Grovelands parkrun - Event number 196 - 7th June 2014

What a fabulous parkrun day we had! There we were worried we wouldn’t have enough volunteers and we needn’t have worried at all! We had a parkrun tourist, Event Director Tim McFarlane all the way from South Manchester parkrun volunteering so we gave him timer. Chris Cole informed us he was injured so he was on back up timer. Nigel Ball had seen our plea and swapped his trainers for his rain mac and took up the barcode scanning. Oliver Wick likes to help encourage our runners from the back of the pack so took on tail running. Our new DoE volunteer who will be with us for the next 3 months, Emily Nice was there handing out tokens to you out-of-breath runners. To ensure you had a healthy helping of enthusiasm on the way round, we had Lesley Jordan and Tom Roy cheering you on in their marshal roles, especially up that hill! So thank you everyone, it was a great community spirit coming together.

I was approached at the end of the run by one of our relatively new parkrunners, John Beswick. John is running some of the Grand Union Canal route on Tuesday 10th June – he’s been using parkrun as part of his training. This route is 145 miles from Birmingham to the centre of London. Good luck John and don’t forget to let us know how you get on.

I promised one of our regulars a BIG MENTION if he did indeed manage a PB this week – which he suspected he had. I’m pleased to confirm MELVIN LEWIS did indeed achieve a new PB of 19.37 – a time he’s been trying to attain for many months now. Well done Melvin, your hard work has obviously paid off, keep up the good work. Melvin is also inspirational in encouraging his brother to come along and to give parkrun a try. We’ve certainly seen him improve his times ever since too. His first run was with the tail runner, completing parkrun in 37.14 and although not a PB this week, his best time to date is 21.15 – a great time for a hilly course.

We had some hard working guys and gals this week, earning PBs. As above, we had young Melvin Lewis, now on 19.37. He is joined by Philip Whitehouse 20.37, Mandip Sahota 21.52, Rob Bloomfield 22.51, Andrew Lewry 22.52, Mark Casey 24.58, Robert Kopaczyk 26.08, Jack Wightman 26.16, Barry Taylor, 26.54, Simon Timmis 28.21, Evelyn Bankole-Jones 30.35, Adam Bloomfield 30.55, not forgetting Gonul Daniels 34.40.

Of course, we can’t forget our first timers (16 of you) who were welcomed into the Grovelands family; Thomas Grimes, Freya Nice, will Howell, Andreea Sandu, Holly Bray, Rob Giddings, Dee Smith, Jack Cook Alin Dobre, Carl Redondo, Callum Judd, Maria McDonagh, Kate Kelly Head, Danny Guinevan, Joanna Savage and last but not least, Chris Mayo.

I’m writing this report on Sunday, after going to the half marathon at Southend. I wanted to tell you about something that I witnessed today. There were two separate incidents of children going missing; one boy was found after a 20 minute hunt and was extremely distressed when he was found. I do not know the outcome of the girl, I hope she was found. What I did witness was the abject terror on the faces of those individuals who were responsible for those children. I am not prepared for Grovelands parkrun volunteers to be subjected to the stresses involved in seeking out a missing child. I reiterate, under no circumstances, must under 11s run unaccompanied here. At all times they need to run with a parent or adult guardian.

And finally, Lost Property

Over the last few months we have seen an increase in items being left with us; below is a list that unless collected by the end of June will be taken to one of the local charity shops:

Black cap
2 Navy blue fleece hats
Green plastic water bottle with sliver top
Women’s grey fleece, size 12
Medium black top, stretchy material
Small zip up blue jacket
Left black running glove, small

If you think any of these items are yours, please drop us a line to grovelandshelpers@parkrun.com

Men's placings:
Thomas Grimes of East London Runners, was first over the line in 17:48, his first appearance at Grovelands, his main parkrun being Wanstead flats. Carl Redondo of Trent Park Running Club, was second over the line in 17:59. Having only completed one parkrun previously we believe this will now been his home run. Richard MaCaulay of London Heathside Runners AC, was third over the line in 18:14; he has been first to finish on 7 previous occasions.

