A thumbs up for another brilliant Saturday morning in the park. A quieter one than normal with only 269 parkrunners, including visitors from Guildford, Brentford, Manchester and Dublin.
Luke Rising completed his 250th parkrun, and his 25th volunteer milestone on the same day - he delivered the first timers welcome before setting out on his parkrun. Other milestones were James Cuthbertson (100) and Pat Wenborn (50). Congratulations!
And we beat the rain! The perfect start to the weekend.
What a fantastic Saturday we had at Rushcliffe parkrun this weekend. The sun shone, a breeze attempted to cool things down, and 367 people lined up at the start to run, jog or walk their way into the weekend.
Aided by a bumper group of pacers from Holme Pierrepont Running Club, 38 of our parkrunners achieved new personal bests. Thanks to Will Meredith for organising the pacers, and to the pacers themselves, who were (in time order):
Michael Miller, Rob Stewart, Amy Nathan, Lisa Chan, WIll himself, Alessandro Ferran, Rob Macdonald, Lauren Johnson, Janet Atkinson, Marc Faulder, Matt Aldridge, Scott Smith, Sharon Messam, Naomi Walters and John Oldfield.
There were milestones too, with Jonathan Pearce reaching his 250th, while Mike Ader and Willem Knights (both pictured below) completed their 150ths.
We also welcomed 7 first time parkrunners. We trust there will be many more to follow!
Visiting photographer Chris Hill took some terrific photos that really capture the spirit and enjoyment of parkrun and lots of the characters who visit our course regularly. Thanks so much for sharing them, Chris. See the full set
Thanks also and as always to the many other volunteers who made the event happen: Jennifer AITCHISON, Ian BENSKIN, Ashton CARROLL, Tracey Louise CLAY, Victoria ELSTON, Darren FISHER, Alana GARDNER, Keith LANGTON, Louisa LANGTON, Faye LITTLEJONES, Jenny MARSHALL, Rosa MEREDITH, Arry NATHAN, Jill P, Kirsty PARNABY, Chris PEASTON, Sam RISING, Zoë ROBINSON, Jo THOMAS, Marc THOMAS, Darren WILLIAMS
“Your first parkrun? You’ll get addicted” – warned the hi-viz volunteer as I arrived at Rushcliffe for my parkrun debut in February 2018. And she was correct: I did indeed get addicted.
I’m not a natural runner. I’m not a natural sportsman. Over the years my hapless attempts at team sports such as cricket and football have only been possible because, generally, there’s been a bunch of teammates who’ve put up with my lack of ability and carried me. I got the cycling bug in the noughties but was soon resigned to riding solo when my fellow (and much faster) riders disappeared up the road – usually within a mile or so of the start of a ride.
Thus my sporting record over the years could be summed up like a school report: ‘Nick tries very hard with a subject that doesn’t come naturally to him’.
And I’d never been that bothered about running. The only times I’d tried running events I felt intimidated by the much better club runners, when my aim was simply to get round and not be last.
But it was a new year conversation with a senior coach at Trent Bridge which inspired me have a another go. He was telling me about the strength and conditioning training they do with the cricketers over the winter months, but then added ‘But there’s only one real way to get fit – and that’s to run. We do all these things with the players, but what really gets them fit is to send them out running’.
I already knew a couple of parkrunners, but I didn’t really ‘get it’. Why travel to Rushcliffe Park to run 5K, when I could do exactly that from my front door? That was, until I did my first parkrun. And I immediately ‘got it’.
On that first day I trotted round with the legend that is Mike MacDonald (pictured - you’ll remember him: just think flip flops and underpants) and was immediately hooked. The email dropped with my result time and the following week I aimed to beat it – as I did the following week, the following week and, well, you can guess the rest.
So what do I love about parkrun?
- I love the fact the only person you’re competing against is yourself. It doesn’t really matter what others do. You have good weeks and bad weeks (depending on the hangover…) but it’s only your own PB - or target that day- that you are taking on.
