Week 52: one whole year of (not)parkrunning! When parkrun introduced the (not)parkrun concept 52 weeks ago, in Walthamstow we introduced the rainbow wave where we ran each week wearing a different colour of the rainbow as a symbol of hope. At the time I commented on the weekly report that if parkrun re-started by the end of week 7 then the symbol would have worked! As parkrun had been paused in March, by the beginning of June it seemed inconceivable that the pause would continue for months, let alone a whole year. And yet here we are.

I was going to announce that after a year of writing weekly ‘run’ reports for a non-existent run I would stop for a couple of weeks as parkrun was due to re-start on 26^th June. However, today the Government announcement of a delay to the end of all restrictions, which was quickly followed by an announcement by parkrun that they were delaying the start of parkrun by a further four weeks with the new potential re-start date of 24^th July. (Statement in response to Roadmap announcement | parkrun UK Blog) So perhaps we should do another initiative like the rainbow wave for the next six weeks; something to motivate us and bring us together as a parkrun community whilst we wait for parkrun to return. Any suggestions would be gratefully received – anyone got any bright ideas? Perhaps we could set a word each week, and people have to run/walk/jog on a 5k route that includes street signs beginning with each letter of the word to spell out the word – starting with parkrun of course! And post a photo of themselves in front of each street sign. Any interest?

So meanwhile, over the last week 14 parkrunners logged a total of 24 (not)parkruns with an average time of 30:13 minutes. Fastest overall was Carlo Metcalfe in a time of 23:18 minutes, whilst fastest female was Anna Morgan who was not far behind in a time of 23:57 minutes. And Spencer Reynolds got a shiny new (not)parkrun PB in a time of 29:05 minutes. Well done all.

Mo Allen, Gail Seal and Steve Peacock all managed to log 4 (not)parkruns this week. Steve is currently on 94 (not)parkruns in total, so I thought he may have been trying to reach 100 (not)parkruns before parkrun returned. Well, you’ve got a few more weeks to reach that milestone now, Steve!

See the full (not)parkrun results for the week here: results | Walthamstow parkrun

Stay safe everyone – we’ll get through this together.

Ali Sheppard

Walthamstow (not)parkrun history

The female (not)parkrun record is held by Corinna O’Sullivan who recorded a time of 20:09 in week #15.

The male (not)parkrun record is held by Patrick Brown who recorded a time of 16:42 in week #49.

The age grade (not)parkrun record is held by Gail Hennessy who recorded an amazing 87.67% in week #48.

(not)parkrun is a temporary replacement for parkrun which will start again when it is safe to do so.

For more information about (not)parkrun go to http://parkrun.me/ywtjv

This week we give a huge cheer to Emma Hardy! Not only has Emma run faster than dad Thomas with a (not)parkrun time of 24:43 (over dad’s 26:21), but she was Walthamstow’s fastest female, fastest junior AND fastest overall, earning herself a shiny new (not)parkrun PB in the bargain! Very well done, Emma; your consistent training is paying off. I think Emma should take the limelight this week, and I've nothing to say about anyone else other than that over the week 12 parkrunners logged a total of 16 (not)parkruns with an average time of 37:41 minutes.

This weekend was the date that was provisionally set for parkrun to return in England, until the date was put back a few weeks due to a number of landowners being slow to give permission for parkrun to resume on their land. The next date to look out for is on Friday of this week, when parkrun UK will confirm whether they have enough permissions in place to target a restart on 26 June in England, as planned. Read more about it on the parkrun blog here: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) update 8 June | parkrun UK Blog

A number of people have created interactive maps that show visually the current permissions, such as this one: Parkrun England Permits Map - Google My Maps You can see here that although Walthamstow is coloured green with permission to re-start, neighbouring parkruns of Gunpowder, Grovelands, Pymmes, Hackney Marshes and Wanstead Flats are all still currently awaiting permission to restart, which is a bit of a worry. We’ll just have to wait another couple of days to find out if we are going to restart on 26 June.

 ***********************************************************

See the full (not)parkrun results for the week here: results | Walthamstow parkrun

Stay safe everyone – we’ll get through this together.

Ali Sheppard

Walthamstow (not)parkrun history

The female (not)parkrun record is held by Corinna O’Sullivan who recorded a time of 20:09 in week #15.

The male (not)parkrun record is held by Patrick Brown who recorded a time of 16:42 in week #49.

The age grade (not)parkrun record is held by Gail Hennessy who recorded an amazing 87.67% in week #48.

(not)parkrun is a temporary replacement for parkrun which will start again when it is safe to do so.

For more information about (not)parkrun go to http://parkrun.me/ywtjv

 Last week saw the 50^th week since the start of the (not)parkrun scheme, so perhaps we should all have been wearing red t-shirts again for our (not)parkruns! Over the week, 11 parkrunners recorded 13 (not)parkruns with an average time of 37:38 – our slowest average time ever, but I’ll come onto the reason for that later!

Fastest (not)parkrun was Speedy Gonzales himself, Patrick Brown, in a stunning time of 17:11 – not a track time this week so that’s really good going. Fastest female was Emma Hardy in a time of 25:59, and just one minute slower than dad Thomas – she’s catching you up Tom!

We celebrate two parkrunners who got shiny new (not)parkrun PBs this week: Helen Farebrother-Naylor in a time of 32:39, and Gillian Roffey in a time of 43:33. Both of these times beat their parkrun PBs too, so congratulations to both. You’ll have a new time to aim for when we return to the Peter May Centre.

