The New Year's resolutions continued well into week 2 with another impressive turn out at Winchester. A new record of 465 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 60 were first timers and an impressive 75 recorded new personal bests. Representatives of 28 different clubs took part.

The Stubbington 10k on Sunday saw a few familiar faces donning the volunteer vest to give the legs a rest before race day. With temperatures into double figures, the rain holding off & the ground just about dry under foot it was a lovely morning for running. Before the start a quick group picture & a reminder that the King Alfred pub is now open for breakfast from 9am on a Saturday.

 

And then we were off ….

As always the support of the many marshals spurred the entire field on & it wasn’t long before lap 1 became lap 2 and then finish. Well done to the first male and female participant - Marley Godden from Medway & Maidstone Athletic club finished in 17:01 & Tamsin Simmonds clocking 18:49. Both newcomers to the Winchester course!

A special mention to Sarah Dennison who managed a new PB of 24:39 on her 281^st park run…wow!

 

And big congratulations to those of all abilities who pushed themselves on to run, jog, push or walk the course. Whatever your level, it is without doubt the perfect way to start the weekend.

Of course none of this fun would be possible without the small army of volunteers. This week 29 people helped out. A big thank you to:
Sarah ALDRIDGE • Kevin FRISBY • Glenna GREENSLADE • David GREENSLADE • Stephen LOWY • Richard SPALDING • Ann STANHOPE • Len BURGIN • Debbie INGHAM • Sean LOCKE • Mike HASTIE • Sheila SWEENEY • Justin BROOKING • Gordon WESTLEY • Lynn MCKEAGUE • Andrew TAYLOR • Patricia HEATON • Janet HAUGHTON • Nikki AYRISS • Adrian OWEN • John SWEENEY • Isabelle DARLINGTON • John GRIFFIN • Tom LAESSING • Colin SCOTT • Catherine LOCK • Michael S HOLLIS • Chris TRAYLER • Matt JONES.

 

Speaking as a recent volunteer convert I can thoroughly recommend it. Lots of different roles, none of which are tricky or take up too much time & some even allow you to run as well. Next time you’re not running why not help out? We are always keen to welcome new volunteers. Opt in to the Volunteer Email in your parkrun profile or send and email to winchesterhelpers@parkrun.com

See you next week!

Tom

Not many people start their wedding days by running 5km at 9am, but for Andy Greenleaf - our course record holder - a parkrun was just the way to kick off his big day. Asked by event director David whether he was planning to go for a PB, he said no, but nonetheless was our first finisher in a modest 16:05 - a time most of us can only dream of! Andy also brought several speedy friends with him, meaning we had six finishers who were under 17 minutes. Well done Andy and we hope you had a fantastic wedding day!

The parkrun was also special for another person, Robbie Downer, who is one of our Duke of Edinburgh volunteers. This Saturday's event was his final volunteering session with us, and he took the opportunity to be the day's run director. Robbie calmly delivered the pre-run briefing to the runners, even getting a few laughs out of the audience. He did a great job this week making sure the event ran smoothly, and has been reliable and performed well in all his previous volunteering sessions too. A big thank you to Robbie from everyone at Winchester parkrun for your commitment and help.

There were 371 runners, walkers or joggers in total this week, of whom 50 were new to Winchester parkrun - welcome to you all and we hope you'll come and join us again. One of those 50 was Jon Oldham, who ran his 50th parkrun. Siggi Narang also ran her 50th, and Patrick Warburton and Robin Speed both ran their 100th parkruns (you kept that quiet, Patrick!). Well done to all of you.

As always, thanks to all of the volunteers who made the event possible. It's particularly helpful for our volunteer coordinator Ann if she knows in advance when people are available to help, so please email winchesterhelpers@parkrun.com if you know which Saturdays you could volunteer. Training is given for all roles on the day, and you'll get a step closer to your purple volunteer t-shirt!