- I love the informality and ‘pop-up’ event aspect of it. There’s no fees, no medals and no pointless goody bags. A few times I’ve cycled to Rushcliffe and on arriving at 8.35am have had to check I’d got the right day and time. It’s deserted. And then people arrive, and it happens, but by 10.30am you wouldn’t know there’d been a mass-participation event with 400+ people involved.
- I love that fact that I can go away for weekends and there’ll usually be a parkrun nearby, where visitors are warmly welcomed - as we do at Rushcliffe. When finishing her gap year travels, my daughter Katherine ran parkrun in Cairns, Australia, only to run at Rushcliffe seven days later. Two events about as geographically distanced as possible, but united under the parkrun umbrella.
- I love crossing the finish line, meaning that my 23 minutes of pain and agony is over for another week – and I can feel virtuous about it for the rest of the day.
- I love watching the effort and endeavours of others crossing the line. Everyone has their own personal targets. I particularly enjoy the weeks when we see a ‘Couch to 5k’ group taking part. For them, it’s the end point (or possibly a new starting point) of a big effort and it’s great to cheer them home. If ever I’m explaining parkrun to someone, I tell them ‘It’s running for people who don’t really run’(and I’d include myself in that). It’s the Couch to 5k groups – and others just bravely starting out – who get my admiration.
- I love the fact that you can’t be last. The tail walkers ensure that anyone having a go will not be bottom of the results list – which is a worry for nervous first timers I’ve talked to.
- Most of all, I love the volunteers and am humbled by what they do for us. They turn up in even the most terrible weather – always in good humour and always encouraging. We have the easy bit: we just run 5k and go home. They make it happen for us and somehow – magically – get the results to us soon after 10am. But I do feel incredibly guilty that I haven’t volunteered yet. From the start I’ve vowed that if I’m injured or not running for any reason then I’ll help out but, touch wood, I’ve been injury-free so far. My volunteering time will come.
Of the regular volunteers I must mention Sam. You’ll all know her as she’s on usually on the first corner after the start and we pass her three times. Her unending vocal support and encouragement – in sometimes the foulest of weathers – is the inspiration we need to put in that extra bit of effort. It’s so much appreciated, even if I’m usually too exhausted to offer proper thanks – especially on the 2nd and 3rd passes. Thanks for being there Sam – and all the other hi-viz heroes.
This Saturday will be my 100th and I’ll be giving it my best, thanks to the encouragement of the wonderful volunteers. For those finishing around the 24-25 minute mark you’ll almost certainly see me slumped on the bench by the finish line as I stretch my back and rejoice at completing another run.
But how many more parkruns will I manage? Well I’m only 60, so I reckon I have a good few years ahead of me yet, therefore 200 is doable and 300 would be good target. It all depends on health, injuries and other factors.
One this that is guaranteed is that when I’m not able to run it anymore, I’ll be there in a hi-viz jacket to cheer people on and, hopefully, one day will hold the megaphone and tell people that they “don’t have exclusive use of the park” – and it will be an honour.
Oh, and if I’m talking to first-timers I’ll be advising them “Your first parkrun? You’ll get addicted”…
Nick Shaw
A4292086
99 parkruns and counting…
Questions
Best way to start Christmas.......... ?
I know let’s go and do Rushcliffe’s first Christmas parkrun, so let the fun begin......
Turn over and go back to sleep? Go back to bed with a cup of tea? No, the real heroes of Christmas (and every other Saturday in the year at 9 o clock) are the ones who get up, get dressed, get going to the Park of their choice, as volunteers to enable parkruns to happen. Make sure we always say thank you to the volunteers, we could not run without them.In rain, shine, wind, frost, snow and even hail. All weathers!
(Thank you Ross Crombie)
We had 6 milestones as well
Mark Pollard, Robert Smith and Jacqui Measures were doing their 100th parkrun. Daniel Williams and Claire Wren were doing their 50th parkrun.
Mike Hird, who was tailwalking, it was 50th volunteer stint.
So on a great Christmas Day I was ready too early, and forgot I had the equipment in Jo’s car. We arrived really early and then waited for my army of #highvizheroes to turn up. We had a wonderful turn out of volunteers and runners, walkers and joggers.
