Havant parkrun is cancelled on 2021-01-23 – COVID-19 (Coronavirus)

8th Anniversary Celebrations – Thank You!

Posted on by

50012843173_aae848714b_o

by Dave Williams

On Sat 16th June 2012 we held our first Havant parkrun, and since then

  • we've met together on 401 Saturdays and 8 New Years Days
  • 9,878 different people have completed a parkrun with us
  • you've completed a total of 84,933 parkruns (that's 424,665 kilometres)
  • our average attendance (not including volunteers) is 207.7 finishers per event
  • 919 people have volunteered for us
  • you've volunteered a total of 7,990 times
  • and a countless number of cakes/coffees/teas have been consumed

The numbers are good, but the true value of parkrun is the friendships that build up, and the bucket-loads of smiles we see every Saturday morning. Without all of you that have come along to run, jog, walk, volunteer or spectate we'd have nothing, so thank you so much for joining in.

This week, to celebrate our 8th Anniversary, we asked you to send us photos of yourselves and you did! We've placed the photos in a flickr album which you can view here.

flickrpage

We also asked you to nominate a song for our anniversary playlist, and you did! We've created a Spotify playlist which you can access here. Please note that to listen to the playlist you will need a Spotify account, which can be created for free if you don't already have one.

spotifypage

And we asked you to tell us what Havant parkrun means to you, and here's just an (edited) sample of what you said. Most of the comments came via our facebook page so can read more of them here if you want to.

  • "best way ever to start the weekend! Thanks to everyone for making the parkrun such a welcoming and inclusive event"
  • "parkrun is the start of the weekend, looking forward to being able to join you all again"
  • "like many people, I can point to times in my life when I absolutely would not have kept running if it hadn't been for parkrun"
  • "I love Havant parkrun, the people, the setting and the atmosphere. My children have grown up with parkrun. We have an amazing parkrun family"
  • "I felt at home when I turned up for my first parkrun just over 5 years ago. Can’t wait to get on the start line sometime soonish with all my running buddies"
  • "I love that our whole family can take part, friendship, cake courtesy of the cake club, fancy dress, puddles and then over time I started to enjoy parkrun tourism, but Havant has always felt like home. Saturdays have very definitely become parkrundays"
  • "it means so much more to me than running/jogging/walking, it's a lovely course, but most of all it's the people, whether it's the wonderful volunteers, other participants or those just watching"
  • "I love the friendship and camaraderie created by this parkrun"
  • "thank you to all the volunteers and runners for making Havant parkrun a great event every Saturday"
  • "once I discovered it, parkrun became the thing I looked forward to every week"
  • "now I do not know what else I would do on a Saturday morning"
  • "parkrun helped me regain my interest by showing me running can be fun, and it is not all about times and hoping for perfection on every run"
  • "always love the community spirit up at Staunton Country Park, plus running round the lake, down the hill, up the hill and always look forward to tea and cakes afterwards situated at the cafe. To me Havant parkrun is parkrun gold"
  • "I love Havant parkrun - the course, the people, and the puddles. It’s a great start to the weekend and I’ve made lots of friends during the four years that I’ve been coming"
  • "missing you all - looking forward to our first parkrun after lockdown"

Thank you all for joining in our 8th Anniversary Celebrations, it's been a blast!

On our official anniversary (Sat 20th June), like every Saturday while parkruns are suspended, we will hold #IHavantparkrun on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/havantparkrun/), encouraging you to tell us about your run or walk that weekend, and asking you for one additional piece of information about yourself.

Thank you to everyone that has participated in these events, it's been fabulous hearing from you each week.

 

8th Anniversary Celebrations!

Posted on by

8-years

by Dave Williams

We're planning a different kind of celebration for our 8th anniversary, so please read on to see how you can take part.

Havant parkrun started on Sat 16th June 2012, and since we can't meet up to properly celebrate our official anniversary* this year we're going to do something extra, on the date of our real anniversary*, Tue 16th June. And you'll be able to participate in this celebration even if you're not a fan of facebook.

