(not)parkrun

Another busy week for (not)parkrunners who clocked up 70 (not)parkruns between them. Amongst them were first timer Sarah Wheatley and 5 happy PBers: Hayley Bennett, Carole Pugh, Debra Fry, Simon Hailwood and Mike Messenger - well done all!

(not)parkrun(+1)

Under the current lockdown rules, outside of your household or support bubble you can instead run with 1 other person. For fun, I asked via a Facebook post who you would choose to run with. No other criteria were given and these were the candidates submitted:

Gary Barlow was seen running with Hayley Franklin. I have run a parkrun in a jacket before, but I'm not sure how Gary would fair in those shoes... maybe Hayley wanted to slow him down a bit?	From William Lee: My musical running buddy when I visited Pomphrey yesterday was Johnny Cash. I've also been accompanied by Bob Dylan recently, but my favourite companions are The Rolling Stones so I think I will have to go for Keith Richards although I'm not sure he is still up to running...
From Ian Jones: Steve Ovett, a hero of mine growing up! Well Ian, I wouldn't fancy trying to keep up with him...	Well I was surprised to be nominated, not once but twice! I think it's clear where I am looking forward to running to again!
Tom Hardy with Carole Pugh - although they may have some competition ->	From Sally Bartram: My running buddy Sandra Drakett of course........and we did! If she wasn’t available I’d like Bradley Cooper to run with but would be chasing Carole W Pugh and Tom Hardy!
Kate Bush, famous for running up that hill, was accompanying Sam Mutch up our very own hill this week.	As it turns out, this was my 100th (not)parkrun and I hadn't realised! Anyway, my running partner - Mr Hill - collapsed at the end so we must have pushed pretty hard today! I could easily have joined him but didn't want to get even muddier...

Until next week, stay safe - and have fun running, whoever you run with!

What with one thing and another, 2020 has been a challenge for all of us. Hopefully 2021 will bring us a step closer to normality. Normally at this time of year, we would look back on the year and think about what the New Year might bring. We managed to get 11 events done before we went on a pause. I managed to attend 3 parkruns at Pomphrey. I did manage some local tourist visits as well as some volunteer stints. What did you manage to achieve before we went on pause?  Did you manage some away days?

From a personal point of view, I had some big running plans for 2020 and virtually all of them went up in smoke. Do I try them in 2021? I don’t know. It’s hard to motivate yourself to train for something that might not even happen. Also, I don’t know if I want to dust of my training plan as it required an awful lot of time running.  I might want to spend that time being socially distant with friends or with my family. It’s not bad to change your goals. Sometimes it’s good to stop and have a rethink rather than just go through the motions. What plans did you have for 2020? Did you manage to achieve them? Are you going to roll them over to 2021? Or do you have some new targets for 2021?

One of my goals for the year will be to clean my shoes when I get home after a muddy run. Too often I take them off and forget about them until I need them next. So when I need them, the mud has dried and has made the shoes quite stiff. My other little goal is to clean my drinks bottles when I finish my run so when I come to use them again, I don't have to give them a deep clean!!!! Do you have anything you might do differently with your running?

This week in the world of (not)parkrun, Andrew Banfield, Joe Thatcher, Carole Pugh and Adrian Grimshaw all made personal bests. Abigail Scott and David Hatts recorded their first (not)parkrun.

I went out to Pomphrey for a run on New Years Day and saw loads of friendly faces out and running. It gave me a glimpse of what we are missing. Certainly gave me a lift to see all these people. One day we will be back.

Keep running. Keep active. Stay safe. Phone a friend.

Danny

(not)parkrun RD

Christmas (not)parkrun

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas wherever you were and whoever you were able to be with. There have been fewer posts shared on our Facebook page than normal, which is understandable:

Tony Graham shared this photo on our Facebook page and commented "What a great start to a fresh & frosty Christmas Day! A 5k family run with your friends at our favourite parkrun venue!"

Sarah Brocklesby posted "Ran off 5Ks worth of Christmas pud this morning" to which Steve Burfitt replied "Yup me too before Storm Bella arrives later today."

