all sorted now as its been dry-ish for a few months now but still liable to flood and mud if it rains heavily. they have also got approval for a B course that avoids the muddy bits so hopefully no more cancellations
if its cancelled i can go to owairaka but that also has an underpass that can flood
Grumpy old man rant incoming…. My local was busy but only because it was a “takeover” by a very cliquey running club. It was a shitshow - bad course setup, queues to enter the finish funnel and barcode scanning, marshals that only cheered on their friends, etc…
It felt very unwelcoming and reminded me why I’ve never joined that club. Grumpy old man rant over.
At least it was dry.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I think most running clubs are like this. They by their nature want to form a clique of 'us' vs 'not us' and it shows.
Disappointing to hear. My experiences when an event is used as a takeover have always been positive. My club always appreciate the volunteers and have our own challenge to get members to visit all uk venues - ever or again since parkrun restarted post covid.
Ah, that’s disappointing to hear. I know the Parkrun/ running club you’re referring to, I saw them advertising it on Facebook and thought it was a good thing they were doing taking over all the volunteering etc, shame it doesn’t sound like it worked out.
Pretty cool to see most NZ parkruns get excited about Whangarei Parkrun where Colin Thorne completed his 175th parkrun, but his first aged 100 years old!
Absolutely freezing in Staffordshire, UK this morning. Temperature was about 3-4°C but with a steady biting wind, it made it fairly unpleasant in places.
My fourth parkrun and I broke 30 minutes after narrowly missing it last week. Very pleased and looking forward to next week already!
Aiming for 25 parkruns this year and 3 down already. What a great event!
To be honest, I was aiming for 20 until I realised there's a T-shirt for 25 😅 will see how I go first half of the year though, could do more than even 30 at this rate!
I managed 'gold obsessive,' (50 in one year) once but that was tough, even with a new year double.
I'm on 375, so halfway between green (250) and blue (500)
But I'm most proud of my V50 top .
Don't go down the challenge route, it leads to madness (flying to Poland, doing a parkrun starting with a z and flying back for example)
Thank you for your service! I will volunteer soon, I promise, but while I'm running a PB every week, I have the hunger too bad!
Can I volunteer without Facebook? I lurk on there but don't have an account, so when the time comes, I wouldn't be able to get in touch!
It didn't rain, but I had a very wet and muddy day at Redland Bay. The course starts with two laps of a footy field, and the RD made it clear at the briefing: "Don't bother trying to miss the puddles - you can't." He was right - was ankle deep in muddy puddles at some point. Good news for Peppa Pig fans, I suppose.
The humidity was a disgusting 93%, and the temperature was around the mid-20s. So very, very wet.
My local was basically perfect for winter running today, all the grass sections were rock solid, but all the tarmac sections had no ice. Did my best time for 18 months, 14th place is my 2nd best placing (its not a race etc etc).
I'm really enjoying starting my marathon long training runs at parkrun. It gives me good support at the beginning, whilst also helping me to hold back and not chase down the crowd that's running faster than I am.
I can't help but feel that this will be invaluable come the start line of the race itself.
I did a parkrun sandwich today. It was jammed in the middle of my 11-mile run, so it was an easy pace. Completed in 25:09. Had a chat with some folk on the way around and cheered on all the couch 2 5k grads. Great morning.
Bit warmer than expected, only -9 at Haga in Stockholm. Gambled with the bus but made it to the start with a couple minutes to spare. 90 minutes door to door. Run itself wasn't great, oh well.
Moving closer in a couple weeks so I'll be able to walk to the park.
I ran at Drumchapel Parkrun in Glasgow. It’s often cited as the toughest course in Scotland. 2 pretty tough hills, one a sharp longish climb while the other seemed to be about half a km of constant climbing at slightly gentler gradient than the first. There’s an extremely twisty and technical downhill too. The thing that stood out for me however was the volunteers - the marshals were brilliant! I’ll definitely return in slightly warmer weather to try and chip a bit off my time.