Current standing in the Men's annual points’ competition:
Giovanni Ionta - 4305 pts
Sal Ozsakin - 3428 pts
John Gerard Michael Curran - 3187 pts

Women's placings:
It was a pleasure to have Vanessa Anthony back with us after her honeymoon. She is the very proud owner of a new surname (was Goodwin-Mathews) and was the first female to cross over the line in 22:47 (17th overall) her 18th time in 40 appearances. Another of our Run Directors, Claire Power was next over the line (28th overall) in a time of 24:14 and she has been first to finish once before. Joanna Savage was third female to cross the line (33rd overall) in 25:29.

Current standing in the Women's annual points’ competition:
Vanessa Anthony - 3150 pts
Helen Dougherty - 3060 pts
Debra Skapoullis - 2999 pts

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Carl Redondo (VM35-39) was graded 73.77% for the time 17:59 (second overall). Thomas Grimes (SM30-34) was graded 73.69% for the time 17:48 (first overall). Matt Papa (JM15-17) was graded 71.12% for the time 19:34 (4th overall).

This week there were 84 runners, of whom 16 were first timers and 14 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 10 different athletics clubs took part.

Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,862 different runners, including participants from 152 athletics clubs, have completed 11,594 runs covering a total distance of 57,970 km, and there have been 2,253 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea BRADSHAW who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 2011-06-11 (event number 44).

The men's record is held by Richard WARD who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 2010-11-06 (event number 16).

The Age Grade course record is held by Robert PICK who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.

Oh boy, what a morning!! First we had a lovely surprise in store for Run Director Vanessa Goodwin-Matthews. Vanessa and Neil started the morning of their respective hen and stag do’s with a parkrun at Grovelands. Fellow Run Director Caroline Wick was all prepared and had organized tiara, veil, sash and garter for Vanessa to wear for all park-users to identify her as a Bride-to-be!!

Next up was announcing the Sweatshop parkrunner of the month. The honour this month went to Siobhan Green and I’ve no doubt we’ll soon see her sporting shiny new trainers and looking for her next PB! Well done Siobhan.

And of course how could we forget the police van. There I was merrily snapping you runners on a borrowed camera and talking to our next RD, in training Clem Marsh when I saw out of the corner of my eye the police van cross the park and literally park just yards in front of our finishing funnel. Upon approach I asked if they could move the said parked vehicle due to its location and the fact that my runners were shortly due to be rounding the final corner on the home straight to finish, and was informed “we’re not actually parked here love, we’re stuck”. Nice… So a couple of us tried to get behind the van and start pushing but to no avail. I hastily got myself into position and just slightly re-routed the runners around the van through the finish Once a sufficient amount of runners had passed through the funnel and there was a substantial gap, we once more gave the police van a push and were successful in getting it off the grass and on the move!

To end the beautifully sunny morning’s run, there was cake aplenty after Vanessa and Neil practiced their cutting skills with the cake provided and handed it around for all to share.

And so onto the results:

Men's placings
William Shippin of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was first over the line in 18:33, and it was his very first appearance. Team mate Tony Daglish of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was second over the line and closely on Williams’ heels finishing in 18:51. Nicolas Baurier was third over the line in 19:40; he has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.

Current standing in the Men's annual points’ competition:
Giovanni Ionta - 3167 pts
Sal Ozsakin - 2456 pts
Roger Doxey - 2355 pts

Women's placings:
Amanda Jane Heslegrave of Barking Road Runners, was first (12th overall) over the line in 22:07 - first appearance. Chiara Borg was second (17th overall) over the line in 22:42. Catherine Roche was third (20th overall) over the line in 23:09.

Current standing in the Women's annual points’ competition:
Vanessa Goodwin-Matthews - 2753 pts
Debra Skapoullis - 2374 pts
Jan Hickman - 2218 pts

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores: Tony Daglish (VM45-49) was graded 76.39% for the time 18:51 (second overall). Nigel Sheppard (VM50-54) was graded 74.36% for the time 20:09 (6th overall). John Gerard Michael Curran (VM60-64) was graded 71.19% for the time 22:44 (18th overall).

