Calm before the Storm ‘Ciara’

 

Such a contrast of weather last the weekend, although Saturday was perfect conditions for a parkrun. It was mild, clear, the sea was calm and we also had some of that elusive sunshine with lots of happy, smiley, people turning up from far and wide for another fun filled start to a Saturday morning. We feel very blessed here at Exmouth parkrun with our renowned fast and flat course suitable for all abilities and very accessible for everyone.

The usual early morning set-up crew and our ED and RD Chris had everything in order, course checked, ready and waiting to greet all the volunteers and parkrun participants in plenty of time for First Timer/Visitor brief and then onto the main brief, providing important and useful information to all those taking part. Some still need to be reminded to shush so that everyone can hear the announcements being made before anyone can start.

Today there were many milestone achievers, Andrew Beake and Richard Johnson both making their 50^th parkrun appearance while Sam Ingram (new PB), Robert Gibson (with his special balloon) and James Durston all making their 100^th parkrun at Exmouth today. Very well done to you all. There also were many visitors, some running Exmouth parkrun for the very first time, from Exeter, Seaton, Cheltenham, Plymouth, Taunton, Killerton, Tewkesbury, Tamar Lakes, Poole, Aylesbury, Sutton, Winchester, Royal Tonbridge Wells, Coventry, Braunstone, Hamilton Lake, Burnham & Highbridge, St Albans, Brueton, Heartwood Forest, Kingsbury, Houghton Hall, Arrow Valley, Newport and Clapham Common. Apologies if I’ve missed anyone! A warm welcome to you all. There were several Pacers on the course today helping those who wanted to try for a new pb sub25, 30, 35 and 40 minute finish. I’m sure some of you made it!

Over to the start, we were off, the first right-hand turn at The Octagon is a little tight, being careful not to run out on the road, the Marshals will shout at you making sure we remain safe, and off we go along a fairly narrow and busy section down to the Harbour View café and slipway on the outward bound towards Orcombe Point passing the beach side of the Lifeboat Station. The views out across the bay are absolutely magnificent and on a clear day you can see along the coast to Berry Head at Brixham and take in the freshness of the sea air. Many dog-walkers were out on the beach with an outgoing tide enjoying their morning exercise along with Wind Surfers and also rowing boats from the Exmouth Rowing Club. There were also a group of lady early morning swimmers by the Lifeboat Station who had already been in for a cool dip giving us encouragement as we passed by.

 

As we made our way down past the Lifeboat Station towards the Orcombe Point turn Flagpoles, many of the speedy parkrunners were already making their way back up the course. At this point we must all be aware to keep to the right on both sides and avoid a head-on incident. We also need to remember there are many other users out on our course including walkers and cyclists all going in different directions enjoying their morning out up and down the sea-front promenade.

 

After the flagpole turn point at Orcombe, (rather a sharp turn today!), we head begin the return leg back up past the Lifeboat Station, this time moving around the outside of the building, taking care move back onto pedestrian footway on our way towards the new sea-front development getting a different perspective and view of the coastline, passing the Harbour View café/slipway and the HM Coastguard observation tower, along past the Octagon and up to the Cavendish turn around an orange cone where the jellybaby Marshal stands by the shelter (a favourite for all the much younger participants). From here there’s a short distance back passing the Octagon into the final finishing straight and into the finish funnel greeted by the Timekeepers and Funnel Managers keeping you all in order (ensuring no funnel ducking business!) as we move along the funnel to collect our well earned position Finish Token. Note: Don’t forget not to take Finish Tokens home (property of parkrun) and if you don’t want a time or you’ve forgotten your personal barcode (such a pain, but who’s fault is that!), the finish token can be placed in an orange cone when you exit finish funnel clearly signed.

 

The next step (after you catch your breath) is to take your finish token and personal barcode across the road to the Ocean where the Barcode Scanners are waiting to greet you. Remember you will be crossing the pedestrian footpath where other parkrunners will still be moving up along the course and also the road is usually quite busy, so please be careful, especially with small children and babies in buggies. After you’ve all been scanned, there’s time for a little relaxation and if you wanted plenty of opportunity for a chat over refreshment or even a good breakfast after all the exercise.

Exmouth parkrun are a very friendly bunch and there’s always an opportunity to chat with some of the core-team and volunteers and remember, if you are interested in volunteering at future events, the volunteer matrix will be there available for you to add your name. Please also email to confirm your A.number barcode as quite often there are people with the same name and the original parkrun registration may not be at home parkrun Exmouth. We also have many visitors who like to volunteer certain roles so always helpful to know your barcode number before we can add you to the official online volunteer roster.

