Event number 198
7th March 2020

On 7th March, Stevenage parkrun joined parkruns around the world in celebrating International Women’s Day (IWD), which falls on Sunday 8th March.

Advert for ThisGirlCan on #IWDparkrun

parkrunners celebrating #IWDparkrun

Run Director, Chloe Marshall, in her Briefing mentioned that the ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, in conjunction with parkrun, was supporting IWD by encouraging women to fill volunteer roles, where possible, and also encouraging parkrun regulars to bring along a female friend, colleague or family member.

Run Director welcomes parkrunners and gives the pre-run Briefing on IWD

Judging by the number of women and girls in attendance today, they appear to have responded to the call.

This week 501 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 35 were first timers and 95 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 35 different clubs took part.

Milestone #50 and #100 capes worn with pride

Congratulations to Jim Brown, Dave Bryan, Sarah Clemerson and Larry Urbanowski who completed milestones run#50 and can now claim the coveted Red t-shirt 50, and to Matt Ringer and Thomas Sauka who completed milestone run 100 and can claim the coveted Black T-shirt 100.

As always, it’s the dedicated volunteers who make parkrun possible. Today the ‘Shout Out’ and Thanks go to the following team of 22 volunteers: Alan FORD • Angus KINDLEY • Anya BLAXLAND • Beverley ATKINS • Callie CHAPMAN • Chloe MARSHALL • David IRWIN • Doug WILSON • Eileen CROWE • Elizabeth JORDAN • Esperanza CASTRO • Hannah BUTLER • James MARSHALL • Jan FRY • Ken MARSHALL • Layla HAASE • Linda HOWELL • Marleen VAN ZWIETEN • Max RINGER • Nicola ANDERSSON • Paula SPARKS • Tony RANDFIELD.

Volunteers - High-viz heroes

Volunteering is a fantastic way to give back to this great community event, meet fellow parkrunners and gain new skills. The volunteer team will be delighted to hear from you via email or speak to them after your run on a Saturday morning.

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

The first 3 males across the line today were: Jonathan Parr (PB - 16:42), Richard Passey (18:15) and Matthew RONAYNE (PB - 18:37). The male record is held by Ian KIMPTON who recorded a time of 15:07 on 3rd September 2016 (event number 15).

The first three females across the line today were: Alexandra Louise WATSON-USHER (21:42), Charlotte SMITH (22:48) and Jade WYATT (23:36). The female record is held by Annabel GUMMOW who recorded a time of 17:39 on 17th November 2018 (event number 127).

The Age Grade course record is held by Yuko GORDON who recorded 92.85% (22:51) on 10th November 2018 (event number 126).

Stevenage parkrun started on 28th May 2016. Since then 8,620 participants have completed 58,165 parkruns covering a total distance of 290,825 km, including 11,282 new Personal Bests. A total of 556 individuals have volunteered 3,994 times.

You can keep abreast of parkrun news via the excellent freeweeklytimed podcast.

Stevenage parkrun
Event number 197
29th February 2020

The parkrun community gathered in Stevenage, on this wet, rainy morning for the weekly event that draws together a rich diversity of people.

Weather fit for ducks and parkrunners

Birthday celebration at parkrun

Nicola celebrating her 40th birthday at parkrun

This week’s leap year parkrun was extra special as the next one will be in 2048! It attracted 317 people who ran, jogged and walked the 5k course through Fairlands Valley Park in the wind and light showers of storm Jorge. There were 22 first timers and 46 recorded new Personal Bests, almost certainly encouraged by the pacers from various local running clubs.

Line-up of Pacers

Pacer #27

A measure of the growing popularity of the Stevenage parkrun was the presence of representatives of 32 different clubs.

Congratulations to Grant HARKNETT who completed his milestone 50th parkrun. He can now claim the coveted red T-shirt.

The first three males across the line were Richard PASSEY (18:20), Joe Cronin (18:28) and Simon JOHNSON (18:40). The male record is held by Ian KIMPTON who recorded a time of 15:07 on 3rd September 2016 (event number 15).

The first three females across the line were Tracy PITCAIRN (22:02), Dervia DOWNING (22:29) and Jennie FRASER (23:31). The female record is held by Annabel GUMMOW who recorded a time of 17:39 on 17th November 2018 (event number 127). Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Stevenage parkrun Results Page.

