On a fresh but pleasant March morning Fulbourn Hospital hosted its 15^th parkrun and was my first visit here.

Having stayed in Cambridge overnight I was awoken by the rain against the hotel window and had flashbacks to the terrible flooding and muddy courses that have been a pattern for so many months.  Thankfully, after arriving at the site, I could see that the mostly grass course was unaffected and the heavy rain looked likely not to return.  With this relief we joined the core team and Run Director Diane POTTER who had just completed the final setup ready for today’s event.  Whilst waiting for other parkrunners to arrive it was time for a few photographs (thanks to Philip DAVIDSON who has shared the link on the Facebook page).

On “Pi Day” (March 14^th: 3/14: 3.14 ... ok, it’s a bit of stretch) it was nice to see a round(!!) number of finishers – 100 of us in fact.  This included five people joining us to walk, jog or run the course for the very first time.  A warm welcome to Harry ATHERTON, Mark SAUNDERS, Rachel MICHEL, Hannah WOODS and Robert HUGHES.  I would like to think this will be the first of many.

Along with myself, first time tourists made up about a third of all who took part, visiting from all across the country.  I hope everyone enjoyed their visit as much as I did.

The event would not however have been possible though without 24 wonderful volunteers:  Commeletia ALLISON, Kathryn ARMOUR, Clare BACCHUS, Damian BAKER, Diana BRAVERMAN, Campbell BRITTIN, Hermione BRITTIN, Will DUPRE, Julia ERTNER, Mark GIBBS, Stephen KYLE, Richard LYLE, Andrea MILL, Ingrida OLENDRAITE, Diane POTTER, Catherine RODGER, Garry SEDDON, Sam STRICKSON, Philip TEMPEST, Jackie TOMLINSON, Tony TOMLINSON, Anna TUKE, David WEBB and Karen WEBB.

Thank-you to you all and if you are reading this and want to get involved in future weeks then all details can be found at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/fulbournhospital/futureroster/.  There are lots of different roles to choose from.

Today’s first finisher, and today’s highest age grade, was Will DUPRE in a time of 18:14.  Will may well have also scanned your barcode afterwards as with over two minutes passing before the second finisher, a certain run report writer, there was plenty of time to take up position.  First female finisher today was Tilele STEVENS in a time of 22:31 and first junior finisher, and 4^th overall, was Oliver WORDSWORTH-CLARKE in a time of 21:13.

Ground conditions were good with just a couple of patches that were a little slippery but that didn’t stop 22 people setting new personal bests.  Congratulations to all of the above but also to everyone who came along today and completed the course.

Full results can be found at http://www.parkrun.org.uk/fulbournhospital/results/latestresults/.

There were no official attendance milestones today, that’s 10 parkruns for a junior and then 50/100/250/500 parkruns after that for all parkrunners.   This, along with a chance to celebrate, earns a different coloured parkrun T-shirt. Volunteering 25 times will also achieve this.   We did though have tourist David WEBB who celebrated his 300^thparkrun here today.

So I end by wishing Fulbourn Hospital parkrun good luck for the months and years ahead.   For a 4-lap course there was plenty going on in each lap, ups and downs, different running surfaces, and a team of smiling supportive marshals around the course.  For me personally, in these uncertain times for parkrun, if this is to be my last parkrun for a while then it has been a memorable one.

Damian BAKER, a tourist from Daventry, signing off.

Toby Spaxman wrote this week's run report. You too can volunteer to write a future run report. Just get in touch with us. 

It was fantastic to see over 115 people run, jog and walk the course this week, top efforts from everyone involved. Someone had to jinx it… but perhaps Spring is starting to come to Fulbourn Hospital parkrun with almost two days of sun, admittedly cold sun, but sun nonetheless!

