Well, after nearly 13 months away wasn’t it great to be back in the Rec for another junior parkrun! What started as a bright, cold morning soon gave way to a rather unexpected snow shower as we were getting everything ready but thankfully the parkrun weather fairies cleared it up for us before we got going.

First of all a huge thanks to all the volunteers for helping to put on the run. Your hard work and sunny disposition really set the tone for junior parkrun. Special thanks to DCS for kindly donating the hand sanitiser that we now use to deliver the run under the Covid framework, Stratford District Council for all their support and parkrun HQ for all the behind the scenes work needed to get parkrun up and running again.

 

Our first run back saw 82 children cross the line with a whopping 28 first time parkrunners! Among those new parkrunners were five girls who had been round the 5k course way back in 2017 as babies, carried by their mothers. Since then they have been pushed around the course in buggies by their mums and dads. This time though they ran the junior course under their own steam and they were accompanied by their fathers. Well done Hattie, Alma, Hetty, Tilly and Poppy - I hope it’s the first of many runs for you all!

 

We always like to celebrate participation at junior parkrun so there’s a special cheer for Matilda who did her 21st run and earned her marathon milestone wristband. Sadly, we are no longer presenting the wristbands during the run brief but if parents could just ask the run director on the day then we can present them with the wristband at the end of the run.

 

This Friday we heard the sad news of the death of HRH Prince Philip. Back in 1956, Prince Philip founded the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and it has gone on to offer many wonderful opportunities to thousands of young people across the world. We’ve been very fortunate to be able to offer volunteering opportunities to young people since we began Stratford junior parkrun in 2019. Our young volunteers carry out a range of roles at the run and you will often see them performing key tasks around the funnel area. They are always fun to work with and they really get into the spirit of the run. This week we welcomed back Ruth and Owain, who were handing out the finish tokens, and said hello to Megan who volunteered with us for the very first time and was on the first/last marshal point. We look forward to working with many more Duke of Edinburgh volunteers in the years to come.

(Ruth and Owain, Megan not pictured)

 

See you all again next week!

On a rather murky, damp Sunday morning 50 runners gathered for our 33rd run. We had 5 new runners with us - Abigail and Alice did their very first junior parkrun! Douglas earned his half marathon wristband and Marlon was awarded his from a few weeks ago.

 

Despite the weather, it was great to see so many smiling faces approaching the finish. The rain did nothing to slow you down either - 12 new PBs were recorded today!

 

A big thank you to all the volunteers who helped to put the run on today. Baby Henry’s contribution to the warm-up was invaluable!

 

We sincerely hope to be running again next week and as I write this (Monday lunchtime) that is the plan. However, the situation regarding the Coronavirus pandemic seems to change and worsen daily. We will be guided by parkrun HQ and government advice as to whether or not to go ahead. We will keep you updated via our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Stratford-upon-Avon-Rec-junior-parkrun-397560620861292/

 

Let’s finish on a positive note: this Sunday we had just one unknown runner out of 50. This is fantastic that so many people are remembering their barcodes. But let’s try and get up to 100%. Parents - phone cases, purses and wallets are great places to keep a spare copy of your child’s barcode. If you’re driving to us then put a copy in the glove box.

 

Hoping to see you all again next Sunday!

 

Simon Williams

 

Please take our very short survey and let us know what you think of the two different courses we have used so far.

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We had too many volunteers at the final junior parkrun of 2019 - so one of them shot videos instead. Can you spot yourself in them?

Ready, steady, SLO-MO!
All the action at the start - captured in slow motion. https://vimeo.com/382296017

Racy Pacers
The fastest runners whizzed past the camera - and Jenson and Maisie were awarded armbands for doing their 21st and 50th parkruns. https://vimeo.com/382235966

The endurance squad
The (mostly) younger runners win the prize for keeping going for the longest! https://vimeo.com/382293883

A silly warm-up
This should be the first video, but we're saving the funny one until last. Obviously, doing a warm-up isn't silly at all. But it looks a bit daft (in a fun way) when the video is sped up and set to comic music. https://vimeo.com/382296807

Videos by Simon Pipe, who used to be old enough to know better, but is now even older and is allowed to be as silly as he likes.