The event season in Heaton Park is about to go into full swing so please be sure to read to the end of this report for some important information. First, though, here's a summary of last Saturday's action.

 

With many people resting before the ever-popular Great Manchester Run and various other major races in the area last Sunday, it was hardly surprising that we saw a big drop in our numbers at parkrun, with almost 200 fewer finishers than the previous week. On the other hand, there was no shortage of volunteers - every cloud has a silver lining!

 

 

Volunteers

 

 

So I'll start by saying a big thank-you to all our Volunteers, and there were 64 names on the roster. Whatever your reason for volunteering, we value your help every time and I hope you enjoyed yourselves. Please spread the word and encourage others to volunteer every now and again.

 

When you're ready to have a go, drop us an email to heatonhelpers@parkrun.com and we'll find a role for you. If you haven't volunteered before we would probably ask you to Marshal or be a Funnel Manager, but there are all sorts of other things to do such as helping to set up the course, tail running, handing out finish tokens, scanning barcodes and timekeeping. To find out more, go to our Home page and click on the Volunteer tab https://www.parkrun.org.uk/heaton/volunteer/

 

 

First Timers and Visitors

 

 

 

65 people joined us for the first time this week, with just under half (32) having their first ever experience of parkrun. Our first time visitors from other parkruns included Marple regulars, the STUTCHFIELD family with almost 600 runs between Rob, Sarah, Isabelle and Joshua. A warm welcome to everybody trying out Heaton for the first time.

 

Also paying us a visit in a non-running capacity was Lorraine BOSWELL from Foster with Bury. There is a shortage of Foster Carers in our area and it was good to see several of our parkrunners chatting with Lorraine and getting more information. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a Foster Carer go to www.fosterwithbury.co.uk or ring 08009555311.

 

 

This Week's Leading Runners

 

 

Salford Harrier Robert SMYK led the field of 703 home in a time of 16:51, which also earned him the highest male age-grading of the day with 80.12%. Richard SHUTTLEWORTH of Prestwich AC was next to finish in 17:09, with Joshua MARSH of Ely Runners completing the top three in 17:37. Joshua's club becomes the 788th different running organisation to have been represented at Heaton parkrun.

 

 

Sarah THOMAS recorded her 29th first female finisher performance in 19:57, ahead of Rachel MARSHALL whose time of 20:33 was just a second outside her best. Abigail WARBURTON was third in 20:42, whilst Radcliffe AC's Sheila JONES recorded the best age-grading with 86.73% for her time of 23:22.

 

 

PB Corner

 

 

There were 114 new Personal Best times set in excellent running conditions. 28 of those went to runners with at least 20 completed runs at Heaton, giving them a place in this week's PB Corner.

 

• VM65-69 parkrunner Peter MALONE has made 156 appearances at Heaton but is still improving, with a 21 second PB this week
• At the other end of the scale, JW10 Olivia Tea WHITTAKER makes her PB Corner debut this week with a 23 second improvement which is her 16th PB in 23 runs
• Also making their first appearance here are Eric LOWE, James JONES, Jamie QUINN, Darren HODKINSON, Alison HOPKINS and - with a 1:31 improvement for a third consecutive PB - Polly GARNER
• Rachel NORTON also grabbed a third consecutive PB, with Grace HANILY (2:06 improvement), Akeel AL-ATTAR and Carole PARKER making it 2 in a row and Margaret PRICE bagging her third PB in 4 runs
• Other runners making big improvements of over a minute were Jennifer JONES, Alison HOPKINS, Lyndsey CALLEAR and Steven HORRIDGE
• Helen SHAN took 52 seconds off her previous best from October 2015, with Rebecca HURST lowering her 2017 figure by 26 seconds
• Colette HEAVEY, Helen McCAFFER, James POINTON, Jeremy PARRETT and Ian SPENCER all improved PBs that had stood since last year
• Tony WALKER took 44 seconds off to go under 25 minutes for the first time, John FISHER recorded his 7th PB of the year, whilst Ricki DUNNING, Adam FARRELL and Andrew BINNS all improved their times from earlier in 2019

 

Well done to all our PB Heroes this week.

 

 

 

Milestone Runs

 

We love to celebrate your milestones at Heaton parkrun. There are special bibs to wear and parkrun gives you free t-shirts when you reach 50, 100, 250 and 500 runs. It's even better for the Junior runners who also get a t-shirt after just 10 runs. Here are this week's history makers!

 

10 Club (Juniors only) - well done to Callum DANIELS who made his parkrun debut at Chadderton Hall last September. The following month he came to Heaton for the first time and all his subsequent 9 runs have been with us. A white 10 t-shirt goes to Callum.