Run Director, Tony Randfield, and his team of Hi-viz heroes

Each week parkrun is made possible by volunteers who take on a wide variety of roles: Marshalls, Timekeepers, Funnel managers, Barcode Scanners and Tail Walker, to name a few. Huge thanks to this week’s twenty three hi-viz heroes: Tim BEESLEY, Anya BLAXLAND, Peter CARPENTER, Esperanza CASTRO, Callie CHAPMAN, Tamara CLELFORD, Thomas CLOHESSY, Joe COLGAN, Mark DAVEY, Robert DAVEY, Verity FISHER, Alan FORD, Nick GILL, Annette GREGSON, Carol HAYWARD, Darren ISTED, Stephen JOHNSON, David KEMP, Angus KINDLEY, Nick KLEANTHOUS, Sheila LEAVY, Juliette MULLEN, Tracy NORRIS, Matthew PATTMAN, Tony RANDFIELD, Tim ROBINSON, Chris ROWLANDS, Tichaonezvi J. RUREDZO, Kevin SAMBRIDGE, Charlotte SMITH, Ems SOUTHERINGTON, Daniel SUTTON, Alan TAYLOR, Sue TAYLOR, Nick TRANTER, Archie WARRILLOW, Joanne WEEKES GROVE, Elliott WHITE, Kris WHITMORE.

This week the volunteers deserve a huge 'Shout Out' for the extra efforts they made to ensure that parkrun was safe and fun despite the inclement weather. The Marshalls cheered us on with extra enthusiasm. 'It's character building! said Angus with a smile. "Keep going!" said Alan and the "Woo Hoo" dance and wave from the friendly female Marshall encouraged us through the wind and rain.

Please do consider volunteering. You learn a lot, meet a great team and contribute to the safety and sustainability of the event. The Volunteer Coordinator would love to hear from you - stevenagehelpers@parkrun.com. Alternatively, you can speak to the Run Director after the event on Saturday morning.

Stevenage parkrun started on 28th May 2016. Since then 8,585 participants have completed 57,664 runs covering a total distance of 288,320 km, including 11,187 new Personal Bests. The Age Grade course record is held by Yuko GORDON who recorded 92.85% (22:51) on 10th November 2018 (event number 126).

Next week's Run Director, Chloe MARSHALL, is looking forward to hearing from volunteers, and to welcoming you all to the International Women's Day (IWD) parkrun when it is hoped that many women and girls will participate.

We definitely had the better weather on Saturday. It was a clear day, a little chilly but most definitely the calm before storm ciara hit us on the Sunday. This week 485 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 36 were first timers and an amazing 120 recorded new Personal Bests. Congratulations to them!

Congratulations to Claire Defries who completed her 50th parkrun and also Matthew Guest as a first timer to Stevenage parkrun completed his 100th parkrun.

The event was made possible by 22 volunteers who were brilliant at guiding the runners seamlessly from the start to the finish. They are:

Laura KIMPTON • Michael FLETCHER • Angus KINDLEY • Elizabeth JORDAN • Beverley ATKINS • Tony RANDFIELD • Joe COLGAN • Richard GLAISTER • Matthew PATTMAN • Doug WILSON • Joanne WHITTINGTON • Archie WARRILLOW • Hannah BUTLER • Rosemary BIGGS • Alan FORD • Shelbe MOONBEAM • Mark HOWSEN • Gillian MCFARLANE • Anya BLAXLAND • Layla HAASE • Robert DAVEY • Carol HILL

Some dates for your diaries. On the 29th February we are having the first pacers run of 2020. It is a brilliant way of working with a pacer to achieve a new PB. Currently we have 14 volunteer pacers with 20 mins to 32 mins all covered. If you would like to volunteer as a pacer for 33+ mins, then please contact us.

On the 21st March we are celebrating our 200th parkrun. We are delighted the Mayor of Stevenage will be attendance, fancy dress is optional and I'm sure we will have cake at the finish! After running 5km a little bit of cake doesn't hurt!

March 7th is International Womans Day and in conjunction with This Girl Can parkrun is supporting the day by asking for our volunteers roles to be filled by women as much as possible and to bring a newbie lady to parkrun to run her first ever parkrun.

It promises to be a special day in the parkrun year so over to you parkrunners.