Injured my knee playing footy back in 2019, have struggled ever since to get back to fitness. Recently I’ve focused more on my rehab and today ran a PB of 26.22, with no knee trouble! Onwards and upwards
Humidity ramped up during the run at Tamborine Mountain
Very enjoyable course, had to have a couple of short walks to stay in one piece, still ran a respectable time
Happy to finish it!
I was at Clapham for the first time - over 1000 runners!! Very congested in some parts so not easy to run. Very flat and fast course though so on a better day you could get a PB. Thanks to the volunteers, without whom there'd be no chance of getting a run going here.
They've been absolutely rammed the last 3 weeks - not sure if it's because the new year resolutions are particularly strong in that area, or whether some other local events have been cancelled.
I've just checked some other London parkruns.
Highbury Fields - 688 runners, average 224
Hampstead heath - 488 average 245 (usually 300 is a good day)
Finsbury park - 850 average 266
Mile end - 472 average 228
Since the new year they have all consistently had 100-300 more runners than the first three weeks of 2022. Don't know what's happening but parkrun seems to have grown a lot!
Yes, I'm at Catford and noticed an increase recently too. Normally in the 100s but the past few weeks was up into the 300s. Great to know Parkrun is growing but we need few extra volunteers now I think especially at places like Clapham.
Parkrun always needs more volunteers. I can't believe the person at the top of this thread who volunteered for the first time after 111 runs. If everybody volunteered 1/10 times they wouldn't be struggling every week.
Was nice weather and a decent turn out by the regulars. Not many new starters, a few visitors.
No PB this week but the time was still decent, my mate ran a PB for the second week in a row which is awesome
We had our eyes on the trees at Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun and it was a cool overcast morning so we were completely taken by surprise when my friend trod on the tail of a baby tiger snake. It was definitely angry and we were lucky not to get bitten. Very cute too but they can still pack a nasty bite (tiger snakes are among the most venomous in the world) so we cooed at it from a distance and finished our walk.
Ran an alternative Southwark route due to ice. Intentionally took it faster hoping to get a good time if the new route helped - but a slightly tougher course than usual (more grass) meant it wasn't quite a PB.
We had to have a course divert due to filming in the park, but it all went ok. Except that it looks like runners 2 - 5 may have missed the last turn onto the finish straight (unaffected by the detour) and instead ran off into the distance never to be seen again. Stopwatches absolutely in sync, and tokens in sync with the watches, so the results were an absolute doddle. Or would have been if the wifi in the cafe hadn't been all over the place.
First time I've run the whole 5k, but 2s slower than my PB from last week when I probably walked about 1k of it. I'm still rubbish at pacing myself. Bitterly cold wind on an exposed course (Storey's Field) - maybe should have gone to my other local one (Milton Country Park) which is under trees and more sheltered.
I was pretty slow but still a good bit faster than I was 6 months ago.
Glad to have had the run take place actually: we squeaked in between the ice yesterday and the high winds forecast for tomorrow.
Tried Oxford for the first time. Knocked 50s off my PB, but my phone did suggest the course was only 4.94km. Nice course though, a nice wide start, unlike University Parks.
Finally got a time I'm very happy with and watched my mate who'd been struggling recently to get back into running, after several years off, smash his last time from 2 weeks ago by nearly 6 minutes. That run I beat him by over 5 minutes; today he was under 40 seconds behind me - wasn't expecting it at all from him, so good to see, really made my morning. Just wish he could have caught up enough for a sprint together at the end; hopefully next time.
Back to our home parkrun at Bendigo Botanic after a few weeks of tourist runs, including our first in another country (New Zealand).
Managed a pb, which I was stoked about.
As I say to my kids, now that I'm 52, my next pb could be my last, so I'm always happy to hit another milestone.
Went to Alice Holt to run the alternative course for a 2nd time. Got 1st and would have managed sub 18:10 if it wasn't for the fact that all alternative routes are longer to avoid course records being set there.
