Conkers parkrun 16th January 2016
At 7:00am Mark Boast donned his head torch and headed out to the Conkers parkrun course to do a reconnaissance run safety check. Whilst parts of the course were manageable there were some areas of sheet ice and all the puddles were frozen. After consultation with Mark and other people who had been out on course, Run Director Sam Screaton made the very difficult decision to cancel the event. Emails were then sent out to inform volunteers of the cancellation and notices were posted on the website and facebook page. Whilst running on your own it’s easy to look ahead and adjust your course accordingly, when amongst 400+ runners, including first timers and children, it’s not. It is parkrun policy to cancel events that are too icy to be safely negotiated. For future events it’s always recommended that runners check the Conkers parkrun website and facebook page for up-to-date event notifications.
Thank you to everyone who had offered to volunteer today, please email conkershelpers@parkrun.com if you would like to volunteer next week instead. A few of us manned the car park gates and Waterside entrance to inform runners of the cancellation. A huge thank you to you for doing so in the sub zero temperature: Erin Thompson, Jennifer Cross, Kevin Borley, Laurence Kingscott, Mark Boast, Samantha Screaton, and Tony Stone.
Kev Borley, Jen Cross, Tony Stone, Erin Thompson, Sam Screaton, Laurence Kingscott
Of the people who arrived at Conkers some decided to run the course at their own risk, including some parkrun tourists from Poplar. A warm welcome to you, we’re sorry you didn’t get to see us in action but please come back to visit us soon! Melanie Ratcliffe arrived with a box of delicious lemon drizzle cake which some runners had to fuel their run whilst others had a nibble when they got back. Don’t forget you can log your run as a freedom run by going into your parkrun profile and clicking on ‘freedom’.
The hospitality team at Conkers noticed there were runners going out on course and decided to open the café so that there was hot food and drinks available for them when they finished. A big thank you to Conkers who look after us week in week out.
To join in Conkers parkrun next Saturday simply register at www.parkrun.com, print your barcode and turn up at 8.50am at Conkers Waterside Centre. See your initial registration email, your weekly parkrun e-newsletter, or a previous results email to print your barcode. Phones don't scan, so please do bring a printed copy. Alternatively if you prefer a more durable barcode you can purchase plastic barcodes and wristbands from http://www.parkrun-barcode.org.uk/. Please remember this is a barcode only event so DFYB (Don’t Forget Your Barcode!). Join us for a cuppa, brekky and a natter afterwards in the cafe.