Fulbourn Hospital parkrun celebrated #IWDparkrun today, supported by the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign created by the parkrun partner Sport England. It was amazing to see almost a 50/50 gender split, and some brilliant posing with the ‘This Girl Can’ canvas! parkrun is an inclusive community, and it was great to celebrate this today. Do check out the ThisGirlCan website (https://www.thisgirlcan.co.uk/) if you get a chance!

An extra special well done to the 40 first timers who ran today, and the 33 PBs recorded.

Tony Bacon and Jeremy Broomfield were our first finishers, enjoying an extraordinary lucid conversation for 3 of the 4 laps, before Tony finished a few seconds earlier at just under 19 minutes. Helen Barry was our fastest female finisher for the 4th week running, with Magnus Medcalf and Kieran Birch our fastest juniors with only a few seconds between them respectively.

Jeremy Broomfield was also our highest finisher in terms of Age Grade %.

A big thank you to our hosts, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. If you are able to, please do give generously to the ‘Head to Toe’ buckets, the NHS Charity for CPFT, supporting people of all ages receiving mental health, community and social care across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

As always, this event was made possible by 23 incredible volunteers:

Diane POTTER • Pauline BLAKE • Diana BRAVERMAN • Garry SEDDON • Richard LYLE • Sarah MOULTON • Andy ROBERTS • Fiona MCDAID • Tilele STEVENS • Gabriella (Bella) ROBERTS • Jackie TOMLINSON • Stephen KYLE • Lucy MATTHEWS • Lorraine DUNSMORE • Cameron DUNSMORE • Frazer DUNSMORE • Hermione BRITTIN • Toby SPAXMAN • Jonathan NEWSOME • Will DUPRE • Alex ELBRO • Emma MATTHEWS • Andrea MILL.

If you’re up for volunteering next week, do contact fulbournhospital@parkrun.com, there’s plenty to get involved with!

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

The female record is held by Bethan EVERSON who recorded a time of 18:34 on 7th December 2019 (event number 1).

The male record is held by Ben JONES who recorded a time of 16:10 on 21st December 2019 (event number 3).

The Age Grade course record is held by Annette NEWTON who recorded 87.25% (24:19) on 4th January 2020 (event number 5).

Fulbourn Hospital parkrun started on 7th December 2019. Since then 1,174 participants have completed 2,115 parkruns covering a total distance of 10,575 km, including 286 new Personal Bests. A total of 111 individuals have volunteered 339 times".

There was a lot of “leaping” going on at Fulbourn today! It may have been puddle and mud leaping, but leaping it was. All the leapers made the most of it, as they won’t be “leaping” with such abandon again until 29 th February 2048! Get the date in the diary, parkrunners.

The wind blew, yet again, courtesy of our Spanish cousin Jorge this time around. We also welcomed visitors from far and wide. Graeme and Linda from Christchurch Runners who have an immense 685 parkruns between them graced us with their presence, as did the Gower/Carden crew (Jessica, Isabella, Poppy, Charlene and Ash) wearing their fetching parkrun tourist Cowcowls and working on their Wilson Index, 13 firmly in the bag. Well done team, and thanks to all our visitors for coming to try out our parkrun.

No individual milestones this week, but my oh my, we’ve only gone and run EXACTLY 2000 parkruns in our first 13 events. That means you’ve all run one massive relay to La Paz in Bolivia! Swimming through the puddles? Check. Mountain climbing up the incline? Check. You’ve done it all to get there. What a great achievement and 13 evidently is lucky for some.

Will Dupre was first male in the funnel (for the fifth week in a row) Helen Barry was the first female for the eight time out of our thirteen events. Fastest Junior today was Magnus Medcalf, aged 11, in a very
creditable 15 th place with a time of 22.45 Well done to you all.

This week 102 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 40 were first timers and 11 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 17 different clubs took part.

Thank you to our hosts, the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust. If you see someone shaking a bucket in the car park, please give generously. The cause is Head to Toe, the NHS Charity for CPFT, supporting people of all ages receiving mental health, community and social care across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

Please consider being a volunteer before, during or after a future event. There are so many varied roles to get stuck into, all of which are rewarding, and without which the event can’t happen. You can contact the VC on fulbournhospital@parkrun.com.