 

50 Club

 

• Jenny WARD has worked hard for her red 50 shirt. She made her debut in July 2017 and has run 43 times at Heaton with 12 PBs. Her other runs were at South Manchester, Chadderton Hall and Aberystwyth

 

• Lloyd parkrun regular Alan CLAREY made his debut in September 2017. 30 appearances at Lloyd in Croydon and tourist trips to 10 other events have filled the time until last weekend when Alan made his first visit to Heaton to complete his 50

 

100 Club

 

• James WRIGLEY claims the black 100 shirt with his 94th run at Heaton. The first was in July 2016 and there have been 12 PBs and visits to Worsley Woods, Oldham, Sale Water and South Manchester on the way to the ton

 

• Nigel OWENS began parkrunning at Skipton in December 2016 and has been a regular at Burnley with 68 appearances. As well as visiting 15 other events, Alan has run 7 times at Heaton, including this week's effort for his 100th

 

150th run - Helen SANDIFORD made her Heaton debut in October 2012 and has completed 119 circuits of our course with 5 PBs. Visits to 12 other parkrun venues take her to a grand total of 150 runs.

 

200th run - congratulations to Emma SCHNEIDER on her 200th run. Emma first found parkrun in Guildford in October 2012. Since then she has run at 18 different events, including 64 appearances at Stretford and 35 with us at Heaton since November 2017.

 

200th run - Paul DRAPER is the last of our celebrations this week, and it really should be the big one - the 250. Paul first ran at Heaton in 2010, but after 50 runs he re-registered as Paul NOSMOKEDRAPER when he quit smoking. Since then he has run a further 200 times, but unfortunately the parkrun system can't combine his two records. So Paul still has another 50 to go before he can lay claim to the green 250 shirt. Keep going Paul - we're with you all the way!

 

 

Parklife Festival - alternative course for parkrun

 

Work has started in the park on the site for the Parklife Festival, which takes place over the weekend of 7-9 June. We will be cancelled on Sat 8 June and on the following Sat 15 June when the site will be hosting another big concert.

 

The Festival site has been fenced off, which means we are unable to run around the back of the lake (the last kilometre of our regular course). We have an alternative course which we will be using for the next two weeks.

 

• Starting at or near to our regular starting point, the first 2 kilometres (approx.) are unchanged, taking the anti-clockwise circuit that brings you back past the start.
• When you arrive at the foot of Angina Hill for the 2nd time you will bear right and follow an out-and-back section all the way down past the Tram Museum to the gates at the Middleton Road entrance. Keep right at all times on this section.
• You then climb up Angina Hill, turn right at the top and follow the path past the Hall and around the Golf Course as usual.
• After passing the toilet block on your left you will turn left and follow a brief out-and-back section next to the Hall. Keep left at all times in this section.
• Turn left to rejoin the regular route and run all the way down the hill as far as the lake. Turn left and run past the café to the finish on the right hand side.

 

We will have plenty of marshals, cones and signs to make sure you don't go wrong! This course will be slightly longer than our regular route so don't be alarmed if your time is a little slower than you might have been expecting.

 

The Lake car park and the overflow parking facility will still be open from Sheepfoot Lane so please continue to park there. From the car park you will only be able to walk anti-clockwise around the lake to reach the Start of parkrun.

 

If there are any last minute changes to these arrangements we will let you know via Facebook and Twitter.

 

That's all for this week. See you at the Lake.

 

Duncan

 

 

 

 

Another cracking day at Heaton parkrun saw us record our third highest ever attendance with 899 finishers and a huge turnout of 74 Volunteers, which included a full team of pacers from Prestwich Athletic Club (PAC). They certainly helped create a mammoth haul of 165 new PBs as our runners took advantage of some perfect conditions.

 

 

Volunteers

 

On the volunteering front the PAC pacing team took pride of place on Saturday, expertly arranged by John BARLOW. Their efforts were greatly appreciated by many of our runners who left their comments on our Facebook page. Our thanks go to all of them, as ever, and we look forward to another injection of PAC pacing later in the year.

 

There are no new 25 Club members to celebrate this week, but one of our younger volunteers has had an even bigger celebration. Jack SMITH first came to Heaton in 2016 to run and volunteer as part of his Duke of Edinburgh Award. 3 years later and Jack is still a regular volunteer who has progressed to earn his DofE Gold Award, and this week his hard work paid off when he was presented with his certificate in a special ceremony at Buckingham Palace. We're all really proud of Jack's achievement and the terrific example he sets for our other DofE candidates.

 

If you would like to volunteer at Heaton just drop us a line to heatonhelpers@parkrun.com and we'll find a role that's just right for you.