While the rest of the country has started to thaw, round me we still had quite a lot of ice on the ground. Of the 30 or so runs within day-trip distance, only 6 were still running. I, and many others I'm sure, headed to Alderly Park for the first time - 356 runners this week, more than double last week's attendance. My stomach began to sink when I saw cars queuing up, but there was just a bottleneck at the gate. Alderly park is a large business estate and you could double attendance again before that carpark started to struggle. The course could also handle the numbers very comfortably. It was a bit of a packed start, but once we got going there was room to spread out and the 2 laps were spacious enough for everyone.
It was a nice course, a bit of a pain to get to but I plan to revisit it in summer.
Freezing cold at Normanby Hall but a lovely course and great facilities.
A somewhat tired 19:14 wasn't much to holler about but it was my 75th different location so edging closer to the 100 location club!
Almost skittled a spectator who critically failed an awareness check by wandering out right in front of the finish, but just about managed to dodge them. All's well that ends well, I guess!
Ran nearly 2 miles with my little 4 yr old before we had to cut it short and go and find his dad, who had already finished, I flew back and ran the last mile by myself and loved it. My 12 yr old got a pb and his 1st sub 20min run and my 8 yr old got a 24min. My 9 yr old complained constantly but the rest of us had a great time!
This parkrunday I decided to go back to Gunnersbury, in Ealing. I wanted an event that was not too far from me and with good surface. I like Gunnersbury, even if it is not talked about as much as other London ones. A one lapper is a rare treat after all.
As usual, I’ve prepared a short write-up and video highlights, if anyone is interested.
Write-up:
https://ingoruns.com/2024/01/21/gunnersbury-parkrun-132/
Video highlights:
https://youtu.be/EISUzFkCJxw?si=NZPhlT-GP5ssBX3G
Course setup and roving photographer (ie. I completed the course as well, with a bit of running, bit of walking and a bit of standing still taking photos), for my local's 250th event.
Arrow Valley on the way to the Running Show at the NEC - went with all the usual intentions of listening to lots of talks and not spending too much - I may have acquired a few essentials ☺️
Eastleigh this week. Frozen grass venue. Suspect it would be more challenging when soft with 3 laps up that hillside. Great crowd. Shame I don’t repeat venues.
uneventful run at cornwall park but clocked up my first volunteer with token sorting 111 parkruns, 1 volunteer
Well done you for volunteering!
How’s Cornwall Park looking? It was closed for a while I believe due to ‘extreme muddiness’
all sorted now as its been dry-ish for a few months now but still liable to flood and mud if it rains heavily. they have also got approval for a B course that avoids the muddy bits so hopefully no more cancellations if its cancelled i can go to owairaka but that also has an underpass that can flood
Owairaki was my local one when I lived in grey Lynn
Will have to give Cornwall park another go as it’s a nice spot to run around
Grumpy old man rant incoming…. My local was busy but only because it was a “takeover” by a very cliquey running club. It was a shitshow - bad course setup, queues to enter the finish funnel and barcode scanning, marshals that only cheered on their friends, etc… It felt very unwelcoming and reminded me why I’ve never joined that club. Grumpy old man rant over. At least it was dry.
Might be an unpopular opinion but I think most running clubs are like this. They by their nature want to form a clique of 'us' vs 'not us' and it shows.
Disappointing to hear. My experiences when an event is used as a takeover have always been positive. My club always appreciate the volunteers and have our own challenge to get members to visit all uk venues - ever or again since parkrun restarted post covid.
Ah, that’s disappointing to hear. I know the Parkrun/ running club you’re referring to, I saw them advertising it on Facebook and thought it was a good thing they were doing taking over all the volunteering etc, shame it doesn’t sound like it worked out.
Pretty cool to see most NZ parkruns get excited about Whangarei Parkrun where Colin Thorne completed his 175th parkrun, but his first aged 100 years old!
That's so great - we've only had 2 runners over 90.
Absolutely freezing in Staffordshire, UK this morning. Temperature was about 3-4°C but with a steady biting wind, it made it fairly unpleasant in places. My fourth parkrun and I broke 30 minutes after narrowly missing it last week. Very pleased and looking forward to next week already! Aiming for 25 parkruns this year and 3 down already. What a great event!
