Rothwell parkrun
Event number 236
12th August 2023
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Digested Read:
Well, this was a very fine parkrun with all the things.
They call it the Glorious Twelfth, don’t they? It isn’t all that glorious if you are a pheasant obvs, but it was pretty jolly Glorious for all of us at Rothwell parkrun this twelfth of August. If you were there, you already know and can just scroll on, but maybe you want to relive the joy or check out what it was you missed out on. Spoiler alert: there was no actual shooting of anything, unless you count shooting of pictures, in which case just about everyone got snapped or papped during the course of the parkrun morning, with some people getting multiple shots, but it seemed pretty consensual throughout, so no cause for alarm.
The basic stats are that this week 350 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 58 were first timers and 41 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 42 different clubs took part. One of the attendees came all the way from New Zealand, a shoo-in as winner of the furthest travelled parkrun tourist competition for the morning, probably all year to be fair.
That’s splendid, obviously, but wait, there’s more! Although all parkrun events are equally special, some are clearly more special than others, today was a case in point. Today was the day that the Rothwell parkrun community all came together to celebrate the forthcoming nuptials of their parkrun regulars Anna HARVEY (who has completed 59 of her 226 parkruns at Rothwell) and Heath LIST (who has done 70 of his 100 parkruns at Rothwell). Given that they are both avid parkrunners who met through their Rothwell Running Club, it was clearly unthinkable not to include their home parkrun in their wedding celebrations.
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That picture at the top of their post isn’t them by the way, it’s some Toby jugs, though I do get where you are coming from, the likeness is uncanny – but don’t worry, there will be plenty more photos incoming, for those with the stamina and tenacity to read on. Spoiler alert though, the picture at the actual top is them, and good to see they are carrying parkrun endorsed signs indicating who is who, saves any awkward embarrassment if one is trying to differentiate between bride and groom and doesn’t like to ask…
So it was, in keeping with the memo in advance, there was a spectacle of purple and pink that would put Barbie in the shade as well as an abundance of cake; a plethora of tutus and sashes and, of course the parkrun staple of miscellaneous fancy dress. People were literally jumping for joy at the occasion, and rightly so! That’s an homage to The Angel of the North going on in the back of the shot, in case you were wondering. The t-shirt with the faces on? Oh yes, that’s also a homage – to Heath and Anna, I’m sure that’ll catch on too.
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The event was made possible by 29 spectacularly photogenic volunteers:
Richard WILKINSON • Kevin MCMULLAN • Elaine KELLY • Kevin BARKER • Paul Steven Clifford HOWARD • Christine SHAW • Lucy MARRIS • Karen HOWARD • Janet HARTLEY • Caroline DAVIES • Ann WARD • Jess HEYWORTH • Caroline SHELTON • Mark KENWORTHY • Lois Elizabeth SHELTON • Victor CHOULES • Dawn CORLET • Amanda HALLIDAY • Annabel GOOCH • Don CORLET • Evan MCNAMARA • Alec MCNAMARA • David MCNAMARA • Michelle MCNAMARA • Margaret GOSNEY • James MOORE • Sabrina KITCHING • Claire DICKINSON • Pamela HALE
They gamely wore the requisite pink themed high vis too – attention to detail, I love that, no wonder some are looking especially pleased with themselves, they know they pulled off a blinder of an event!
Today’s full results and a complete event history can be found on the Rothwell parkrun Results Page. But special shout out for storming first finisher, who was obviously in a great hurry to get to the cake table Sarah GARBUTT, with a new pb and the highest percentage age grade of the morning at 82.47%! That’s super impressive. Whilst parkrun is a run not a race, we can still acknowledge that achievement. Oh, and if you haven’t sussed the age grade thing, this gives an indication of how well the parkrunner has done relative to their age and gender see the FAQ article for more information, so over 80% is seriously good. There were a number of high achievers today though, check out this morning’s runniest runner George KAINYEK on 670 parkruns. That means, if you added all his parkruns together and ran them all at once you’d definitely be utterly exhausted. You’d at the very least need a nap at the end of it, and probably some Scooby snacks en route. The total parkrun distance clocks up at 3350 km, not enough to get him all the way to New Zealand granted, but still a lot of running around.
Wait though, there’s still more! There was some quality balloon wrangling going on, and coincidentally, the holder of the balloon with the number thirty emblazoned on it was also happened to be celebrating his 30th birthday today! What were the chances of that! As far as I know, he was still in possession of the balloon at the end of the parkrun, which is never a given, as many of those who have attempted to run with a helium balloon have discovered to their cost. If it doesn’t break free of its own accord, it could yet take you with it. We’ve all seen UP right? That properly made me bawl my eyes out. Probably hormonal, or maybe just got something in my eye… If you do lose a helium balloon it’s devastating, not just litter, but potential death trap for wildlife – be careful out there, if you are running with a balloon, please make sure it is only one, and on a short, hand-held lead. Anyway, I reckon this is Sam GOLDSWORTHY, so happy birthday to him. Good job.