 

 

First Timers and Visitors

 

 

Another 43 parkrun debutants turned up to see what parkrun is all about and I'm sure they went away very impressed! Our first-time visitors from other events included Hannah PERRIN from Walmer and Deal Seafront parkrun in Kent, who brought Wonky Bear along with her so she wouldn't feel homesick (I think he smells of the sea)! They both seemed to have a good time anyway.

 

 

This Week's Leading Runners

 

Byron EDWARDS of Bury AC continued a vary good year by crossing the line first in 17:08 and recording the highest age-grading of the day with 82.78%. Paul BANNISTER of Salford Harriers wasn't far behind as he claimed a 35 second PB finishing in 17:16, with Paul JOHNSTON of Bury AC next in 18:14.

 

Katie GEELAN, also of Bury AC, recorded her quickest time for 6 months as she crossed the line first female in 19:47 and claimed the highest female age-grading of 81.04%. Sarah THOMAS recorded 20:03 in her 96th appearance at Heaton, with Donna CARTWRIGHT taking third place in 20:33 in her first run since 2014.

 

 

parkrun Clubs and Milestone Runs

 

250 Club - a great day for Adele WILSON as she finally claimed the much desired green 250 shirt. It always represents a huge commitment and for Adele that started back in January 2011 when she completed the first of her 243 runs at Heaton (12 PBs), which she has supplemented with visits to Worsley Woods, Conwy and  Bolton. There have also been 26 volunteering stints. Adele's day was made more special as she was able to share it with her good friend, Sarah WORTHINGTON, who reached her own landmark of 300 runs. Sarah has been coming to Heaton since April 2010 and has completed 275 runs here as well as volunteering 18 times.

 

100 Club - the black 100 shirt goes to each of these 3 gents.

 

• Mick HYDE made his Heaton debut in January 2016 and has completed 65 appearances at Heaton with 16 PBs. As well as visits to 19 other parkruns, Mick has also volunteered 68 times at various events

 

• Stephen SQUIRES has 41 Heaton runs to his name since he first ran in January 2014. They include 10 PBs and he has also run at 15 other sites

 

• Steve PENNINGTON made his Heaton debut way back at Event 11 in August 2009 when there were just 94 finishers. This week, with an extra 805 people to accompany him, he reached his ton with his 52nd run at Heaton (10 PBs). Over the years he has visited 11 other events, including trips to the USA, Australia and Singapore

 

50 Club

 

• The red 50 shirt goes to Sarah Louise SUTCLIFFE, who made her debut in February 2013 and has run 20 times at Heaton with 7PBs. She has also visited 7 other events and volunteered 16 times

 

• First time visitor Gavin O'SULLIVAN chose Heaton as the location for his 50th run as well. Gavin has run 39 times at Gladstone parkrun and visited 10 other events, including a trip just last week to the new Futakotamagawa parkrun in Japan

 

150th run - congratulations to Marie ROSTRON on her 150th run. Marie is a regular guide runner at Heaton and has also visited 4 different events in Australia on her way to this milestone.

 

200th run - well done to Alison VIDLER and John FELTON on their 200th runs. Alison has run 198 times at Heaton since June 2013, whereas John began parkrunning 6 months later and has completed just 17 runs with us, although he has done over 50 at both Oldham and Stamford Park.

 

We hope you all enjoyed your celebration runs this week. Our apologies that we didn't have a photographer to capture pictures of you all.

 

 

PB Corner

 

 

Of the 165 individuals who benefitted from the PAC effect this week, 31 have run at least 20 times at Heaton and earn themselves a place here in  PB Corner. Some of those broke times that had stood for a few years whilst others took big chunks off their previous best efforts.

 

• Jonathan KEYWORTH and Akeel AL-ATTAR both lowered times they set in 2015, while Ryan CUSICK took 4 seconds off his best from 2016 and Peter KENNEDY also beat a 2016 time in his first run for a year
• Simon MORRIS' 2017 PB was eclipsed by almost 2 minutes as Grace HANILY, Julie DONLY and Alistair DERMIT also beat times from 2 years ago, with Alistair going under 30 minutes for the first time
• Jeff DAWSON went under 25 minutes for the first time as he beat his September 2018 time in his 121st run
• Also beating their 2018 times were Harry VANERIS, Stephen Andrew HARRISON, Sean McERLEAN, Helen HYDE, Jennifer B, Zak TAYLOR, Ann WALSH and Jenny WARD
• Colm McKILLEN's second consecutive PB saw him go under 20 minutes for the first time, whilst Rachel NORTON and Pamela WILD also made it 2 in a row
• Mary ENGLAND continued her excellent recent form with another 37 second improvement for a 5th PB in a row in her 66th run
• Lesley DUNKLEY, Carly BOCOCK, Louise GORTON, Paul GARDNER, Jayne JACKSON, Paula BIRMINGHAM, Alison HILL, Ros HOLLAND, Carole PARKER and Alexander EASTON all beat times from earlier this year

 

And whilst we're celebrating PBs I have to mention the efforts of Lyndsey PUGA who has been battling away to beat the 1 hour mark and in her 15th run finally did it as she took almost 3 minutes off her previous best.

