This week we were fortunate to have an offer from some visiting parkrunners to write a run report for us - here's what Louise and John (from Shrewsbury) made of Hafan Pwllheli parkrun. We're very grateful and look forward to welcoming them back in the future...
There's lots more photos over on our Facebook, which is also where we give parkrun related updates, so make sure you are following us to stay in the loop.
Hafan Pwllheli parkrun
Event number 55
19th March 2022
We found that we had an opportunity to do some parkrun tourism this week so we had a look and thought that we would head to a one that we hadn’t been to before and also that had really low numbers of people and one that would be scenic and beautiful. Hafan Pwllheli definitely delivered the goods!
On Friday we looked at the volunteer roster and saw that ‘Run Report Writer’ wasn’t listed so we emailed in and asked if we could have a go! A prompt reply gave us the thumbs up.
Saturday came and we made our way to the beach. It was a lovely sunny morning but when we got out of the car it was evident that there was a strong wind blowing and the tide was close to been fully in. The blue sky looked beautiful and the sun made everything look so bright. I walked over and introduced myself to the volunteers and Rich thanked us for offering to volunteer. We also talked about parkrun generally and that he used to volunteer in Norfolk before moving to Wales. I also got speaking to Louise Baldwin who until recently used to live in Shropshire and was a member of the same running club as us. She also knows a mutual friend of ours and that’s how we got talking!
The Run Director (Rachel) spoke to all of the participants and then gave us the countdown…3…2…1…go! We were off. At this point we headed off down the beach with the wind blowing in to our faces. It took just 100m for us to realise that our feet were sinking, the wind was really strong and looking where you were putting your feet was energy draining too. All of these things combined made this event really hard work. We tried to find some part of more compacted sand to get a good bit of grip and to be able to push off from but it didn’t exist. That said we were both determined and persisted with running down the beach. The view was excellent and it was really welcome to see Louise Baldwin at the half way point marshal point. She cheered us both on separately, thank you Louise!
The 2nd half was easier because the wind was behind us but the soft sand still made it hard to get any bounce from the surface and the tide coming in was lovely to hear and see! This made for a great workout for legs, lungs and heart! I got overtaken by 2 people with dogs in the 2nd half who were from Canterbury. They told me that they found running on sand as tough as I had but we all really enjoyed the course and route.
The first male to finish today was Alex Wood in 27:31 and the first female to finish today was Sandra Bowers in 29:53. Well done to both of them!
There were 3 people that turned up for their first ever parkrun today. Well done to Iga Maciejewska, Emyr Davies and Geraint Jones! I hope that you come back next week and do it all over again. There are over 700 different parkruns in the United Kingdom so take your barcode wherever you are!
Thank you for having us. A lovely course and friendly volunteers!
Louise Woodvine – A427319
John Milner – A1161358
This week 31 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 25 were first timers and 1 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 12 different clubs took part.
The event was made possible by 11 volunteers:
Louise Estelle WOODVINE • Rich HOEY • Rachel HOEY • John MILNER • Alison TASKER • Louise BALDWIN • Angela JONES • Ted CORNISH • Iga MACIEJEWSKA • Lois BOWERS • Vernon CORNISH
Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Hafan Pwllheli parkrun Results Page.
The male record is held by Alfie CROCKETT who recorded a time of 17:25 on 24th August 2019 (event number 25).
The female record is held by Jane EVANS who recorded a time of 18:54 on 24th August 2019 (event number 25).
The Age Grade course record is held by Wendi EVANS who recorded 83.54% (21:58) on 23rd November 2019 (event number 37).
Hafan Pwllheli parkrun started on 16th February 2019. Since then 1,562 participants have completed 2,398 parkruns covering a total distance of 11,990 km, including 268 new Personal Bests. A total of 90 individuals have volunteered 393 times.