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Hang on – we aren’t through yet though, that fine 50 milestone tee reminds me we need some more shout outs.
Congratulations to these milestone runners –
With an official 25 milestone, so now eligible to acquire a purple milestone tee is Derek Coule Bleakley
Arbitrary numbers, but pleasing all the same, and well on their way to nabbing their next official milestone are Andrew Dawes (150); Sally Clark (150) and Jim Upton (200). Well done all.
And finally, special shout outs to these two beauties, more of whom later – yay for fourth time everer parkrunner Reetha GOPINATHAN and for visiting tourist complete with bespoke cow t-shirt Mark KENWORTHY who also did a stint as volunteer car park marshal pre run. Hurrah to both, thanks for the cheery chats pre-event. You are worthy recipients of extra special shout outs 🙂
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So there you go, those are the basics, oh and if you like your stats then you probably would like to know the following:
- The female record is held by Jessica LEARMONTH who recorded a time of 16:55 on 23rd October 2021 (event number 145).
- The male record is held by Joe SAGAR who recorded a time of 15:18 on 3rd September 2022 (event number 187).
- The Age Grade course record is held by Geoffrey HARDMAN who recorded 104.87% (25:59) on 29th April 2023 (event number 222).
Rothwell parkrun started on 29th July 2017. Since then 10,292 participants have completed 61,032 parkruns covering a total distance of 305,160 km, including 10,946 new Personal Bests. A total of 773 individuals have volunteered 6,067 times.
Phew, quite a morning. Hurrah! Well done to all who were there to help the parkrun magic happen. Each and every one of you was important, an indispensable link in the chain, if you had been absent the whole thing would have imploded, and that would have been ghastly! As it was, everything was perfect, even the parkrun weather fairies were on board. Did anyone else see their magic fairy ring of toadstools by the way? They must have been working all night to make it extra special and lovely today.
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Oh, and a great many photos were taken, keep an eye on the official Rothwell parkrun Facebook Page as I imagine there will be plenty being added in the coming days. I also got quite snap happy on the way around, and if you’d like a browse of my sights from the day, check out this Google drive link, please download any you’d like to keep ASAP as I will have to delete them from here in due course to free up space in my cloud (whatever that means, hope it’s one with a silver lining) and they shall then potentially disappear into the ether, never to be found again unless you’ve squirrelled them away for perpetuity. You have been warned. I’m writing this in August 2023 if you are a visitor from the future wondering where they’ve all gone. How is the future by the way? Has the planet burnt to a cinder entirely? Is there an x parkrun anywhere to be found. And if there is one, and it was set up by Elon Musk, isn’t that a tad awkward for alphabet hunters squeamish about such associations? So many questions, so little chance of getting any answers … hope you are doing ok though mystery person from the future, thanks for stopping by.
That’ll do for now. Thanks dear reader. Happy parkrunning ’til next time.
Lucy Marris
A448776
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Are you still here?
Me too.
Are you up for some undigested extras? You are! Oh, hurrah! I love a good parkfaff, and there’s loads more to share if you fancy sticking around for the stream of consciousness download. Make yourself comfy, maybe have a precautionary pee, get yourself a cup of tea, and just settle down.
Right, are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
Soooooo…
Rothwell parkrun then. I got wind of today’s special event some time ago, and duly put it in my parkrun planner. Love a parkrun party and Rothwell has been on my to do list for ages, it’s not too far away, and I was curious on account of the Rothwell Incident, you know, with the aliens and everything. I mean who doesn’t love a good alien conspiracy theory after all. What’s that? Not Rothwell? Rosswell? Are you quite sure? How about if the aliens had a lisp of some sort, would that lead them to Rothwell perhaps? Oh. I feel a bit deflated now to be honest, spookily like the balloon in question. Oh well. Then again, if you were trying to put people off the scent of discovering a flying saucer that’s what you would say isn’t it. Aliens or not, I’d still be heading off there. And on reflection, it can’t have been just me, why otherwise the mysterious man with the balloon running around. I never did quite catch his name, of course I didn’t he was trying to stay under the literally not just figuratively, I’ve sussed him out at last. Well smug on my part. Yay me. Of course it looked like an innocent helium balloon, perfect cover, and that’s why I had such a job snapping a photo of him in action… trying to evade me without drawing attention to himself obvs. Probably thought we’d all be too focused on the wedding stuff, but no! I was too clever for him! Miss Marple and Miss Fisher have nothing on me. I feel much better now. One thing we can be sure about though, is this was most definitely an other worldly parkrun in any case, that much is self evident. Truly out of this world as all who were there will testify if asked.