 

 

Cancellations and Celebrations at Heaton parkrun

 

Because of other events in the park we will be CANCELLED on:

 

• 8th June
• 15th June
• 6th July
• 13th July

 

In between those cancellations we will be CELEBRATING our 10th Birthday on Saturday 22nd June. It's going to be a big day for all of us, but especially those who have been here for all or most of those 10 years. For Rick BENNETT, our Event Director since Day 1, it's going to be a really big day as he plans to run his 100th parkrun on that morning. We'd love to see as many of you as possible there to support Rick and to celebrate everything that's good about Heaton parkrun.

 

That's all for now. See you at the lake.

 

Duncan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A chilly start to May didn't deter our hardy Heaton hordes as we saw a 35% increase on the previous week's attendance with 768 finishers in total. There were some interesting performances with a first PB in almost 7 years for one of our regulars. And with many of our regular helpers not available there was a cracking response from the volunteer team.

 

 

Volunteers

 

In fact I'll start with the Volunteers where we had 53 names on this week's roster. With the Piece of Cake 10K  at nearby Boggart Hole Clough starting at 10.30am a number of our regular helpers were otherwise engaged. Many of you may not realise that we still store all our kit up at the Stables, so bringing it down to the lake and taking it back again afterwards is a fairly major exercise. We asked for extra help to clear away our kit this week and you did us proud. Many thanks for that.

 

It was a special weekend for mother and daughter parkrunners Karen and Amy HALLETT who both qualified for their purple 25 shirts. Karen has been coming to Heaton since October 2012 and completed her 200th run recently. Her volunteering has taken in the roles of Tail Walker, Funnel Manager, Marshal, Barcode Scanner and Finish Tokens. Amy began parkrunning in May 2015 and has 116 runs to her name as well as a parkrunner of the Month award. Dividing her volunteering between Heaton and Queen's Park, Rochdale Junior parkrun, Amy has covered Marshal, Scanning, Finish Tokens, Tail Walker, Funnel Manager, Warm-up Leader, Pre-Event set up, Timekeeper and Results Processor. Two very busy ladies who fully deserve their t-shirts.

 

If you would like to help out at Heaton parkrun just drop us a line to heatonhelpers@parkrun.com and we'll find a role for you.

 

 

parkrun Clubs and Milestone Runs

 

Also claiming their t-shirts were these new entrants to the 50, 100 and 250 Clubs.

 

50 Club

 

• First up for the red 50 shirt is David CAPE-BROWN who has run 40 times at Heaton with 9 PBs since March 2017. His other 10 runs have been at 8 different locations

 

• Si O'CONNOR made his Heaton debut in August 2017 and has completed 35 runs with 11 PBs. His travels have taken him to Hyde, Stretford, Woodbank, Worsley Woods and Sale Water

 

• Pamela WILD is our third new 50 Clubber and she has also run 35 times at Heaton with 11 PBs since her debut in January 2017. She celebrated her landmark with a 26 second PB this week and will be looking forward to adding to the 7 other parkrun venues that she has visited so far

 

100 Club - David LYNCH first ran with us in April 2016 and has clocked up 86 appearances with 9 PBs. He has also visited Chadderton Hall, Stretford, Worsley Woods, Sale Water and Witton on the way to his black 100 shirt.

 

 

250 Club - Jonathan SACKS is in his 10th year of parkrunning having made his Heaton debut in November 2009. After 234 appearances and 19 PBs, with additional visits to Worsley Woods, Oldham and Bolton, Jonathan finally claimed the coveted green 250 shirt this week.

 

 

First timers and Visitors

 

 

We had another 44 parkrun debutants with us this week and a further 36 existing parkrunners making their first visit to our park. A warm welcome to all of you as ever and we hope many of you will be coming back to see us on a regular basis.