A few of our lady parkrunners and volunteers over the last few months.

Well the New Years Resolutions are well and truly up and running!   On Saturday we had a record attendance of 586 runners.  Truly remarkable and I think this parkrun thing might just catch on!

Of the 586 runners, 73 were first timers and 66 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 36 different clubs took part.  We also had some brilliant milestones as well.  Ricky Sharman, Ella May-Hards, Sharon Anne Boxer, Claire Thrower and Sarah Kelly all completed their 50th parkruns.  Congratulations to all of them!

Our brilliant volunteers this week are:

Ian KIMPTON • Angus KINDLEY • Karen BROOM • Beverley ATKINS • Robin WOODROW • Tony RANDFIELD • Helen HARRIS • Joe COLGAN • Richard GLAISTER • Sally MCBRIDE • Trevor BROOM • Peter CARPENTER • Matthew PATTMAN • Elaine BRAGG • Steve HARRIS • Erica GRAYSON • Charlotte DOBNER • Steven DOBNER • Hannah BUTLER • Rosemary BIGGS • David PATTMAN • Alison SHELLEY • Alan FORD • Shelbe MOONBEAM • Juliette MULLEN • Tamara CLELFORD • Gillian MCFARLANE • Anya BLAXLAND • Layla HAASE • Lois DOBBIN

Many thanks to all of them!

Please remember at the end of the run to please give back your finish token.  We only purchased them recently for a cost of £120.00 and we have already lost three tokens!

For the first Saturday run of 2020, the New Years resolutions to run and get fit were certainly evident.  We had 532 runners of which 56 were first timers and 72 recorded new Personal Bests.  532 is the 2nd highest attendance and only the second time we have had over 500 runners.

Congratulations to Grace Brown, Steven Adams, Andy Coates, Chris Lennon, Mark Godfrey, Tracy Stiles and Karen Thomas who completed their 50th parkruns.  Congratulations to Patrick Norris who completed his 100th parkrun.

We are using new finish tokens, which cost £120.00 and were kindly bought through donations from runners.  We have already lost two tokens through runners taking them away.  Please don't take the tokens, they are not a souvenir and of no use outside of parkrun.

To manage such a large number of runners, we have a brilliant team of volunteers.  This week our brilliant stars are:

Laura KIMPTON • Ian KIMPTON • Daniel SUTTON • Kelly BURGESS • Esperanza CASTRO • Jan FRY • Tony RANDFIELD • Helen HARRIS • Helen COXON • Richard GLAISTER • Matthew PATTMAN • Petra WARNER • Jane MOULDER • Andy WISEMAN • Sarah KINSELLA • Hannah BUTLER • Alan FORD • Peter FITZGERALD • Alan GOODWIN • Shelbe MOONBEAM • Karl SPARKS • Paula SPARKS • April LACEY • Tamara CLELFORD • Jake HAZELDENE • Mark DAVEY

Happy New Year to everybody and see you Saturday!

Well what else can I write about this Christmas day parkrun except WOW!! I thought we would get approx 350 runners for our 3rd Christmas Day parkrun hosted by yours truly. Well THAT figured proved no where near the final figure!! And how!!!

Near perfect weather resulted in the attendance record going along with us running out of finish tokens too!! [Don't worry we have the a brand new set ready to use on NYD and they go up to 600]. Previous course record set on NYD this year and was 441, now that figure is a stonking 453!!

It was fraught at times as we only had 2 scanner volunteers and long queues built up at the scanning points, so thanks all for your patience at the end.

The volunteer team pulled together to ensure things ran as smoothly as possible in the circumstances and I thank them all for their efforts. Name check time: Thomas Suka, Beverly Atkins, Eperanza Castro, Adri Strydom, Johannes Strydom, Richard Henry, Shelia Leavy, Chloe Emmerson, Tony Randfield, Matthew Pattman, Helen Harris, Andy Garrett, Oliver Cuzner, Diane Cuzner, Rosemary Biggs and Alan Ford.

We had 85 first timers and 48 people achieved PB's.

A great atmosphere was had all morning with plenty of people in fancy dress, oh I have to thank Caroline Musgrove for the Quality Street chocolates she donated.

Roll on New Years Day when it's DPD = double parkrun day.

Until then parkrunners.

Oh a couple of unpublished pics from the day below too.