On the 16th June we'd like you to:

  • tell us about your run or walk that day if you take one, and if you don't then we'd like to hear about your most recent run or walk instead. Tell us where you went, how far it was, and how you felt it went
  • if possible send us a photo of you wearing a parkrun t-shirt (a milestone t-shirt, parkrun apricot t-shirt or any other parkrun merch you have). If you don't have a parkrun t-shirt then we'd still like to see you so just send us any photo of yourself
  • nominate one song or track that we can add to a Spotify playlist celebrating 8 years of parkrunning at Havant
  • and if you feel like it, you can also tell us what Havant parkrun has meant to you since it started 8 years ago

You can send us your comments, photos and nominations on facebook if you wish, but we'll also be happy to accept them via email to havant@parkrun.com.

In return we will: (subject to the terms & conditions below)

  • publish your comments in a news article on our website
  • upload all your photos to a publicly available flickr album, and we may use some of them in the news article
  • create a Spotify playlist of everyone's nominated songs/tracks and share it with you all

Please get involved with this to make our 8th anniversary celebrations something special, despite the temporary parkrun suspension and the restrictions we're currently under. We look forward to hearing from you.

Terms & conditions

  • by sending us your comments and photos you're agreeing for us to publish them
  • it's fine if you want to do some but not all of the suggested actions, for example if you don't have a photo to send us you can still send comments and nominate a song/track
  • please provide enough info (title, artist etc) about your nominated song/track so that we can find it in Spotify
  • your nominated song/track can by any genre, the more eclectic the playlist becomes the better, but we may ask you to make a different nomination if we can't find your song/track in Spotify, if it's excessively long (please don't nominate the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony for example!), if someone else has already nominated it or if it has explicit lyrics, the playlist is for a family audience
  • your nomination can be your favourite song/track but it doesn't need to be, it can be something that represents you but it doesn't need to be, or it can be linked in some way to parkrun but again, it doesn't need to be. It should just be something you'd like to see included in the Spotify playlist
  • please note that to listen to the Spotify playlist you will need a Spotify account, which can be created for free if you don't already have one

Offical anniversary vs Real anniversary?

Havant parkrun started on Sat 16th June 2012 (see here for the run report), and every year our official anniversary is on the third Saturday in June, so Sat 20th June this year.

For our real anniversary (Tue 16th June) we're celebrating as described above.

On our official anniversary (Sat 20th June), like every Saturday while parkruns are suspended, we will hold #IHavantparkrun on our facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/havantparkrun/), encouraging you to tell us about your run or walk that weekend, and asking you for one additional piece of information about yourself.

Thank you to everyone that has participated in these events, it's been fabulous hearing from you each week.

 

Havant parkrun #408 – #EachforEqual

Posted on by

408

by Anita Crawley

IMG_1536
Havant parkrun volunteers #EachforEqual

On the eve of International Women’s Day, todays Havant parkrun saw girls and women come together to run, walk or volunteer in celebration of women world-wide.

#IWD sets out to accomplish a number of missions in the coming year to help forge a gender equal world. With regards to sport, the mission is ‘to celebrate women athletes and applaud when equality is achieved in pay, sponsorship and visibility’.

Historically for women, the freedom to participate in athletic and sporting events has evolved through pioneering souls who have challenged concepts in inequality. A brief look back over the last 100 yrs, shows that with regards to women’s participation in running events, the ‘playing field’ has been far from equal.

Let’s start with the modern Olympics. The very first Games in 1896 consisted of 43 events with 241 athletes representing 14 nations. All the athletes were male. Four years later in Paris, 997 took part, of which only 22 were women, equating to just 2.2% of all competitors. Events were limited to sailing, tennis, golf and croquet. It wasn’t until 1928 in Amsterdam that running events for women were first introduced. However after controversial reports of women collapsing at the finish of the 800m, the International Olympic Committee decided to ban distance races for women due to health concerns for the ‘fairer sex’. Indeed it was widely believed that running was too demanding on a woman’s body, altering her physique and reproductive capacity. Some even believed that wombs would prolapse and ‘fall out’. It would be another 32 years before the women’s 800m would be reintroduced.