 

 

Most of us who have been attending Heaton parkrun for a while just take it all in our stride and probably don't think too much about the concerns that others may have. For some, particularly our newer runners, taking part in such a large group can be really confusing and daunting. Which is why we have introduced our Running Buddy scheme with special purple bibs to identify our buddies. The intention is to have a few experienced parkrunners filling this role each week, on hand to provide help and reassurance to anyone who needs it. If you would like to be a Running Buddy:

 

• Select a Running Buddy bib from the rail
• Attend the First Timers' Briefing so new runners can see who you are
• Be prepared to answer any questions about parkrun that people may have, whether they are parkrunners or other members of the public
• Run/Walk at a steady pace offering as much encouragement as you can
• Keep your eyes open for any parkrunners showing signs of distress and offer help when needed
• Look out for younger runners (under 11s) who are not obviously accompanied by an adult and make sure they are OK
• Enjoy yourself and help others to do the same!

 

Any feedback on the Running Buddy scheme would be most welcome.

 

 

 

This Week's Leading Runners

 

 

parkrun debutant Harry WAKEFIELD led the field home this week and immediately went in to the top 50 fastest runners at Heaton with his time of 16:29. Bury AC's Josh BIRMINGHAM was next in 16:49 with the consistent Ian CARRUTHERS completing the top three in 17:44. Andrew WRENCH took the highest age-grade of the day with 83.06% for his time of 18:12.

 

It's all new amongst the ladies as none of our first three female finishers have figured in this section before. Nicola HARLAND of Bury AC was first home in 22:37 in her 10th appearance. Next was Jane MACDONALD, who secured a PB of more than a minute as she finished in 22:44. Hayley ABELSON also secured a sizeable PB of 51 seconds as she secured the third position in 23:10. Ann WALSH's time of 29:41 earned her the highest female age-grade of 71.48%.

 

 

PB Corner

 

Whilst the names at the front of the field were nearly all new, there is a lady here in PB Corner who has been around at Heaton for a long time but hasn't had a PB to celebrate for many years.

 

• It was the 14th July 2012 when Katie PARKER achieved her 17th PB in 45 runs, a run of form which had seen her win a parkrunner of the Month award. On Saturday, after nearly 7 years and another 260 runs, Katie improved that PB by 22 seconds. A perfect example of parkrun persistence - congratulations from all of us go to Katie on her achievement

 

• Rachel NORTON had waited a mere 3 years to improve her previous best by 2 seconds!
• Louise ADAMS beat her 2017 mark by 43 seconds, whilst Michael FLATLEY and Colm McKILLEN both lowered their times from 2018
• Kate METCALFE took another minute off her best, making it 4 PBs in her last 5 runs
• It's 2 in a row for Margaret PRICE with 5 more seconds coming off this week
• Mark BAILEY, Robbie PARKINSON, Jane PENDLEBURY Peter HENDERSON and Pauline McGOWAN are all 50 Clubbers who are still improving, whilst Pamela WILD celebrated joining them in the 50 Club this week with her first PB since March
• Glyn DAWSON, Stephen SPENCER and Ann ROUGHLEY all continued their improvement to round off this week's PB Corner

 

A total of 113 new Personal Best times were set this week, so congratulations to everybody involved and in particular to those highlighted above. This Saturday (11th May) we will have a full team of volunteer Pacers courtesy of the members of Prestwich AC, so there's no better time to try and improve that PB.

 

 

Fundraising for Jim's Bench

 

 

Last Saturday we filled Prestwich Cricket Club to its capacity with 20 teams for our Quiz Night, which raised a further £363 for Jim's Bench. A big thank you to everybody who turned up to support us and a special mention to Jenn, Sheila and Barbara for their hard work in organising not just this event but the whole fundraising effort.

 

Our initial target was £1500 to purchase and install a bench in Heaton Park as a permanent memorial to Jim Smith, our good friend and a continuing inspiration to Heaton parkrunners. With online and offline donations, the proceeds of a hugely successful Cake Sale and the latest amount from the Quiz, the fund now stands at £2324. It's fair to say that you have well and truly paid tribute to Jim through your generosity and we are now in a position to not only acquire the bench and provide a fund for its future maintenance, but also make a further donation to Leukaemia Research in Jim's memory.

 

Thank you to everybody who has contributed and we will let you know when the bench is ready to be unveiled.

 

 

Forthcoming Cancellations at Heaton parkrun

 

Enjoy May because the next two months will be disrupted by other events in the park, causing Heaton parkrun to be cancelled on:

 

8th June - Parklife Festival

15th June - Courteeners concert

6th July - Manchester Eats Festival

13th July - Race for Life

 

Time to make some plans for parkrun tourism I think!

 

That's all for now. See you at the lake on Saturday.

 

Duncan

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the sunny skies of the Easter weekend last Saturday was much more seasonal as storms brought in plenty of cloud and rain as we were setting up, although thankfully most of the actual run took place in the dry. The temperatures weren't the only thing to plummet as the turnout dropped to 565, our lowest since December.

