In the week where we celebrated 50 years since man walked on the moon and the 6000000th parkrunner signed up, we had another fantastic event bringing together the local community and welcoming those from further afield.

There were 336 participants in the 464th Whitstable parkrun this week.

We congratulated Lucy Robinson and Victoria Day who were on their 50th runs. we look forward to seeing them in their tee shirts.

We heard the fantastic news that we will be in the Whitstable Carnival on August 3rd. There are still a few vacancies in the carnival team. Please contact Phil Hadler for more details.

A big Thank You from me to the super team of volunteers and those who stepped in to give extra support.

Sue

It was a weekend of firsts, England won their first Cricket World Cup, Lewis Hamilton became the first driver to win 6 British Grand Prix’s, Simona Halep won her first Wimbledon singles title, the men’s Wimbledon singles final was the first to be decided by a final set tie-break and I was Whitstable parkrun run director for the first time.

I hadn’t planned on being a run director at parkrun on a Saturday, but somehow with a little encouragement from Dave and Jacky I found myself on the volunteers list and penciled in for the 13th July. With some help and guidance from my fellow run directors I put together a pre-run brief and was kind of ready for my role.

parkrun morning, I arrived nice and early where I could see things starting to take shape, volunteers already setting up, more and more volunteers and runners starting to arrive. Marshals were sent out around our 2 lap course and as 9am got closer Jacky welcomed those runners new to Whitstable parkrun.

It was then over to me to welcome everyone to Whitstable’s 463rd parkrun. I started off with a thank you to Whitstable parkrun for what it has helped me achieve with my running, I mentioned some parkrun and local events news and Bob Pullen talked about this year’s Whitstable Carnival. Back over to me and I went through this week’s milestones, where we were able to congratulate Deborah Hill, Karen George, Rachel Hughes and Jamie Turner for reaching their 50th parkrun and Tilly Roffe on reaching her 100th parkrun, well done everyone. Before making our way down to the prom I ran through this week’s pacers and tail walkers.

Down on the prom I went through the safety part of the pre-run brief, where I encouraged you all to run a little slower, got you all to wish each other luck before 3.. 2.. 1.. GO.

It then all went a little quiet, whilst everyone was running I got to chat to some of the volunteers and people who had come along to support. The first few runners seem to run past with easy, then more and more runners ran past. It wasn’t long before volunteers where all in place to welcome home our runners. As the first few runners crossed the finish line it was still quiet, but it wasn’t long before the finish funnel was busy with more and more runners crossing the finish line.

Around the finish funnel people gathered to chat about their run, it sounded like it was tough from the black and white café to the finish. As our tail walkers finished everything was then taken down and packed away. It was then over to the Marine Hotel for a coffee, process the results and update the volunteers list.

Everything seemed to have gone well and I must thank everyone that had helped, ran and supported at this week’s Whitstable parkrun. If it was your first parkrun I hope you enjoyed it and if you want to try something new for the first time why not put your name down on the volunteers list.

Lastly I would like to thank everyone for their kind comments on my first experience as Whitstable parkrun run director.

Thank you
Justin

A big thank you to Brian for standing in this morning as run director at short notice, as we all know Brain doesn't need much time to prepare, his charm and general all round ability to be front man just comes naturally, and as usual his parkrun leadership was plain for all to see. What a lovely morning it was as well, the summer really does seem to he here in all its glory, and for the moaners amongst us "it was a bit hot for running". A big thank you to all our volunteers as usual, especially the new slimmer David Sibley who also stepped in at the last minute to bring us the results today. But that's one of the great things about parkrun, we all muck in and somehow it just happens, If you fancy a go at volunteering for the first time contact the office or just ask anyone in a Hi-Viz top, we will give you a nice easy job to get you going and I promise you will love it, and if you are an old hand at volunteering and you fancy a little training we are always open to new run directors and volunteers to learn how to do the results (It's not difficult I can do it) If not just come along next week have a run and moan about the heat, everyone's welcome, thank you all for coming see you next week.
Brian and Dave

Run Directors report29/05/2019

The Two Lapper 461

‘Once again a great big thank you to the team supporting me on Saturday.’

Arriving early to start my duties to find the team hard at work already and getting required items in place, such great teamwork indeed.

The morning started very warm and we knew people would need to keep hydrated as suggested during the week on our Facebook pages.
Slowly, as always, the start area filled up with 397 parkrunners. A great sight to see.

The new runners briefing was handled by Lucy Clark, quite a turn out with visitors as well. Once that was completed I started my brief, not so much to say this time, as I was eager to get runners started before the sun got too hot.

Milestones were announced, just two last week, 50 runs for Bridget Harvey and 100 for my Harriers team member Rupert Spedding.

We had no accidents to report nor other offences, so thank you all for sticking to the rules. To keep our great parkrun in it’s nice location, we must abide by Canterbury City Council rules.
However, two obstacles appeared along the top part of the run. The shelters are being cleaned up, because of this runners were warned to take care of the surrounding fencing.
A late supply of pacers were named and we were ready to go. All marshal points well manned as always. Down on the Prom start we were ready, 3/2/1….

Towards the end of the run we often get running clubs promoting their own races. Most take note of our request to keep away from the finish funnel, this rule will be enforced. However, a small issue occurred and took me away from my duties. This is not good when we are looking out for the safety of the runners. Clubs and promoters, Please respect our parkrun rules and ask the RD of the day, or event director if you can promote your races. Do this in advance.

Phil Hadler RD 461

Another great day, thank you,