A glorious autumnal glow hangs in the air as the end of the day drifts closer, a day of sunshine and perfect running conditions; the complete opposite to the drizzle, gray and sogginess that greeted the 113 parkrunners on Hampstead Heath yesterday morning. Mizzle as we set off but, as we ran beside the playing field, it definitely turned to rain. Oh British weather, don’t you just love it?

Although there are Saturdays when it’s hard to get in touch with the inner-runner and make it to the Heath I can honestly say, even if feeling a little below par and the weather is less than inviting, it is always worth the effort. And, after 10 minutes of running, I rarely notice whether or not it is raining.

As we lined up at the start, I wonder how many of the 19 of you who achieved a pb actually planned to do so? For Alon Caspi it was his 50^th parkrun and a massive pb reached too; I like to think this was planned! It is such a magical feeling when everything comes together and you cross the finishing line knowing that you managed something special; that you ran HH parkrun faster than you’ve ever done before. Brilliant, congratulations! Of course the chance of running a pb every week is not very high, except perhaps for new runners, and for many, it isn’t the goal.

Of the 24 people new to Hampstead Heath, 12 were new to parkrun – you are all very welcome and we hope you’ll continue to run our very special, challenging, course.

I am confident just about all other 5Ks feel easy after Hampstead Heath!

There is a reason, after all, why the Heath is a favoured competitive cross country route. In fact as we skipped around our two laps, youngsters from across the capital prepared for CC races later in the morning with seniors competing in the afternoon. 

A huge thank you to our 10 volunteers this weekend, headed up by our wonderful race director for the week, Kayleigh, your help is so very much appreciated! Without people volunteering, parkrun wouldn’t happen so if you run regularly please do volunteer occasionally too – thank you!

Fast people:

It was good to see Damien Lane back at HH parkrun and in winning form too in a time of 18:57, Damien is one or our original runners; in second place was Jim Morris 19:26 and third, Daniel Rowling 19:40. For the women and girls, Emma Abele continued her winning form with a new pb 20:23 (not long before she achieves the sub 20, I’m sure) for first place; Dianne Aynsley 21:44 was second and third Emily Bliss 21:58. Avril Riddell, gradually working her way back to form following a very long time out for injury, topped the age-grading at 77.5%.

By Andrea Sanders-Reece

On such a glorious, sunny, warm morning Hampstead Heath parkrun proved irresistible to 111 runners and a team of smiling volunteers – thank you! 26 people were new to our parkrun and 20 of those first timers at any parkrun, a very warm, sunny welcome to you all!

As our regulars know, and the first timers now too, Hampstead Heath is the most beautiful run and also, arguably, the most challenging. The huge plus side of this is that you can just about guarantee that any other 5K you run is paced at around a minute or so faster. The hills and heat provided a winning combination for 15 people who achieved personal best (pb) times today – really impressive, many congratulations.

Bon voyage James

Sadly too we bid ‘bon voyage’ to James Parker who is leaving these shores to work in the USA (we look forward to visiting a parkrun in Washington DC soon (over to you James). Being a London venue we obviously experience a lot of churn in our runners but James deserves a special mention. He was there and ran the first HH parkrun, his time 18:30 and he came third. At the third event, he was first and went on to achieve 11 wins in total – I’m sure there would have been more had he not relocated to Scotland for a while. His pb time at HH was 17:27. James also volunteered on several occasions and was a popular member of our community. parkrun helped to fuel his enthusiasm for running; he joined Highgate Harriers, ran cross country races and his first 10K a couple of weeks ago. His fastest 5K time was achieved in Hyde Park, 16:26. Good luck from us all at HH parkrun.

 Like many sports, running is a fantastic passport into new communities just about anywhere in the world and parkrun is helping to blaze a trail.

Fair in town

Next week we move to the ‘B’ route as the fair is in town, map and details on our webpage.

This week’s fastest

Men

1^st Matthew Chataway 17:38 (Mornington Chasers)

2^nd James Parker 17:39 (Highgate Harriers)

3^rd unknown (reminder to bring barcodes!)

Women

1^st Siana Jones 21:34 (Thames Valley Harriers)

2^nd Andrea Sanders-Reece 21:56 (Mornington Chasers)

3^rd Cathy Collins 22:22 London Heathside and a new pb time!

Something special - swimming

We are extra lucky on the Heath to have swimming ponds and many parkrunners take a dip in the mixed pond after their run. If you plan to run HH parkrun, please do bring your swimming kit and take the plunge; a perfectly lovely thing to do, especially on a deliciously hot day!

By Andrea Sanders-Reece

A glorious summers day and wonderful to be running on Hampstead Heath with everything shimmering and sparkling in the sunshine – including the smiles! I was too busy gossiping, but I think a group disappeared into the pond after the run, hopefully emerging safely after a cooling swim. With the ponds now open, for some this is the perfect way to warm-up or cool-down after parkrun and you are all welcome to join the fun. 

111 runners today, including 17 people new to Hampstead Heath 11 of whom were new to parkrun and as always a warm welcome to you all. Thank you too to the volunteers – Eliza Kaczynska-Nay, Jessica Mathur (race director), Michael Carberry, Nina Wessels, Rachel Whitford, Tarun Mathur and Rowena Harding  who, as well as handing out numbers today, was discovering more about us ready for setting up a new parkrun in Gladstone Park (Dollis Hill).

Not surprisingly the Heath was incredibly busy today with many tail-wagging dogs playing tag with their furry friends and owners. I’m sure I was not the only one who screeched to a cartoon style skidding stop to avoid a somersault over a very soft golden Labrador (well maybe not the same dog). And talking of tumbles, I think a few of the younger (and very small sized) parkrunners were lucky not to be flattened at the start as a pack of fast bigger runners surged past.

There were 18 new pbs today, ah it is such a warm feeling to achieve one of these! Alas for me a pb on Hampstead Heath seems incredibly elusive; it’s July 2011 since I did my best time but it doesn’t stop me from trying – not every week, of course, but every now and then.  Today I purposely ran without my watch, following a bad race performance yesterday, and just went with how I felt.

B Route for the next two weeks – 2^nd and 9^th June

Next week the fair is in town and the following week is the Race for Life so for both these parkruns we’ll be running the B route which starts next to Well Lane and the carpark will not be open.

Today’s Fastest

Jonathan Poole, 1^st with a new pb 17:06, clearly recovered from his brilliant performance at the Paris Marathon; it was good to see James Parker back today this time in 2^nd place 17:58 and with his imminent permanent return to London due soon expect to see him challenging to regain his top winning position; in 3^rd place was Glen Turner, a parkrun tourist, first time on the Heath and due to help Rowena set up the new parkrun in Gladstone Park – good luck with that.

Congratulations Ellie Doolan, 1^st female with a new pb 22:08, being in the ‘under 14’ age group expect to see further pbs over the summer; 2^nd Andrea Sanders-Reece, 22:16 (and highest age-grade); 3^rd  Jane Nodder, also in a pb time.

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By Andrea Sanders-Reece