 

 

First Timers and Visitors

 

 

We welcomed 24 brand new parkrunners making their debut at Heaton parkrun and a further 20 who were visiting Heaton for the very first time. They included a sprinkling of 50 and 100 Club members and it's always interesting to know what brings our visitors to Heaton. Equally interesting are some of the places our Heaton regulars get to on their travels. This week Adrian CALVERT visited his 50th different parkrun location when he ran at the other Bushy Park in Dublin. Adrian has clocked up 188 runs in just over 4 years and Ireland was the fourth country outside the UK he has visited, following trips to Denmark, Sweden and France.

 

 

For those of you who don't like to miss our runs at Heaton you'll have plenty of opportunities to do some tourism this summer. The popularity of our park for big events means we will be cancelled on several occasions, including 8th and 15th June, 6th and 13th July and 28th September. Get planning those trips!

 

 

Volunteers

 

 

At least cancellations give our regular volunteers a chance for a break! No such luck this week, but our 44 helpers on duty did a great job in pretty miserable conditions.

 

It was a special day for Stefan KALAMBOUKA and Simon ROGERS as both qualified for their purple 25 Volunteer shirts. Simon has mostly volunteered as a Pacer but has also been a Marshal, whereas Stefan has turned his hand to a number of roles, namely Marshal, Pacer, Funnel Manager, Finish Token Support and Barcode Scanner. Big thanks go to both for their help over the years and to all this week's volunteers.

 

If you would like to help out at Heaton parkrun please send an email to heatonhelpers@parkrun.com and let us know when you are available.

 

 

This Week's Leading Runners

 

 

 

Ian CARRUTHERS led the field home for the 8th time in his 114th run at Heaton. Ian's time of 17:35 gave him a narrow margin ahead of 2nd placed Rob MILLS of Prestwich AC in 17:40, with Martin GREENWOOD completing the top three in 18:00.

 

Hayley SIMPSON of East Cheshire Harriers returned for her second run at Heaton two weeks after her debut and completed a carbon copy performance, taking the first female position again and equalling her previous time of 20:08. Gilly HEAP, a parkrun debutant was next home in 21:19, with Sarah THOMAS claiming third spot in 21:56.

 

Sheila JONES of Radcliffe AC scored the highest age-grading of the day with 84.84% for her time of 23:32, whilst Giles BENNETT of Bury AC got the highest male score of 80.56% as he finished in 18:36.

 

 

 

PB Corner

 

It wasn't a great day for running fast and there was a big drop from the recent high numbers of Personal Best times that we've seen. Even so, 79 new PBs were set and 9 of those went to parkrunners with at least 20 appearances at Heaton, giving them a place in this week's PB Corner.

 

• Adam George JENNINGS and Kimberley Jane DEMPSEY both combined new PBs with celebrating their 50th parkruns, so more about them later in the report
• Mary ENGLAND continued her great run of form with a fourth consecutive PB in her 65th run
• Kate METCALFE made it 2 in a row by 33 seconds
• Margaret PRICE took 22 seconds off her time from last October, whilst Rosemary MEDWELL's November 2018 mark took a 21 second battering
• Benjamin SMITH and Matt MORLEY both beat times set earlier this year
• and Tess DEMPSEY is the youngest occupant of PB Corner as the JW10 runner beat her previous best by 18 seconds

 

Congratulations to everybody on their top class performances.

 

 

parkrun Clubs and Milestone Runs

 

50 Club

 

• Adam George JENNINGS is first to claim the red 50 shirt with his 41st run at Heaton since his debut back in April 2013. There have been 7 PBs, including a 25 second improvement this week, and Adam's other 9 runs have all been at different venues

 

• Kimberley Jane DEMPSEY also celebrated her 50th parkrun with a PB, her 11th in 45 runs at Heaton since August 2011, taking off an impressive 1:25. Kimberley's other parkruns have been at Oldham, Chadderton Hall and Stretford

 

• Jane BOWLER made her parkrun debut at Oldham in January 2012 and has completed 39 runs there. On Saturday she made her 10th appearance at Heaton, clocking her 4th PB as she improved by 1:09. Her only other run was at Chadderton Hall

 

100 Club - Colin CLARKE certainly set out to enjoy himself as her earned the black 100 shirt, complete with wig and foam fingers! Colin's parkrunning began at Heaton in October 2015 and he has made 98 appearances with 5 PBs. His other two runs have been at South Woodham Ferrers.

 

150th run - congratulations go to Nigel HOLMES on completing 150 parkruns. His first was at Heaton in April 2010 and he has gone on to make 130 appearances with us, including 10 PBs. As well as visiting 15 other parkruns, Nigel has volunteered 25 times at Heaton.

