Didcot parkrun - 2018 End of Year Review
2018 was a fantastic year for Didcot parkrun which saw us grow from an average of 180 runners in 2017 to an impressive average of 217 runners in 2018. There were 850 new registrations at for Didcot parkrun in 2018 taking us from 2438 to a total of 3329 registered Didcot parkrunners.
Please see the demographic breakdown of our registrants by gender and age range, a certain regular parkrunner Geoff Jackson is a standout at the top of the graph:
2018 saw 2291 individual parkrunners clocking up 11,090 runs, this is the equivalent of 55,450 km on Ladygrove Park!!
Since Didcot parkrun started on 21st February 2015 we have seen 4,599 participants complete 31,009 parkruns covering a total distance of 155,045 km, including 5,813 new Personal Bests.
The course records remain untouched from 2017 and the Age Grade Record for 2016 still stands:
The male record is held by Jonathan CORNISH who recorded a time of 15:58 on 15th April 2017 (event number 106).
The female record is held by Izzy FRY who recorded a time of 17:40 on 7th October 2017 (event number 131).
The Age Grade course record is held by Tracey LASAN who recorded 88.29% (21:04) on 7th May 2016 (event number 58).
It’s not all about the runners though as in 2018 we saw 964 individual volunteer roles being filled by 265 different volunteers. The total of volunteers since we started in February 2015 shows that 3684 individual volunteer roles have been filled by 503 different volunteers which is only 15% of all those registered.
2018 also saw a number of Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) participants using Didcot parkrun as either their physical activity or for the volunteer element of the DofE awards so well done to all those participants and we look forward to growing this element with parkrun in 2019.
We were privileged to be invited to the Civic Hall by Didcot Town Council after being nominated by our parkrunners for the ‘Sporting Achievement’ award at the Didcot Town Council Awards Evening in October 2018. We finished the evening as runners up for the third year in a row and the honour of being recognised for our voluntary service shows that we are well thought of in the community.
We held our first collection of items in support of the Didcot Emergency Food Bank in December and the generous donations from our parkrun community supported families over the Christmas period into the New Year. Following the successful collection, we are looking to team up with the Didcot Emergency Food Bank to support them in periods of high need and hope we can help support the good work they are doing in the community.
We have seen Harwell Harriers hosting a pacing event and a takeover day at Didcot parkrun, this sees the relevant group/club taking over each volunteer role on the day to deliver a successful event whilst having the chance to promote their group/club activities.
2019 started with Harwell Harriers Running Club hosting a takeover day on 12th January and Didcot Slimming World Group hosting a takeover day on 26th January, we welcome other groups/clubs to contact us if you also fancy the opportunity to have a takeover day, if you want more information then please email us at didcothelpers@parkrun.com.
Didcot parkrun has been supported by Didcot Town Council with land permission, ground maintenance and the Mayor handing out annual awards.
Didcot Town Football Club have supported us with use of the storage locker, toilets and post run refreshment along with a great venue for our functions.
Without the support of both, we wouldn’t be able to offer the parkrun experience we have to date and we look forward to building on these relationships in 2019.
Thank you to the Didcot parkrun community for all your support, running and volunteering with us, we certainly couldn't do it without you so here’s to a fun filled year of parkrunning in 2019.
Many thanks,
Didcot parkrun Core Volunteer Team
#loveparkrun