A few statistics on event #414
1st parkrun on Christmas Day, I’m available next Christmas if required?
319 runners, walkers and joggers turned up and some had Christmas jumpers and outfits on, but more importantly all looked like they had lots of fun. (See photos above. Photo credits to Mike Sosin (top), Sarah Naylor (above left) and Heather Duffy (above right)).
1 run director
And an army of 20 #highvizheroes or volunteers
Marc THOMAS , Amelia HIRD • Andrea LYONS-LEWIS • Christine CLIFTON • Darren WILLIAMS • David RICKARDS • Emma WOODFORD • Jennifer AITCHISON • Jenny MARSHALL • Jo THOMAS • John OLDFIELD • Jon-Philip SEYMOUR • Kirsty PARNABY • Linda Joyce EVANS • Mike HIRD • Paul THOMAS • Sam RISING • Susan ANKERS • Susan HARTSHORN • Victoria ELSTON • Xander MORAR
34 first timer to our parkrun. 28 Pb’s
We hope you all had a wonderful experience on Christmas Day, and we hope to see you all again for the first parkrun of the new year (9am start on New Year’s Day).
There are some exciting developments happening on the park in the new year. The Education Centre and storage area is being refitted to include a new coffee bar and workshop. But it does create a challenge for our parkrun to overcome.
While it's excellent news for the growing number of people using the park on a regular basis, it does mean our storage space – and that of our colleagues at Junior parkrun – will be disappearing and we need to buy a new shed to accommodate our trolley and signage. The park is an open place, so we need our storage facility to be robust and secure. We've also discovered that suitable sheds are expensive. The most suitable option we've identified, the Asgard Trojan Plus (pictured above), costs £700.
That brings us onto asking for your support. We'd really welcome any donations towards the cost of the shed from any kind parkrunners who can offer them. It's easy to make donations via our ‘about us’ webpage (see photo).
(Please be assured that although the confirmation says ‘parkrun global’, all donations come to Rushcliffe parkrun. You will receive an email within 24 hours confirming this).
parkrun is completely open about all donations. All donations to (and withdrawals that the event teams makes) will be published on our website on the ‘About Us’ page.
We thank you in advance for your support.
The Rushcliffe parkrun Event team
It is common knowledge that parkrun starts promptly at 9am at Rushcliffe Country Park. This week I found out that it actually starts 45 minutes earlier at 8.15am when the team of volunteers and Run Director meet to organise the course, prepare the funnel and get ready to welcome all the runners for the best start to the weekend possible.
What a beautiful morning we had for a December parkrun - cold, frosty, dry and bright. Perfect really. This week there were 27 high vis heroes (volunteers) all making the run possible. A large group of them were from a local running club, Holme Pierrepont Running Club, who were out in numbers to support parkrun and to advertise their Christmas Relay that anyone can enter a team for.
It was lovely to see 234 runners taking part. There were a small group of first timers - welcome and we hope you enjoyed the run and will be back again! There was also a female running club (sorry I missed your names) supporting each other to complete the 5k with a celebratory tipple at the finish line! Cheers and Well Done!
By 9.59am the tokens were collected and the results processed! A great morning for all and a good load of PB’s across the results as well! Whether you ran for the first time, ran a PB, enjoyed a social run or walk or volunteered we hope you had a great morning! See you next week for more and don’t forget the Christmas Day and New Years Day parkrun, both starting at the normal time of 9am, as well as the chance to enter the HPRC Christmas Relay on the 28th December (details below) - it really is the season to be jolly and running!
Let’s start with the good news. New Years Day parkrun is confirmed. We have a full volunteer roster and look forward to welcoming 2022 with our first parkrun of the year at 9am.
The roster for Christmas Day still has a few gaps and we will need at least another 4 volunteers before we can confirm the go ahead. As a minimum we require
2 x barcode scanners
1 x funnel manager
1 x marshal
You can see the latest state of the roster via this link.
The volunteers will meet on the park at 8.30am to set up the course and we expect to be finished by 10.15am.
Please email rushcliffe@parkrun.com if you can help.