 

200th run - well done to this pair on reaching the 200 run milestone:

 

• George BENNETT began parkrunning at Guildford in November 2013, making his Heaton debut in November 2017, the first of 48 runs with us. He has also run 61 times at Stretford and visited 14 other venues

 

• Tim DEMPSEY has made 149 appearances at Heaton with 14 PBs since his debut in March 2012 and he has also volunteered 37 times with us. He and the family have visited 40 other parkruns, including 2 in Poland, and Tim was able to celebrate his 200th run with young Tess as she set a new PB

 

350th run - Orys SENIUK is one of our most regular attendees at Heaton. Making his debut in August 2012, Orys (above right) has run in 303 of the 314 events we have held since then, including 9 PBs. He has also volunteered 10 times and visited 9 other parkruns on his way to the 350 mark.

 

 

That's all for this week. Let's hope for better weather as we look forward to another Bank Holiday weekend. See you at the lake.

 

Duncan

 

 

 

We certainly enjoyed the sunshine over the Easter weekend, with just over 800 of you passing up the opportunity of queuing on the roads to North Wales, Blackpool and the Lake District and popping along to Heaton parkrun instead! Good choice - a nice relaxing run followed by some melting chocolate treats. We were still the 7th biggest out of 599 parkrun events in the UK, with the prospect of our numbers going back up now the holiday is over.

 

When those numbers increase it'll be more important than ever that everybody understands what to do in the Finish Funnel, so here's a reminder.

 

 

• Only go through the finish once
• Stay in finish order once you're in the funnel and don't jump out of the funnel (Funnel Ducking) - it plays havoc with our results
• Move through the funnel as quickly as you can - you can check your watch and chat once you're out the other end
• Take a Finish Token at the end of the funnel and move away to the scanning area - if you don't want a token tell the person handing them out
• Even if you don't want a Finish Token it's important that you stay in order right down the funnel so that we can record your finishing position as Unknown

 

We know that our Finish Funnel is a long one, but it needs to be to ensure we can deal with the large number of parkrunners that we attract. Please be patient and, if you are a more experienced parkrunner, help us out by keeping your eyes open for newer people who may not understand exactly what is going on. Thanks for your cooperation.

 

 

 

 

Volunteers

 

 

 

Supporting our runners and making parkrun happen once again were our fabulous band of helpers, with 55 names on the Volunteer Roster this week. The two outstanding names are Charlotte BRETT and Helen McCAFFER, who both volunteered for the 25th time and qualify for their purple 25 shirts.

 

• Charlotte has been coming to Heaton since February 2012 and has completed 201 runs, 186 of them around our beautiful park. Her volunteering has taken in the roles of Marshal, Tail Walker, Funnel Manager, Token Sorting, Finish Tokens, Token Support and Barcode Scanning

 

• Helen first joined us in February 2017 and has completed 51 runs at Heaton (54 in total). A combination of Funnel Managing, Marshalling and helping with Pre-Event Set Up means she'll soon be proudly wearing that 25 shirt

 

If you'd like to volunteer at Heaton parkrun just send an email to heatonhelpers@parkrun.com and let us know when you can help.

 

 

First Timers and Visitors

 

 

89 people joined us for the first time this week. The 43 parkrun debutants chose a cracking day to start their accounts and included a very colourful addition to the Heaton parkrun scene - the Running Bee. Local sports travel business Sports Tours International, who also organise a number of highly popular races in the north west, have recently established the Running Bee Foundation. From this year all the profits from their races will go to the Foundation which will support local community initiatives to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and help tackle the challenge of childhood obesity.

 

 

We were also delighted to welcome 46 first time visitors from other parkruns, with Felixstowe RRC (Mark DOWNEY) and Ulverston's Leven Valley AC (Fiona BANNISTER) both represented for the first time at Heaton.

 

At our recent event with BBC Radio Manchester we introduced a role of Running Buddy to help out any newcomers to parkrun who were maybe a little nervous about their first parkrun. Lots of people commented that it was a good idea, so we now have some new bibs for anybody to wear who wants to provide help and reassurance to any of our parkrunners who may need it. Let us know what you think.

 

 

 

This Week's Leading Runners

 

 

John LLOYD of Salford Harriers led the field of 803 home in a time of 17:20, a 1 second PB and just a second ahead of Oldham and Royton Harrier David CARROLL. Our 3rd finisher was the first Unknown of the day, with another 84 spread through the field. Don't forget that barcode if you want your result recorded! Mike SHARKEY recorded the highest age-grading of the day with 82.99% for his time of 19:30.