Fulbourn parkrun are very grateful to the 25 volunteers who made this week’s event possible.
Diane POTTER • Diana BRAVERMAN • Garry SEDDON • Lynn ROBERTS • Richard LYLE • Fiona MCDAID • Agnes ELEK • Gabriella (Bella) ROBERTS • Rachel NORTHFIELD • Jackie TOMLINSON •
Tony TOMLINSON • Lucy MATTHEWS • Clair PARSONS • Lorraine DUNSMORE • Cameron DUNSMORE • Frazer DUNSMORE • Hermione BRITTIN • Anna TUKE • Joanne WESTON • Rachel DALTON • Sophia MABBOTT • Gina MABBOTT • Andrea MILL • Clare FLETCHER • Hattie DAY

The female record is held by Bethan EVERSON who recorded a time of 18:34 on 7th December 2019 (event number 1).
The male record is held by Ben JONES who recorded a time of 16:10 on 21st December 2019 (event number 3).
The Age Grade course record is held by Annette NEWTON who recorded 87.25% (24:19) on 4th January 2020 (event number 5).
Fulbourn Hospital parkrun started on 7th December 2019. Since then 1,134 participants have completed 2,000 parkruns covering a total distance of 10,000 km, including 253 new Personal Bests.
A total of 108 individuals have volunteered 316 times.

Today we visited Fulbourn Hospital parkrun in Cambridge. It was the same day Storm Dennis came to visit so it was super windy. It was also super, super muddy which made it super, super, super fun.

There were four and a bit laps so we went past the marshals loads of times. They were really, really good marshals. The best marshals in the world. I had a great time there. There was a little bit of tarmac to run on but it was mostly grass. We had to watch out for the rabbit holes so we didn't trip over.

There were 69 people running Fulbourn Hospital parkrun for the first time just like me and my mum. One lady called Rosemary Egbe had travelled all the way from Croydon on public transport which meant she had to leave home at 4am! That is so early in the morning! I was still fast asleep then.

There were 143 people doing the parkrun. I told my mum that she could go before me through the funnel but I was tricking her. I sneakily ran past her at the end and I beat my mum!

The high vis heroes are there to keep us safe and encourage me and all the other runners. Doing volunteering is great fun and I like trying all the different volunteer jobs.

Will Dupre was the first man, Helen Barry was the first lady. Phil Olsen got the best age grading.

There were lots of high vis heroes - 27 in total! Brian JUDKINS • Diane POTTER • Pauline BLAKE • Garry SEDDON • Richard LYLE • Andy ROBERTS • Gaby SUMNER • Calvin SAMBROOK • Agnes ELEK • Gabriella (Bella) ROBERTS • Jackie TOMLINSON • Tony TOMLINSON • Stephen KYLE • Stephen RHODES • Jennie PEACOCK • Lorraine DUNSMORE • Cameron DUNSMORE • Frazer DUNSMORE • Carly WATSON • Anna TUKE • Guy HILLS • Will DUPRE • Edward BARKER • Rachel DALTON • Magnus MEDCALF • Andrea MILL • Clare FLETCHER

Event report written by Guy Hills (JM10)

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

The female record is held by Bethan EVERSON who recorded a time of 18:34 on 7th December 2019 (event number 1).
The male record is held by Ben JONES who recorded a time of 16:10 on 21st December 2019 (event number 3).
The Age Grade course record is held by Annette NEWTON who recorded 87.25% (24:19) on 4th January 2020 (event number 5).

Fulbourn Hospital parkrun started on 7th December 2019. Since then 1,058 participants have completed 1,789 parkruns covering a total distance of 8,945 km, including 224 new Personal Bests. A total of 101 individuals have volunteered 269 times.