Now Gillian may have thought that she had taken the coveted tailwalker place with a time of 43:33, but she didn’t realise she’d have to clock a time over three times slower to be the tailwalker, as I recorded the slowest ever (not)parkrun time of 2 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds! Before you start worrying that you’re going to be volunteering at parkrun when it returns and will have to wait for me to crawl around in that time, I was doing my (not)parkrun on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, and so I kept stopping to sit down and watch the wildlife and forgetting to pause my Garmin! I promise when we return I will finish in a considerably shorter time, even if I can’t run! I don't think I needed to wear running leggings for this slow walk!

 

 On the subject of returning, the current situation is given on the parkrun UK's blog here: COVID-19 (Coronavirus) update 1 June | parkrun UK Blog Let’s keep all our fingers crossed the landowner permissions keep coming in so that we can return later in the month. I can't wait to see everyone at the Peter May again.

See the full (not)parkrun results for the week here: results | Walthamstow parkrun

Stay safe everyone – we’ll get through this together.

Ali Sheppard

Walthamstow (not)parkrun history

The female (not)parkrun record is held by Corinna O’Sullivan who recorded a time of 20:09 in week #15.

The male (not)parkrun record is held by Patrick Brown who recorded a time of 16:42 in week #49.

The age grade (not)parkrun record is held by Gail Hennessy who recorded an amazing 87.67% in week #48.

(not)parkrun is a temporary replacement for parkrun which will start again when it is safe to do so.

For more information about (not)parkrun go to http://parkrun.me/ywtjv

This week we had confirmation and the not unexpected news that the intended date for the re-start of parkrun in England has been pushed back a few weeks from 5 June to 26^th June. Thank you to everyone who had offered to volunteer on 5^th June and I hope you can make it on 26^th June instead. I know it’s disappointing but it’s just another few weeks and having waited for over a year I’m sure we can wait a few more weeks. In the meantime, this week 11 parkrunners ran 15 (not)parkruns in an average time of 32:39 minutes – well done to all.

Huge congratulations go this week to Patrick Brown and Arthur Ansell, who ventured South of the river to Bromley for some track racing. Patrick smashed through the 17 minute barrier to set a new (not)parkrun record for Walthamstow of 16:42 minutes, whilst Arthur got himself a new PB for 3000m. Fantastic running, both of you.

Thomas Hardy was also clearly worried about daughter Emma clipping at his heels, and so he pulled a new (not)parkrun PB out of the bag, finishing in 23:14 minutes. Congratulations!

See the full (not)parkrun results for the week here: results | Walthamstow parkrun

Stay safe everyone – we’ll get through this together.

Ali Sheppard

Walthamstow (not)parkrun history

The female (not)parkrun record is held by Corinna O’Sullivan who recorded a time of 20:09 in week #15.

The male (not)parkrun record is held by Patrick Brown who recorded a time of 16:42 in week #49.

The age grade (not)parkrun record is held by Gail Hennessy who recorded an amazing 87.67% in week #48.

(not)parkrun is a temporary replacement for parkrun which will start again when it is safe to do so.

For more information about (not)parkrun go to http://parkrun.me/ywtjv

This week 17 parkrunners ran 31 (not)parkruns in an average time of 31:19 minutes – well done to everyone who managed to get out exercising and got their (not)parkruns logged by midnight on Sunday!

Back in week 3 of (not)parkrun, the awesome Gail Hennessey of Eton Manor AC set the Walthamstow age grade (not)parkrun record at 86.96%. This week she smashed that to set a new age grade (not)parkrun record of 87.67% with a 5k run in 24:12 minutes for the 65-69 age category. Age grading takes your time and uses the world record time for your sex and age to produce a percentage score - the higher the score the better the performance. To put Gail’s amazing run into context, if you get an age grade of 100% you’re at approximate world record level; above 90% is World Class Level, and above 80% is National Class Level. Absolutely fantastic, Gail, you are a legend – and who said you have to get slower as you get older?!

And talking of legends, Mo Allen was down in Devon this week and put on his lucky parkrun 50 tee to power his way up the “Dune of Doom” on the Woolacombe parkrun course to take the Strava “Local Legend” crown! Woolacombe is notoriously difficult – in fact its been graded as the UK’s most difficult parkrun – so obviously all that training on Pole Hill has paid off for Mo!

A little nearer home, lots of Walthamstow parkrunners took part in the monthly Run Through’s “Chase The Sun” 5k/10k in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and look like they all had a good time! Not only did Gail Seal enjoy taking part in the CtS race, but she got her official chip-timed 5km PB too of 24:15 minutes – well done, Gail!

See the full (not)parkrun results for the week here: results | Walthamstow parkrun

Stay safe everyone – we’ll get through this together.

Ali Sheppard

Walthamstow (not)parkrun history

The female (not)parkrun record is held by Corinna O’Sullivan who recorded a time of 20:09 in week #15.

The male (not)parkrun record is held by Patrick Brown who recorded a time of 17:17 in week #45.

The age grade (not)parkrun record is held by Gail Hennessy who recorded an amazing 87.67% in week #48.

(not)parkrun is a temporary replacement for parkrun which will start again when it is safe to do so.

For more information about (not)parkrun go to http://parkrun.me/ywtjv