 

Our first female finisher was first-time visitor Elizabeth LEASON in 19:37. Elizabeth represents Carnethy Hill Running Club, one of the premier hill running clubs in Scotland, so Angina Hill clearly held no fear for her! Bury AC's Sophie WHITTAKER was next home in 19:57, just ahead of Salford Harrier Bev SIMONS who claimed the highest female age-grading of 82.83% for her time of 20:00.

 

A special mention for Rob TOMLIN who was (probably) the first person to complete the Heaton parkrun carrying an egg and spoon in time-honoured School Sports Day fashion. A source did suggest the egg was taped to the spoon but it was still a good effort in 23:38! Thanks go to the park management for providing eggs to enable the challenge to be undertaken.

 

 

PB Corner

 

Personal Best numbers were down, possibly as a result of the warm conditions, but still reached a respectable total of 116, including 17 for parkrunners with 20 or more appearances at Heaton.

 

• Mary ENGLAND knocked another 42 seconds off for her third consecutive PB, whilst it was 2 in a row for Ralph GORTON, Harry BALLANTYNE, Louise GORTON and Alex YUSUF
• Stephanie WILD and Paul WALTERS both lowered their best times by over a minute, but the biggest improvement went to JW10 runner Niamh COPE, taking 1:19 off in her 32nd run
• Alfie HILTON made it honours even for the boys with the JM10 runner improving by 17 seconds in his 35th run
• Martin GREENWOOD, Sean McERLEAN, Luke CLAVIN, Adam FARRELL and Tony WALKER all set their first PBs since last year
• whilst Philip TAYLOR, Justin JONES and Joanne CONCHIE all built on the improvements made earlier this year

 

Congratulations to everybody who managed to improve their best time this week.

 

 

parkrun Clubs and Milestone Runs

 

There was plenty to celebrate with lots of free shirts earned and even visitors from other parkruns coming to enjoy their landmark runs with us.

 

10 Club (Juniors only) - first up is Daniel BUCKLEY who gets the white 10 shirt with his 10th run at Heaton. Daniel started parkrun in January this year and has 4 PBs so far.

 

50 Club - moving on to the half century and there were 7 new claimants for the red 50 shirt.

 

• Richard THATCHER has run 27 times at Heaton with 9 PBs since his first run in June 2016. His other runs have been at 7 different venues

 

• David McDERMOTT made his debut in February 2014 and has made 38 Heaton appearances with 7 PBs. David's travel have taken him to Bolton, Southport and Warrington

 

• Alison DAVIDSON also has 7 PBs in her 47 runs at Heaton since September 2014. Her other 3 runs have all been at Lincoln

 

• Joanne CHASE has made 40 appearances at Heaton with 8 PBs since January 2017 and also been to 5 other parkruns

 

• Colette HEAVEY ran the first of her 48 runs at Heaton in January last year. Since then there have been 12 PBs and 2 visits to Worsley Woods

 

• Megan WALSH began parkrunning in December 2017 and has completed 47 runs at Heaton with 8 PBs. She has also visited Burnley, Bolton and Watergrove

 

• Sarah CLARKE's Heaton debut came in June 2016 and she has 9 PBs in her 31 runs with us as well as volunteering 6 times. Her other runs have been at 8 other locations

 

100 Club - the black 100 shirt goes to these 2 ladies.

 

• Ana GARCIA SUAREZ has been coming to Heaton since October 2015 and has completed 87 runs with us, including 10 PBs. parkrun tourism has taken Ana to 11 other venues, including a trip to Denmark

 

• Jean MELLOR is a Worsley Woods regular making her 5th trip to Heaton and celebrating with a 23 second PB to mark her entry to the 100 Club

 

250 Club - also visiting from Worsley Woods and claiming the green 250 shirt was Jane GRANEY. This was Jane's 30th visit to Heaton since she made her parkrun debut with us in May 2010 and, as well as 153 appearances at Worsley Woods, she has also dropped in at 42 other parkrun venues.

 

Well done to everybody who reached a parkrun milestone this week.

 

 

Heaton parkrun Quiz Night - Saturday 4th May Prestwich Cricket Club

 

Another reminder that our Quiz Night will be held at Prestwich Cricket Club, 7pm Saturday 4th May 2019. It costs £10 to enter a team of up to 6 contestants and there will also be a raffle with lots of excellent prizes. Many thanks to those who have already entered teams. Entry forms will be available at the gazebo this weekend and entries on the night will also be welcome. It'll be a fun evening so why not bring the family and friends. All proceeds from the Quiz will go to the fundraising for Jim's Bench.

 

 

That's all for this week. See you at the lakeside!

 

Duncan