This was the 28th week of (not)parkrun and this week 31 of you ran a collective total of 60 (not)parkruns with an average time of 33:12. Congratulations to Ruth GARBE on her first (not)parkrun and to Julia EDWARDS, Catalina LEE, Rosalyn CASTLE and Joe THATCHER for achieving (not)parkrun PBs. A virtual red t-shirt goes to Dave GEE for his 50th (not)parkrun. This week's virtual top prize goes to Rosalyn CASTLE who not only ran a PB at one of her 7 (not)parkruns this week but also ran her 100th (not)parkrun. Well done Roz, hope you enjoy your virtual black t-shirt!

Ringing in the Changes

As 2020 ends at midnight on New Year's Eve, so will my tenure as Event Director (ED) at Pomphrey Hill end after almost three years, first as Co-ED with Anne Burge and then as ED after Anne stepped down at the beginning of March. You'll still be seeing me at Pomphrey Hill, not least as I will be staying within the Core Team as a Run Director (RD). I am about to start the notoriously intensive second year of my MSc and need to reprioritise my time and catch up on my academic reading.

I have been supported throughout the last three years by the most incredibly dedicated Core Team: Meryl, Adrian, Steve, Anne, Danny, William, Catalina, Trudy, Ella and Martyn as well as Andrew Boynton during his tenure in the team as well as many other dedicated volunteers who support us each week including Steve Jenkins and Gary Woodruff. Together we have continued to develop an event which our Ambassador has called very professional. A high accolade indeed for an event entirely organised by volunteers!!

I'm very pleased to announce that Adrian Grimshaw and William Lee, both accomplished and highly experienced RDs will be taking over as Co-EDs from 1st January 2021, I have no doubts that Pomphrey will be in very capable hands and that you will support them as much as you've supported me.

Having just skimmed through our Flickr photographs there are many things which I am proud of during my time at the helm including having overseen 15 Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme candidates through their Bronze, Silver or Gold Volunteer Sections; recruited volunteers for the Bristol 10k and Bristol Half Marathons, in return Great Run make a donation to our event funds which we use to buy or replace event equipment such as radios, defibrillator pads, stakes and signs; I've organised/helped organise numerous special events and Barking Parties; I've also dressed up in many wonderful outfits and joined with many of you as you've celebrated your parkrun milestones and we've all celebrated International parkrun Day and Pomphrey's 5th and 6th birthdays.

From all of us in the Pomphrey Hill parkrun Core Team and both the outgoing and incoming EDs, we wish you all a very happy and healthy new year.

Until next time,
Ris

As this year starts to come to a close and hopefully we can put 2020 behind us. I have seen some good come out of this year, there has been an increase of runners around my streets, run routes and even around Pomphrey. There are new runners still signing up to parkrun who have never ran an official run which goes to show that nothing will keep us down. When we do come back (and we will come back) we should see a lot of the numbers we had before.

The Saturday before Christmas always see's Pomphrey parkrunners with some amazing head wear, running tights or christmas style jumpers/t shirts and it's a shame we wont get to experience it this year.  I was hoping that some of you would have posted your best Christmas pictures from past runs or even dive into the archive myself and pick some of my favourites however, I did travel to Pomphrey last Saturday armed with my camera and managed to see some familiar faces.

First off, a massive shout out this Steve who I haven't seen since the last parkrun and bumping into him was probably my highlight of the day especially seeing his Santa Hat.

As for some of the others who were running Saturday (socially distant), see how many you can recognise.

There where a lot of dogs around too so I felt it necessary to add a few pictures which will hopefully make you smile.

More pictures can be found on the Pomphrey Hill Flickr page Here.

(not) parkrun results 20/12/20

We had 28 (not) parkrunners this week run 58 (not) parkruns. Special mentions go to Sam WELLS for their first recorded (not) parkrun; to James C, Anthony WORGAN, Hayley BENNETT, Derek MCSWEENEY and William LEE for (not) parkrun PBs.

The speediest Pomphrey (not) parkrunner was Dave G with a time of 22:18.
You can see all of the week's (not) parkrun results here.

Thanks to everyone for keeping things going and do continue to enjoy your (not) parkruns!

Whatever you are doing, I wish you a very safe and Happy Christmas and i'll see you all very soon.
Until next time; be safe, stay healthy and look after each other.

Martyn