLER, Deirdre DOE, Paddy FITZPATRICK, Janice FRANKS, Ray FRANKS, Christine FRY, Suzanne GREEN, Sofia HAWKINS, David HOPPE, Andrew HOWARTH, Trevor HUGGINS, Gabriel HUXLEY-JENNINGS, Iris JOHONSON, Lucy KATESMARK, Bert KIDWELL, Keira KING, Jim KINROSS, Katie KNOTT, Catelin LE FRANC, Courtney LE FRANC, Margaret LE FRANC, Selma LEE, Susie MCNICOL, Sophia MONS, Grace MORENO-MASEY, Laura Helen MOSLEY, Jason NOURSE, Jeremy PALMER, Meera PANCHARATNAM, David PAPWORTH, Rob PHILLIPS, Megan PORTER, Ian RILEY, Jo ROSE, Abbie ROSS, Nick SAVILL, Julie SMITH, Jem SRAI, Adam STEPHENS, Carol SWAFFER, Alex TICKELL, Lia TYNAN, Colby WALLACE WATERSON, Heather WALLINGTON, James Oliver WELCH, Dorrie WHITING, Andrew John WINGATE

Bushy is always in need of volunteers. If you fancy it, just drop an e-mail to Pat McGRATH at bushyhelpers@parkrun.com and he’ll put you on the list for that week.

Overall, 1527 took part in the 827^th Bushy parkrun this week in what was another brisk and cold morning in South West London.

On your marks, get set, Go!

Lead Bike David this week had to get his skates on...

Rowan Axe of Cardiff Athletics club was the first runner home with an impressive time of 15:30.

The Top 10

The first female finisher was Michelle Dillon coming in with a time of 18:26.

Lead Buggy

Into the last km

Milestones

Congratulations to all those who have completed milestones in parkrun this week.

Rosanna in the funnel

250 - George Longstaff

100 - Richard Boyes, Helen Mol and Claire Leonard

50 - Christopher Evans, Ali Gregory, Simeon Cary, Guy Snowden, Luke Tayler, James Johnson, Victoria Musket, Rosanna Bartlett and Andri Johnson

10 - Ella Bhattachary-Kebell

Victoria celebrates 50 runs whilst Emma celebrates 55 years with well-earned celebratory drinks

Look forward to seeing you all next week, cheers!

Adam Stephens

Don't forget you can now follow us on Instagram
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Twitter at www.twitter.com/bushyparkrun
and for Bushy parkrun on facebook
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and for parkrun UK on facebook at
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Interested in volunteering at Bushy parkrun? Please e-mail bushyhelpers@parkrun.com

Want to give feedback? Have anything to say or want anyone mentioned in future run reports? Please e-mail bushyoffice@parkrun.com

The Cold and Crispy One

It was one of those rare and precious winter Saturdays when we turned up to the park and saw it bathed in early morning sun and shrouded in mist and crisp with frost. As we all know, our park is a beautiful place that looks at its best on mornings like these.

I combined my usual warm up run with photographic duties and may potentially have got carried away with the beautiful light and frosty conditions. It makes a lovely change from the usual grey and drab skies we normally get at this time of year.

And just to show how dedicated our wonderful volunteers are, here we have Nick, Anna and Sanka the dog walking to their marshalling point about half an hour before we all set off from the start.

Talking of volunteering, Joy and Sue were the volunteer coordinators this week. If you fancy having a go, please do. It's great fun and we'd love to have you along to help. Please email us using the link below. Many thanks to our volunteers this week;