1896_Olympic_opening_ceremony
The 1896 Olympics opening ceremony

Fast forward to America 1961, the Amateur Athletic Union banned women from all road races. However that didn’t stop some plucky women from unofficially participating in events. There are tales of women hiding in bushes close to start lines and joining in the race pack after the bang of the gun. However the honour of the most famous challenger to AAU rules must go to Katherine Switzer, who at the age of 20 entered the Boston Marathon in 1967 under name of K.V. Switzer. During the race, an angry race official stepped in to grab her bib number and eject her from the race. Switzer was able to continue and finish the marathon due to the intervention of her boyfriend who body blocked the official sending him flying onto the pavement. Photographs of the incident were seen worldwide and made it into the Times-Life ‘100 Photos That Changed the World’. Switzer’s marathon career didn’t end there. She went on to complete 40 marathons and win the New York City Marathon in 1974. Switzer also developed a program of international women-only races, inspiring women all over the world. In 2017, at the age of 70, and 50 years after her first historic run, Katherine Switzer ran the Boston Marathon once more, proudly wearing the bib number 261 – the same number she wore back in 1967.

kathrine_switzer
Katherine Switzer at the 1967 Boston Marathon (AP Photo)

Despite years of lobbying and proof that they could indeed run 26.2 miles without detriment, the marathon distance for women did not debut in the modern Olympics Games until 1984 almost a century after the first men’s race. However, a major leap forward in gender equality came in 1991, 105 years after the inaugural modern Olympic Games, when the IOC made it mandatory for all new sports to include the participation of women.

This year’s IWD campaign theme #EachforEqual, is drawn from the notion that as individuals ‘we can actively choose to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and broaden perceptions, improve situations and celebrate women’s achievements.’ #EachforEqual encourages women to pose in collaboration and as a collective, create a gender equal world.

So come on parkrun ladies, if you want equality – strike that pose and make change happen!

IMG_1539
Anita #EACHforEQUAL
 

Havant parkrun #408 - The muddy bits were more noticeable

by Sue Palmer

Milder conditions this morning brought 239 park runners to the 408th parkrun at Staunton Country Park, Havant.

A cheerful group of runners started with a very noticeable number and array of purple tops amongst to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Team Rowlands Castle had team leader Mark to encourage and lead us, with Matt, Dave, Tom, Brian, Nicola, Alex and Sue making up the numbers.

The trail puddles seemed to have receded a little as the muddy bits were more noticeable and runners either navigated around the edge, straight through the middle, or jumped over top!

As always a very supportive group of volunteers helped runners on their way and were there to help if needed. Thank you very much to organisers and all the volunteers today.

 

Photos of parkrun #408 can be viewed here, many thanks to photographer Martyn GARVEY.

This week 239 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 27 were first timers and 23 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 25 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 24 volunteers:

Bridget MAIN • Phil WESTERN • Mary SHORT • Anita CRAWLEY • Lisa EMSON • Sarah HAGEDORN • Jason HORTON • Kate PARKS • Robin HALL • Lauren MITCHINSON • Marie MITCHINSON • Raman SANGHA • Nicola FOWLIE • Tina DOHERTY • Tash HORTON • Amber ANKINSON • Libby PYMONT • Rebecca RALF • Tracy LONG • Helen CRAINEY • Esme ANKINSON • Rebecca CHAMBERS • Edward CROUCHER • Julie WOOD

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

The male record is held by James BAKER who recorded a time of 15:56 on 11th August 2012 (event number 8).
The female record is held by Rebecca MOORE who recorded a time of 18:36 on 9th August 2014 (event number 112).
The Age Grade course record is held by Jane HARROP who recorded 90.81% (20:29) on 11th August 2018 (event number 325).

Havant parkrun started on 16th June 2012. Since then 9,868 participants have completed 84,731 parkruns covering a total distance of 423,655 km, including 13,035 new Personal Bests. A total of 918 individuals have volunteered 7,974 times.

 

Post-run meet up for coffee, chat and cake:

Please do join us in The Cabin for post-run refreshments and chat, an essential part of the parkrun experience.

park run 85201401250196

facebook/twitter:

Please check out our facebook page (fb.com/havantparkrun) or follow us on twitter (@Havantparkrun), to keep up to date on your parkrun news and gossip.

 

Havant parkrun #407 – The rainy skies cleared

Posted on by

407

by Sue Palmer

This parkrun nipped in before the wrath of Storm Jorge was unleashed over Havant.

The rainy skies cleared just after 9am and the wind seemed to drop for 210 runners and a very supportive group of organisers and volunteers to complete the 402nd Havant parkrun.

Runners were slightly daunted at the gates to Staunton Park as they were greeted by a colossal puddle which made the entrance less easy to navigate. The ensuing puddles on the trail run were navigated safely, if somewhat cautiously by some of the runners. Depth was uncertain until a foot was planted, often in the middle!