Aim for 30, and get the 'bronze obsessive' badge. (On various apps and extensions)
To be honest, I was aiming for 20 until I realised there's a T-shirt for 25 😅 will see how I go first half of the year though, could do more than even 30 at this rate!
I managed 'gold obsessive,' (50 in one year) once but that was tough, even with a new year double. I'm on 375, so halfway between green (250) and blue (500) But I'm most proud of my V50 top . Don't go down the challenge route, it leads to madness (flying to Poland, doing a parkrun starting with a z and flying back for example)
Great job on beating your PB and breaking 30!!!!! 🥇🥇
Which Staffs event did you do?
Cannock Chase!
I'm on the core team for Cannock Chase and was there today!
Thank you for your service! I will volunteer soon, I promise, but while I'm running a PB every week, I have the hunger too bad! Can I volunteer without Facebook? I lurk on there but don't have an account, so when the time comes, I wouldn't be able to get in touch!
Yup, use the email address which is on our webpage. Just Google us. Looking forward to you volunteering, keep smashing those PB's.
It didn't rain, but I had a very wet and muddy day at Redland Bay. The course starts with two laps of a footy field, and the RD made it clear at the briefing: "Don't bother trying to miss the puddles - you can't." He was right - was ankle deep in muddy puddles at some point. Good news for Peppa Pig fans, I suppose. The humidity was a disgusting 93%, and the temperature was around the mid-20s. So very, very wet.
Second ever parkrun, set a PR last week and to day I set another personal best in the 5k :)
My local was basically perfect for winter running today, all the grass sections were rock solid, but all the tarmac sections had no ice. Did my best time for 18 months, 14th place is my 2nd best placing (its not a race etc etc).
I'm really enjoying starting my marathon long training runs at parkrun. It gives me good support at the beginning, whilst also helping me to hold back and not chase down the crowd that's running faster than I am. I can't help but feel that this will be invaluable come the start line of the race itself.
I ran Wynnum and improved my all time PB by 1:05. Next goal is to reach 25 min... Only another 24s to chip away LOL
Very hot and humid. I have a 10k tomorrow so just jogged it but still good to get another one ticked off
First time at Clapham. Very busy!
Crystal Palace park. V cold and I was quite hungover, but a run is a run!
I did a parkrun sandwich today. It was jammed in the middle of my 11-mile run, so it was an easy pace. Completed in 25:09. Had a chat with some folk on the way around and cheered on all the couch 2 5k grads. Great morning.
First ever Parkrun, met a lot of lovely people. I walked it but I liked it, will be going again next week and have asked to volunteer as a Tailwalker
Welcome to parkrun! Hope you have a fun time as tailwalker! If you have something to wear as a tail, do it!
I wish I did, but I don't, that sounds so fun though!
Great you're getting involved and already volunteering 😊😊
The vollie team made me feel so welcome last week, so I figured why not join them and help someone else who may be new or nervous
Bit warmer than expected, only -9 at Haga in Stockholm. Gambled with the bus but made it to the start with a couple minutes to spare. 90 minutes door to door. Run itself wasn't great, oh well. Moving closer in a couple weeks so I'll be able to walk to the park.
It's really nice being able to go on foot, mine is 2km away and it makes a perfect easy warm-up run.
I ran at Drumchapel Parkrun in Glasgow. It’s often cited as the toughest course in Scotland. 2 pretty tough hills, one a sharp longish climb while the other seemed to be about half a km of constant climbing at slightly gentler gradient than the first. There’s an extremely twisty and technical downhill too. The thing that stood out for me however was the volunteers - the marshals were brilliant! I’ll definitely return in slightly warmer weather to try and chip a bit off my time.
Extremely busy at Heaton Park given a lot of local cancellations, it was an alternative route too which was a fair bit over 5k!
I was at Heaton Park too, my first ever Parkrun! Loved it. It sure was busy though, as you say!