 

Today there were 476 parkrunners who crossed our finish line, 57 who ran Exmouth parkrun for the first time including 26 first time parkrunners. 45 different running clubs were represented. We had some really speedy runners out on course today, 98 achieving new personal best times with special mention going to Hannah Taunton (GB para-athlete) and regular visitor from Taunton (we think Hannah likes us a lot!), who returned a very impressive new 5K personal best time and also a new course record in 17:07 absolutely smashing her own previous course record set back in March 2019. The First Finisher today was an ‘Unknown’ athlete (someone either running just for fun or had forgotten their personal barcode, or maybe both!). The first Junior Male 15-17 category was Oliver Capps in 17:37 and First Junior Female 11-14 category was Isla Bryson 19:51 with a new PB. Well done to you all, we hope you enjoyed your parkrun with us today.

 

Of course all this would simply not be possible without our amazing 31 super hi-vis heroes who make it all happen. A big Thankyou to them all, they were: May ARGYLE, Sarah BALDWIN, Rich BARNETT, Chris BATEMAN, Edward BERRIDGE, Jason BERRIDGE, Lisa BERRIDGE, Darren BRADLEY, Craig BUTLER, Phil DAVEY, Sue DAVEY, Richard DE LA RUE, Jill DUPAIN, Nigel DUPAIN, Linda HOE, Lorna JONES, Ruth KENNEDY, Nick MILLINGTON, Poppy MOORE, Sophie MOORE, Richard MORRIS, Sarah PICKERING, Lisa PIKE, Colin PRATT, Timothy PRATT, Nick RICHART, Nathan SHEEHY, Wendy SILK, Karen STEWART, Rosemary TATE, Emily WEBB.

 

Two points of order to be mentioned, with an increase number of participants has seen an extra busy amount of traffic moving up and down the sea-front near the start/finish area looking for somewhere to park and arrive for briefing and the start on time. Please allow extra time to park, there is plenty of room roadside parking up and down the promenade pay and display and also the main pay and display car park just a bit further along from the Ocean behind the new sea-front site development area. Please look out for other parkrunners arriving on foot, especially those with small children pushing buggies and why not consider car-sharing where possible. Not only helps with the environmental impact and costs less to park. Secondly, Personal A.number Barcodes, we will not enter any results for participants who forget to bring their barcode for any reason so please don’t ask or email in. Every participant (children included) must have their individual printed barcode and present it to the barcode scanner with their finish token. We operate a strict parkrun code of practice ‘No printed personal barcode – No timed result’ policy. We cannot accept barcode images saved on mobile phones or other devices. It is your responsibility alone to ensure you remember to bring your barcode, not parkrun or any of our volunteers who have already given up their own personal time and chance to run so that you all can. Simples!

 

Phil.

The first day of February brought ideal weather for the 110^th Exmouth parkrun – a dry and bright morning with almost no wind, and relatively mild for this time of year. Run Director Craig gave the briefings, then got the 450 runners under way. As usual it was quite crowded down to the first turn at the Octagon, but after that the runners soon start to spread out and by the time we pass Stan at his usual marshalling spot outside the Harbour View Cafe, we can really start to stretch our legs.

The Council have done an excellent job of clearing the sand and litter from the footpath, and we had a clear run out past the lifeboat station to the flagpoles at the Orcombe Point turn, the fastest runners passing us in the opposite direction well before we arrive there! The Bumble and Sea was open for business, but no time to stop for tea and buns now. Fortunately the sun was hiding behind a cloud for the outbound sector – at this time of year the low sun can sometimes make it difficult to spot other runners and pedestrians.

Back towards town, and we're soon passing the start with 1k still to run down to the Cavendish and back, the legs starting to complain by here. The fastest runners have already finished, but I spot one of the pacemakers coming the other way not far from the Cavendish, which is a good indicator that my time is OK. At the Cavendish turn the much appreciated Jelly Baby marshal is doing a roaring trade, then its just 500m to the finish and time to push on and use up any remaining energy (and jelly babies) with a final sprint from the Octagon to the finish funnel.

Congratulations to Oli Clark, Lisa Berridge, Paul Harvey and Peter Dewhurst on completing their 50^th parkrun, Caroline Tate who completed her 100^th, and the 88 runners who achieved a Personal Best this week. Congratulations also to Phil Wylie who led the field home on his first Exmouth parkrun, and to Daisy Rowe, the first lady AND the first Junior home, also to the 46 attended Exmouth parkrun including fifteen parkrunners who completed their first ever parkrun and representatives of 34 different running clubs. Visitors acknowledged were from Cheltenham, Exeter, Chard, Teignmouth, Wells, Swindon, Killerton, Taunton, Sidmouth, Seaton, Crewkerne, Bushy, Porthcawl, Yeovil, Dishley, Pomphrey Hill, Didcot, Preston, Barking, Plym Valley, Bristol, Wigan, Portsmouth, Parke and Bakewell – we look forward to seeing you all here again!

Big Thanks are also due to Kim and Peter for their kind and generous donation of a large quantity of Jelly Babies (Mmmm!).