This week there were 78 runners, of whom 14 were first timers; William Shippin, Tony Daglish, Nigel Sheppard, Geoff New and Warwick John Payne travelled from Milton Keynes to try out our parkrun, I don’t think they left disappointed! They have completed approximately 700 parkruns between them. Also debuting was Barking parkrun regular Amanda Heslegrave, managing first lady. Will Green joined us for the very first time as his first parkrun ever, we hope he’ll be back for more action next week. Robin Swindel obviously enjoyed his first few parkruns at our neighbours Oak Hill as he came to give us a try out! John Beswick chose to make us his first time parkrun experience as did Sarah Morgan and Deborah Chandler. Julie Ormston was also visiting from Milton keys and is well on her way to her 100 t-shirt. Finally Barrington Mudd is a true tourist parkrunner, having completed 123 parkruns at over 60 different events.

An amazing 22 of you recorded new Personal Bests; Matt Papa, Ben Beckwith, Sajith Rajaratnam, Thomas Roy, Lawrence Davies, Christopher Papathanassi, Chiara Borg, Catherine Roche, Tom Le Bas, Ian Rawlinson, Migell Lewis, Richard Earl, Mandip Sahota, David Thompson, Robert Courtier, Jonathan Pigrem, William R H Hoyle, Ben Collis, Daniela O'Byrne, Shirley McLaughlin, Hardeep Brar, Michelle Fallon.

Representatives of 9 different athletics clubs took part. Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,734 different runners, including participants from 135 athletics clubs, have completed 10,708 runs covering a total distance of 53,540 km, and there have been 2,062 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea BRADSHAW who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 2011-06-11 (event number 44). The men's record is held by Richard Ward who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 2010-11-06 (event number 16). The Age Grade course record is held by Robert Pick who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.

Grovelands parkrun - Event number 183 - 8th March 2014
Men's placings:
William SHIPPIN (SM25-29) of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was first over the line in 18:33 - first appearance.
Tony DAGLISH (VM45-49) of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was second over the line in 18:51.
Nicolas BAURIER (SM30-34) (Unattached) was third over the line in 19:40 - has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Giovanni IONTA (Unattached) 3167 pts.
Sal OZSAKIN (Unattached) 2456 pts.
Roger DOXEY (Unattached) 2355 pts.

Women's placings:
Amanda Jane HESLEGRAVE (VW40-44) of Barking Road Runners, was first (12th overall) over the line in 22:07 - first appearance.
Chiara BORG (SW20-24) (Unattached) was second (17th overall) over the line in 22:42.
Catherine ROCHE (SW20-24) (Unattached) was third (20th overall) over the line in 23:09.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Vanessa GOODWIN-MATTHEWS (Unattached) 2753 pts.
Debra SKAPOULLIS (Unattached) 2374 pts.
Jan HICKMAN (Unattached) 2218 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Tony DAGLISH (VM45-49) was graded 76.39% for the time 18:51 (second overall).
Nigel SHEPPARD (VM50-54) was graded 74.36% for the time 20:09 (6th overall).
John Gerard Michael CURRAN (VM60-64) was graded 71.19% for the time 22:44 (18th overall).

This week there were 78 runners, of whom 14 were first timers and 22 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 9 different athletics clubs took part.

Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,734 different runners, including participants from 135 athletics clubs, have completed 10,708 runs covering a total distance of 53,540 km, and there have been 2,062 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea BRADSHAW who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 2011-06-11 (event number 44).
The men's record is held by Richard WARD who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 2010-11-06 (event number 16).
The Age Grade course record is held by Robert PICK who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.

Grovelands parkrun - Event number 183 - 8th March 2014

Men's placings:
William SHIPPIN (SM25-29) of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was first over the line in 18:33 - first appearance.
Tony DAGLISH (VM45-49) of David Lloyd Redway Runners, was second over the line in 18:51.
Nicolas BAURIER (SM30-34) (Unattached) was third over the line in 19:40 - has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.

Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Giovanni IONTA (Unattached) 3167 pts.
Sal OZSAKIN (Unattached) 2456 pts.
Roger DOXEY (Unattached) 2355 pts.