From my perspective as this week’s Run Director, Rushcliffe parkrun #408 was a pleasure to be involved in.
The weather was just right. Nice temperature for both runners and volunteers, with no wind and even a glimpse of blue-sky… or did I imagine that last bit?
Thirty volunteers turned up at 8.15am, all keen and ready, with several volunteering to try out new tasks they had not done before. Special mention this week for two of our Duke of Edinburgh Award volunteers, Frankie who delivered the First Timers Briefing like a pro (as well as acting as results checker, which involves constantly running up and down alongside runners in the finishing funnel recording info about names and times in case needed later), and Phoebe, who did an excellent job as one of our Funnel Managers (the people who boss everyone around to keep moving and stay in order at the end) at her first ever parkrun.
Three hundred and forty five parkrunners assembled in the field where we now meet prior to walking to the start line. As far as I could tell, we did a good job between us of keeping the nearby paths clear at that time so as not to block the passage for other park users. Amongst the assembled were Ian Scarrott and Michelle Rubie, who both completed their 50th parkruns, and a number of first-timer parkrunners. We also had Alistair Watson running this week. Alistair is a local man, much revered by fellow parkrunners because on the 7th of December 2013 he completed Rushcliffe parkrun in our fastest ever time of 14 minutes and 59 seconds. He didn’t quite match that time this week, but he still required the timekeepers to start work much earlier than they normally need to!
Everything, starting from 8.15am when we started to put the signs up around the course to 10:30’ish when we processed the results, all seemed to go smoothly. Thanks to all the volunteers who were superb, and the runners and walkers who seemed to enjoy themselves, bar a few grimaces along the way and especially at the finish line.
I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as me.
P.S. My major failure (unless greater ones come to light..) was forgetting to talk about the potential Christmas Day parkrun. A decision on whether it will go ahead will be made at the end of November, depending on the number of volunteers that have come forward at that point. What better way to spend the first couple of hours of Christmas Day?
Chris
Can you help us at Christmas and New Year?
For the first time in our 9-year history Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Saturday. We plan to go ahead with parkruns on both weeks, with a start time of 9am, subject to our being able to assemble a volunteer team. We will make a final go/no-go decision on November 30th when we have assessed the chances of our being able to get a full team.
As a minimum we need 18 volunteers for each parkrun to operate safely and successfully. We have Run Directors and are now looking for
2 x timekeeper
4 x barcode scanners
5 x funnel managers
4 x marshals
The volunteers will meet on the park at 8.30am to set up the course and we expect to be finished by 10.15am.
Can you help? Please email rushcliffe@parkrun.com to volunteer at either event.
We were able to begin this week’s pre-run brief with some good news. The parkrun UK COVID protocol has been updated and we can now announce parkrun milestone to the assembled group. Jonny Greaves was first with his milestone 50th parkrun. Other milestones this week were 100th parkruns from Ian Benskin (pictured above), and Chris Coombs, and another 50th from Philip Spick. Congratulations to all of them.
This week’s parkrun felt good. I’m beginning to think we are getting our mojo back after the 18 month hiatus caused by COVID. We are feeling more relaxed about running, walking and volunteering in a group - outdoors, maintaining social distancing as much as possible and within the guidelines set by parkrun HQ to keep us safe. It was good to be back in July, and it feels even better to be back regularly in the cold, windy and occasionally wet conditions of Autumn. #loveparkrun
We talk about sharing the park with other park users, and it is important that we do not interfere with the enjoyment of our fabulous surroundings by everyone. To this end we will be making an effort to remind all parkrunners to keep clear of the footpaths until we assemble for the start, including during the pre-run brief. We may use the megaphone (or Marc’s loud voice) – it is a small thing, but our presence across the paths is beginning to upset a few people.
Back to the pre run brief. We mentioned this week that we have vacancies for Duke of Edinburgh volunteers on our team and would love to hear from any student looking to join us, whether it be for bronze, silver or gold. More details can be found in a recent news page article via this link.
Have a great week and we look forward to seeing you again next Saturday at 9am, just not on the paths before the start.