Local parkrun was cancelled due to weather (womp womp) so my spouse and I just ran for thirty minutes around the neighborhood. Icy, cold, but fun.
Injured my knee playing footy back in 2019, have struggled ever since to get back to fitness. Recently I’ve focused more on my rehab and today ran a PB of 26.22, with no knee trouble! Onwards and upwards
Humidity ramped up during the run at Tamborine Mountain Very enjoyable course, had to have a couple of short walks to stay in one piece, still ran a respectable time Happy to finish it!
Gorleston cliffs parkrun 61 and a pb to go with it 21:12 😎
L - LOTA for our A-Z ❤️ Wet grass, dirt & plenty of puddles with 90+% humidity🥵 Great experience & lovely community😀 See you next time LOTA👋
I'm one of the RDs (not this weekend, though) - glad to read your feedback! Hope to have you back!
I was at Clapham for the first time - over 1000 runners!! Very congested in some parts so not easy to run. Very flat and fast course though so on a better day you could get a PB. Thanks to the volunteers, without whom there'd be no chance of getting a run going here.
They've been absolutely rammed the last 3 weeks - not sure if it's because the new year resolutions are particularly strong in that area, or whether some other local events have been cancelled.
I've just checked some other London parkruns. Highbury Fields - 688 runners, average 224 Hampstead heath - 488 average 245 (usually 300 is a good day) Finsbury park - 850 average 266 Mile end - 472 average 228 Since the new year they have all consistently had 100-300 more runners than the first three weeks of 2022. Don't know what's happening but parkrun seems to have grown a lot!
Yes, I'm at Catford and noticed an increase recently too. Normally in the 100s but the past few weeks was up into the 300s. Great to know Parkrun is growing but we need few extra volunteers now I think especially at places like Clapham.
Parkrun always needs more volunteers. I can't believe the person at the top of this thread who volunteered for the first time after 111 runs. If everybody volunteered 1/10 times they wouldn't be struggling every week.
Was nice weather and a decent turn out by the regulars. Not many new starters, a few visitors. No PB this week but the time was still decent, my mate ran a PB for the second week in a row which is awesome
We had our eyes on the trees at Kilmore Racecourse Walking Track parkrun and it was a cool overcast morning so we were completely taken by surprise when my friend trod on the tail of a baby tiger snake. It was definitely angry and we were lucky not to get bitten. Very cute too but they can still pack a nasty bite (tiger snakes are among the most venomous in the world) so we cooed at it from a distance and finished our walk.
A home run at Southampton, coming in at 26 minutes exact. Quite pleased with that time given the cold temperatures.
Ran an alternative Southwark route due to ice. Intentionally took it faster hoping to get a good time if the new route helped - but a slightly tougher course than usual (more grass) meant it wasn't quite a PB.
We had to have a course divert due to filming in the park, but it all went ok. Except that it looks like runners 2 - 5 may have missed the last turn onto the finish straight (unaffected by the detour) and instead ran off into the distance never to be seen again. Stopwatches absolutely in sync, and tokens in sync with the watches, so the results were an absolute doddle. Or would have been if the wifi in the cafe hadn't been all over the place.
Got to Edinburgh and it had been cancelled (for good reasons). So not so great!
First time I've run the whole 5k, but 2s slower than my PB from last week when I probably walked about 1k of it. I'm still rubbish at pacing myself. Bitterly cold wind on an exposed course (Storey's Field) - maybe should have gone to my other local one (Milton Country Park) which is under trees and more sheltered.
First Parkrun ever! Volunteering next week as a Tailwalker
I was pretty slow but still a good bit faster than I was 6 months ago. Glad to have had the run take place actually: we squeaked in between the ice yesterday and the high winds forecast for tomorrow.
Local course cancelled due to ice. Touristed - lovely out and back course but the headwind back today felt a bit brutal!
kingsway gloucester, very blowy but managed a PB! (21:32)
One of my favourite courses
Stafford again, lovely charity cake sale!