Women's placings:
Amanda Jane HESLEGRAVE (VW40-44) of Barking Road Runners, was first (12th overall) over the line in 22:07 - first appearance.
Chiara BORG (SW20-24) (Unattached) was second (17th overall) over the line in 22:42.
Catherine ROCHE (SW20-24) (Unattached) was third (20th overall) over the line in 23:09.

Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Vanessa GOODWIN-MATTHEWS (Unattached) 2753 pts.
Debra SKAPOULLIS (Unattached) 2374 pts.
Jan HICKMAN (Unattached) 2218 pts.

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Tony DAGLISH (VM45-49) was graded 76.39% for the time 18:51 (second overall).
Nigel SHEPPARD (VM50-54) was graded 74.36% for the time 20:09 (6th overall).
John Gerard Michael CURRAN (VM60-64) was graded 71.19% for the time 22:44 (18th overall).

This week there were 78 runners, of whom 14 were first timers and 22 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 9 different athletics clubs took part.

Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,734 different runners, including participants from 135 athletics clubs, have completed 10,708 runs covering a total distance of 53,540 km, and there have been 2,062 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea BRADSHAW who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 2011-06-11 (event number 44).
The men's record is held by Richard WARD who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 2010-11-06 (event number 16).
The Age Grade course record is held by Robert PICK who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.

As it stands, I only have two volunteers for tomorrow's parkrun. It would be fantastic if you've never volunteered before and you were able to put yourself forward. It's a great thing to cheer on your fellow runners from the sidelines and help keep Grovelands going. If you're injured, you have a race on Sunday or you'd just like to do something different, please think about putting yourself forward. Without volunteers, we can't sustain this wonderful Saturday morning event that is parkrun. Thank you in advance

Grovelands parkrun - Event number 82 - 1st March 2014

A beautiful misty morning greeted Grovelands parkrunners on Saturday, the view through the trees was absolutely amazing. I was just sad I didn’t have a camera to capture the image. The day turned in a fresh sunny day and our runners made the most of it.

Without our wonderful volunteers, parkrun simply would not go ahead.  This week's heros were: Debra SKAPOULLIS  •  Helena MANFREDI  •  John BURDON  •  Kresh VEERASAMY  •  Max EUSTANCE-BROUGHAM  •  Robert COURTIER  •  Vicky COOPER.  If you'd like to get involved, please email us at grovelandshelpers@parkrun.com  Please see the forward roster to find out the roles available http://www.parkrun.org.uk/grovelands/futureroster/

Men's placings:
Adam Lawrence was first over the line in 19:13, his first time in 2 appearances. Joe Long of Synergy Running Club, was second over the line in 20:08, closely followed by Giovanni Ionta who was third over the line in 20:30.

Current standing in the Men's annual points’ competition:
Giovanni Ionta - 3073 pts
Sal Ozsakin - 2456 pts
Roger Doxey - 2355 pts

Women's placings:
Jan Hickman was first female (12th overall) over the line in 23:56 – not a stranger to being in this position, it was her 31st time in 102 appearances. Melissa O'Hare of Trent Park Running Club, was second female (15th overall) over the line in 24:17. Helen Dougherty was third female 26th overall) over the line in 26:45 and has been first to finish once before.

Current standing in the Women's annual points’ competition:
Vanessa Goodwin-Matthews - 2656 pts
Jan Hickman - 2218 pts
Debra Skapoullis - 2185 pts

This week there were 57 runners, of whom 11 were first timers. Our first timers were Michelle Fallon, Molly Fallon, Lynn Carey, William RH Hoyle, Jonathan Pigrem, Janine O’Brien, Mandip Sahota, Neil Chapman, Simon Street, Tom Parry and last but not least Joe Long. We welcome them all to the Grovelands family and hope to see them back again for many runs to come!

Eight of our runners recorded new Personal Bests; they were Shirley McLaughlin, Daniela O’Byrne, John Wightman, Paula Dutson, Rowan Collis, Melissa O’Hare, Chris Hearn and finally Adam Lawrence. Well done everyone!

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Jan Hickman (VW55-59) was graded 74.65% for the time 23:56. Adam Lawrence (SM35-39) was graded 70.51% for the time 19:13. John Gerard Michael Curran (VM60-64) was graded 69.61% for the time 23:15.