 

Thanks to the Volunteers

This week 29 Volunteers got up early to make the parkrun possible:

Lee RUSSELL, Nick ADJERIAN, Sarah GOODING, Rosemary TATE, Jill DUPAIN, Phil DAVEY, Nigel DUPAIN, Phil DAVEY, Debbie MARRIOTT, Stan MASON, May ARGYLE, Craig BUTLER, Margaret BLYTH, Lisa WHITE, Thomas THORLEY, Ronan GOODING, Terry MINTING, Neal STAMMERS, Jimmy JOY, Liane O'DONNELL, Nick RICHART, Karen STEWART, Karen JONES, Abi TOKENS, Rich BARNETT, Kim SNELL, Derek JOHNSON, Claire PITTARD, Jason HILL, Sonya LOWE.

If you haven't tried volunteering yet, give it a go – it's fun!

Thomas.

It was a freezing cold start for #108 parkrun at Exmouth, with plenty of Sea Mist obscuring the view of the turn point opposite The Cavendish Hotel and Stan (the Marshall)’s regular haunt at the Harbour View Café from the start line. Much of the beach had blown up on to the Esplanade and pavement, so, with the frost, extra care was needed along the 5k course due to ‘lively’ underfoot conditions. The sea mist seemed to rise immediately after the 9am start, and by the time the first runners were coming back, a beautiful, clear sunny day appeared.

 

There were 61 First Timers at Exmouth including visitors from Canada, Gloucester, London, Teignmouth, Exeter, Leighton Buzzard, Bideford, Launceston, Taunton and Seaton. 83 recorded new Personal Bests and there were representatives from 33 different running clubs. We also had a 21^st Birthday (Andrew), a 50^th parkrun from ‘Tri-Hard’ Ruth (with Roxy the dog) and Thomas completed his 100^th parkrun. Very well done to you all. Our very own Stan completed his 75^th parkrun as a Volunteer – a big thank you to Stan!!

 

Credit, as always, goes to the 30 volunteers that delivered #108 Exmouth parkrun safely - It was very cold to be stood out on the sea front for over an hour. A Big Thankyou to all of them: Zoe ALLARS, Sarah BALDWIN, Chris BATEMAN, Lisa BERRIDGE, Margaret BLYTH, Darren BRADLEY, Craig BUTLER, Phil DAVEY, Amanda DAY, Jill DUPAIN, Nigel DUPAIN, Jennifer GATES, Paul HUGHES, Karen JONES, Elizabeth LLOYD-POWELL, Joan MASON, Stan MASON, Liz MICHAELSON, Nick MILLINGTON, Richard MORRIS, Sylvia MORRIS, Martha NEAL, Colin PRATT, Timothy PRATT, Nick RICHART, Nathan SHEEHY, Laura SIMMONDS, Gary TURL, Alison WHITE, Lisa WHITE, Michael Zippy WRIGHT.    

 

New Years Resolutions are still going strong and an impressive 514 people completed the run on Saturday – Well done to everyone who participated and supported!

Nick.

It was a dry and bright day for the 107^th Exmouth parkrun, with the wind off the sea but fortunately not quite strong enough to lift the sand!  Visitors from Exeter, Chippenham and Kent were part of another big field, this time of 518 participants.  With 74 on their first visit here, there must have been plenty more from other parkruns – do make yourselves known at the first-timers’ briefing, we love to know where our visitors are from!   Thirty-nine of those first-timers chose us for their first ever parkrun; we hope to see you next week too, and one day you’ll get a shout-out for achievement, like junior Louis Foord who equalled his PB on his 10^th parkrun, and on their 50^th parkruns and gaining their red tops, Mary Byrne and Joan Mason (one of our regular volunteers).  Congratulations to you three and the 59 parkrunners achieving personal bests today, including first junior male finisher Toby Capps.  The other first finishers this week were Berihu Hadera (male), Martha Neal (female), and Daisy Rowe (junior female).

Pacers today were Craig, Lisa and Carole.  Thanks to you and all our amazing volunteers today, with a special mention for Tim on his first outing as Run Director.  Well done Tim and everyone else for making this Saturday parkrun possible.  In the briefing Tim reminded us that volunteering needn’t mean you have to miss your run; pacers and tail walkers are the obvious examples, but you can help with setting up and closing down, or write the report, and go at whatever pace you feel like.  If you prefer a less active role, there are plenty of indoor and outdoor roles available, from bar-code scanning to marshalling.  Just check the volunteer pages to find out more!

Thanks to the volunteers

We are very grateful to the volunteers who made this event happen: Alexa BAKER, Sarah BALDWIN, Chris BATEMAN, Clare BRECKIN, Carole BROWN, Craig BUTLER, Phil DAVEY, Nigel DUPAIN, Jill DUPAIN, Paul GUGAN, Paula HOOD, Karen JONES, Susan JOY, Stan MASON, Joan MASON, Hazel MCCABE, Amanda MCCANN, Debby MULLIER, Catherine NETTLETON, Hannah PAGE, Timothy PRATT, Jenny REAY, Sam REAY, Nick RICHART, Wendy SILK, Rosemary TATE, Jane TROLLOPE, Lisa WHITE.

Debby.