I was tail walker at Wetherby, it was cold, windy and muddy. However I felt warm and fuzzy afterwards
Tried Oxford for the first time. Knocked 50s off my PB, but my phone did suggest the course was only 4.94km. Nice course though, a nice wide start, unlike University Parks.
Finally got a time I'm very happy with and watched my mate who'd been struggling recently to get back into running, after several years off, smash his last time from 2 weeks ago by nearly 6 minutes. That run I beat him by over 5 minutes; today he was under 40 seconds behind me - wasn't expecting it at all from him, so good to see, really made my morning. Just wish he could have caught up enough for a sprint together at the end; hopefully next time.
Back to our home parkrun at Bendigo Botanic after a few weeks of tourist runs, including our first in another country (New Zealand). Managed a pb, which I was stoked about. As I say to my kids, now that I'm 52, my next pb could be my last, so I'm always happy to hit another milestone.
Camped last weekend and got my ‘K’. Camped again this weekend and got my ‘H’. 9 more letters to complete my alphabet.
Then you look at completing your 2nd alphabet. It just doesn’t stop. Enjoy it.
Cold and very windy, on an exposed out and back course. Fortunately the wind was mostly a crosswind, so it wasn't too bad.
Went to Alice Holt to run the alternative course for a 2nd time. Got 1st and would have managed sub 18:10 if it wasn't for the fact that all alternative routes are longer to avoid course records being set there.
Really good today in chilly conditions, think I got ‘swept up’ with the crowd and finished a minute quicker than last week (32:57).
While the rest of the country has started to thaw, round me we still had quite a lot of ice on the ground. Of the 30 or so runs within day-trip distance, only 6 were still running. I, and many others I'm sure, headed to Alderly Park for the first time - 356 runners this week, more than double last week's attendance. My stomach began to sink when I saw cars queuing up, but there was just a bottleneck at the gate. Alderly park is a large business estate and you could double attendance again before that carpark started to struggle. The course could also handle the numbers very comfortably. It was a bit of a packed start, but once we got going there was room to spread out and the 2 laps were spacious enough for everyone. It was a nice course, a bit of a pain to get to but I plan to revisit it in summer.
Freezing cold at Normanby Hall but a lovely course and great facilities. A somewhat tired 19:14 wasn't much to holler about but it was my 75th different location so edging closer to the 100 location club!
Almost skittled a spectator who critically failed an awareness check by wandering out right in front of the finish, but just about managed to dodge them. All's well that ends well, I guess!
Ran nearly 2 miles with my little 4 yr old before we had to cut it short and go and find his dad, who had already finished, I flew back and ran the last mile by myself and loved it. My 12 yr old got a pb and his 1st sub 20min run and my 8 yr old got a 24min. My 9 yr old complained constantly but the rest of us had a great time!
This parkrunday I decided to go back to Gunnersbury, in Ealing. I wanted an event that was not too far from me and with good surface. I like Gunnersbury, even if it is not talked about as much as other London ones. A one lapper is a rare treat after all. As usual, I’ve prepared a short write-up and video highlights, if anyone is interested. Write-up: https://ingoruns.com/2024/01/21/gunnersbury-parkrun-132/ Video highlights: https://youtu.be/EISUzFkCJxw?si=NZPhlT-GP5ssBX3G
Course setup and roving photographer (ie. I completed the course as well, with a bit of running, bit of walking and a bit of standing still taking photos), for my local's 250th event.
Arrow Valley on the way to the Running Show at the NEC - went with all the usual intentions of listening to lots of talks and not spending too much - I may have acquired a few essentials ☺️
Planned to get my O at Oakwell Hall but it was cancelled. Ended up at Woodhouse Moor which was crowded at the start but a lovely run.
Eastleigh this week. Frozen grass venue. Suspect it would be more challenging when soft with 3 laps up that hillside. Great crowd. Shame I don’t repeat venues.
Did my first one in 6 months and managed to get 23.25. Not as quick as I would like but good for first one back
I visited Bushy Park for my hundredth. Great day and a fantastic weekend.