Team Rowlands Castle was made up of 4: Matt, Dave, Tom and Sue. All completed the trail safely.

All thanks to the parkrun organiser who made sure that all the runners were well briefed and a very supportive volunteer band who made this park run possible.

Havant parkrun #407
An excellent leap by Tony during our first ever parkrun on leap day

Congratulations to Louise NEWMAN on joining the 100 Club today, and David LOWN on joining the 250 Club.

louise-t-shirt-100 david-t-shirt-250

 

Photos of parkrun #407 can be viewed here.

This week 210 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 16 were first timers and 16 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 22 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 16 volunteers:

Dave WILLIAMS • Roger JONES • Phil WESTERN • Simon WILLIAMS • Beth PIRIE • Lisa EMSON • Jason HORTON • Kate PARKS • Amanda BOYD • Yvonne HAWLEY • Ilka BUTTERY • Nick PENFOLD • Fiona WILSON • Thomas WILSON • Jonelle FAULKNER • Phillip JOHNSTON

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

The male record is held by James BAKER who recorded a time of 15:56 on 11th August 2012 (event number 8).
The female record is held by Rebecca MOORE who recorded a time of 18:36 on 9th August 2014 (event number 112).
The Age Grade course record is held by Jane HARROP who recorded 90.81% (20:29) on 11th August 2018 (event number 325).

Havant parkrun started on 16th June 2012. Since then 9,841 participants have completed 84,492 parkruns covering a total distance of 422,460 km, including 13,012 new Personal Bests. A total of 917 individuals have volunteered 7,950 times.

 

Post-run meet up for coffee, chat and cake:

Please do join us in The Cabin for post-run refreshments and chat, an essential part of the parkrun experience.

park run 85201401250196

facebook/twitter:

Please check out our facebook page (fb.com/havantparkrun) or follow us on twitter (@Havantparkrun), to keep up to date on your parkrun news and gossip.

 

Havant parkrun #405 – mild and no rain!

Posted on by

405

by Sue Palmer

The weather today was mild and no rain! It seemed that Spring was just around the corner.

The terrain was a little less hostile than of previous weeks as the enormous puddles seemed to have subsided a little and causeways were appearing in the middle of them for the runners to navigate.

It was an excellent turn out with well over 200 and runners were running, jogging and completing the course in good spirit. My little group of Mark, who was introducing a friend to first time parkrunning, David and Tom, Danny and Matt all completed the run comfortably, albeit with extremely muddy legs. This showed the speed with which they had all been running.

A big thank you to the run organiser today and to all the 21 volunteers who graciously gave their Saturday morning to help us all round and finish us with enthusiasm and efficiency.

Congratulations to Jonelle FAULKNER on joining the 50 Club today.

t-shirt-50-jonelle

 

This week 274 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 26 were first timers and 20 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 23 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 21 volunteers:

Hilary WALKER • Bridget MAIN • Roger JONES • Phil WESTERN • Lisa EMSON • Jason HORTON • Raman SANGHA • Tash HORTON • Anne COOK • Rebecca RALF • Paul SMART • Caroline NEWMAN • Jeremy DRUMMOND • Debbie ANDERSON • Michael CROUCHER • Kevin MENAGE • Arthur MUKOMBERO • Nikki GILBERT • Phillp JOHNSTON • Matthew IHEZUE • Susan PALMER

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

The male record is held by James BAKER who recorded a time of 15:56 on 11th August 2012 (event number 8).
The female record is held by Rebecca MOORE who recorded a time of 18:36 on 9th August 2014 (event number 112).
The Age Grade course record is held by Jane HARROP who recorded 90.81% (20:29) on 11th August 2018 (event number 325).

Havant parkrun started on 16th June 2012. Since then 9,793 participants have completed 84,014 parkruns covering a total distance of 420,070 km, including 12,979 new Personal Bests. A total of 916 individuals have volunteered 7,913 times.

 

Post-run meet up for coffee, chat and cake:

Please do join us in The Cabin for post-run refreshments and chat, an essential part of the parkrun experience, and don't forget that you can exchange the voucher half of your car park ticket for a hot drink after your run.

park run 85201401250196

facebook/twitter:

Please check out our facebook page (fb.com/havantparkrun) or follow us on twitter (@Havantparkrun), to keep up to date on your parkrun news and gossip.

Older Posts ⇒
⇐ Newer Posts