Representatives of 7 different athletics clubs took part. Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,720 different runners, including participants from 133 athletics clubs, have completed 10,630 runs covering a total distance of 53,150 km, and there have been 2,039 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea Bradshaw who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 2011-06-11 (event number 44). The men's record is held by Richard Ward who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 2010-11-06 (event number 16). The Age Grade course record is held by Robert Pick who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.

Good Morning happy people!! We're halfway through the week and well on our way to parkrun day. If you're racing on Sunday or if unfortunately you're injured or if you just fancy a change, and would like to swap your run for a volunteering role this week, then just let me know. You can either leave a comment below or send an email to grovelandshelpers@parkrun.com. All tasks are easy to perform, full training provided and comes with a guaranteed feel-good factor !!

Grovelands parkrun - Event number 181 - 22nd February 2014

What a stunningly beautiful day for a run on Saturday when the sun shone through the blue skies. With 34 runners lined up ready to complete the 3 lap 5K course, we gave out a junior 10 t-shirt to Matt Papa (who came in second across the finishing line) and warned the runners of the abundance of dog walkers and dogs in the park that morning. It was a well-heeded warning as I noticed a few runners having to taker a wider line than usual and thankfully everyone mingled well and there were no raised voices. It was wonderful to see so many people out simply enjoying the sunshine, after what has seemed an interminable period of rain and floods.

A huge thank you to our wonderful volunteers, without whom this run would not be possible. Please do consider volunteering in future; it’s a great feeling to cheer your running buddies over the line and I can’t recommend it highly enough! Our volunteers this week were Anthony FITZGERALD • Helena MANFREDI • India BRAR • John BURDON • Stephen LLOYD-JONES and Vicky COOPER.

Men's placings:
Sal Ozsakin (Unattached) was first over the line in 19:46 - 15th time in 107 appearances. Matt Papa of Tri-Force was second over the line in 20:39 and recorded a personal best followed shortly after by another junior, Ben Beckwith (JM15-19) (Unattached) in 20:54, his first time, not just at Grovelands parkrun, but at any parkrun!!!

Current standing in the Men's annual points’ competition:
Giovanni Ionta - 2975 pts
Sal Ozsakin - 2456 pts
Roger Doxey - 2262 pts

Women's placings:
Sonia Spearing (Unattached) was first (6th overall) over the line in 21:54 - 4th time in 5 appearances. Claire Power (Unattached) was second (15th overall) over the line in 24:22. Mary Mitchell (Unattached) was third (24th overall) over the line in 26:40.

Current standing in the Women's annual points’ competition:
Vanessa Goodwin-Matthews (Unattached) 2656 pts
Debra Skapoullis (Unattached) 2185 pts
Jan Hickman (Unattached) 2118 pts

The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Sal Ozsakin (VM45-49) was graded 72.85% for the time 19:46 (first overall). John Gerard Michael Curran (VM60-64) was graded 70.01% for the time 23:07 (13th overall). Sonia Spearing (VW40-44) was graded 69.86% for the time 21:54 (6th overall).

This week there were 52 runners, of whom 11 were first timers: Ben Beckwith, Mary Mitchell, Vicki Groves, David Geoffrey Potter, Shelley Peters, Caroline Oakes, Andrew Hart, Ellie Hemingway, Malcolm Peters, Daniela O'Byrne and last but not least Shirley McLaughlin.

Our five runners who recorded new Personal Bests were: Matt Papa, Sonia Spearing , Tim Williams, Inga Risnovskaja and last but not least Robert Courtier

Representatives of 4 different athletics clubs took part. Grovelands parkrun started on 24th July 2010, and since then 1,709 different runners, including participants from 133 athletics clubs, have completed 10,573 runs covering a total distance of 52,865 km, and there have been 2,031 new Personal Bests.

The women's record is held by Andrea Bradshaw who ran in a time of 00:17:29 on 11th June 2011 (event number 44). The men's record is held by Richard Wared who ran in a time of 00:15:52 on 6th November 2010 (event number 16). The Age Grade course record is held by Robert Pick who recorded a 85.27% run (18:20) on 4th June 2011 (event number 43).

Full results and a complete event history can be found on the Grovelands parkrun Results Page.