I did the pre-requisite squint around the website blah de blah. The official course description is as follows:
Start at lower part of the car park then 2 and a half laps running clockwise around the park which consists of tarmac and crushed stone, then on final lap leaving the path turn right to the finish line.
Fair enough, that’s pretty straightforward.
And it looks like this:
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So it basically looks like … oh dear, is it just me? Erm. Let’s go with it looks like the head of a friendly African elephant raising its trunk in greeting! Phew, think I dodged a bullet there.
Heading across from Sheffield is only about an hour or so drive, but as always I left paranoically early. I hate being late, and also wanted to nab parking near the start if possible. I’m so much better than I was, but still recovering from quite major nearly died sort of illness and prolonged recovery. I can do most things, but get really fatigued afterwards, and as my regular reader will know, I can just about walk a parkrun now, but if I add on any extra with walking too and from a start it gets a bit marginal about how I’ll cope. It’s hard with hidden disabilities as I’m acutely aware I look fine, well bit portly, and could do with a haircut obvs, but able bodied. However, my legs say otherwise. Maybe I should carry a flash card of some sort, to address any queries?
I headed off, sans coat, wearing my stock pre-wedding parkrun outfit, it was pure good fortune that this tied in so perfectly with the pink and purple colour theme of the celebrations. I just knew that big bowed hair clip thing would come in handy for something, and so it has turned out to be!
On arrival, the postcode took me straight to the carpark. It was pretty empty, but some cones seemed to cut across the car park. Surely not the finish funnel? How very odd. Encouragingly there were various ‘caution runners’ signs and other reassuring parkrun paraphernalia. Well, I was definitely in the right place for a parkrun, and chances were, it was the one I was actually planning to attend #winningatparkruntourismlife Nice park too, check out those flower beds. I have planted similar numbers of flowers in my own garden, at not inconsiderable expense, the slugs in my garden are gargantuan, like seals on a sandbank, and have tucked in voraciously. Flowers make them happy too. Turns out, slugs are quite expensive pets. My frog population really needs to get its act together if I’m ever to see a salvia in bloom again.
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It was early, and I dithered. Should I try to find the team, I hadn’t pre-arranged doing the event report, but had noticed it was free on their roster. Thing is, if I’m too early, I might have to do social interaction, and I don’t want them to find out how socially awkward I am right at the off. Also, pink fascinator or not? No-one else was around, what if no-one else was doing the whole wedding thing, would the pink feather boa set the wrong tone? I’d hate to create the wrong impression. Aaah, the agony of paranoia. On the plus side, it’s always good to have one thing that you can absolutely excel at, and for me it is being the misfit at a social occasion, I’ve nailed it. Weirdly though dear reader, volunteering to do an event report actually can help with this. It gives a focus and a reason to interact, which is marginally better than hovering around at the sidelines feeling like a gatecrasher who will be exposed at any minute. I’m not saying it will banish imposter syndrome altogether but it is a start. You’re welcome.
That early cup of coffee was beginning to kick in, and I decided to go in search of the promised facilities. I wasn’t sure if they would actually be open yet, so didn’t want to get too complacent about possibilities, but got to be worth a sojourn in the general direction of the cafe, which is pretty much in sight of the car park, just the other side of the tennis courts.
As I strode off, I met a fellow tourist. Turns out, he is also a first timer, and had volunteered to do car park marshal volunteering pre the event. He like me had spotted the signs, but none of the actual team. Surely they weren’t in hiding? Nope, probably just doing a course check or something. Anyway, my new bestie was coming as part of his Yorkshire Pud challenge, to complete every parkrun in the Yorkshire region, of which there are quite a lot. It’s good to have such challenges that stretch, but are not completely unachievable. I have also uploaded it on my 5k app, but have only done a somewhat pitiful 32 out of 63 parkruns, but that’s good in a way as it means the parkrun world still has many treasures around for me still to discover. Anyway, good shout, as my new Lonely Goat friend has clocked up an impressive 44. Home parkrun Sandall Park parkrun, confusingly, I have completed this parkrun, but did so when it was named Doncaster parkrun, so completely failed to remember this at the time of meeting. Oh well, it’s quite likely our paths will cross again as we are tucking into our Yorkshire puds.
I headed towards the loos which I was told were open. The cafe was very much in business, with some early birders having coffee or breakfast on the chairs outside, they called me over to the entrance. The cafe is really nice. The reassuring noises of milk being frothed and coffee being steamed serenaded my walk across to the loos. Very tempting to skip parkrun altogether and settle down for a top coffee. The loos were very fine too, with helpful labelling that made me chuckle. In general, I have to say this location really, really likes its signs. Sooooooooooooooooo many signs, inside the cafe and outside in the park. Some informative, some helpful, some descriptive and some obscure. Layground for example. Is that an area in which you can just lie down. That would be lovely. Or maybe an area for lay preachers to hang out or just people entirely lacking in any specialized or professional knowledge of the subject broadcasting their opinions on anything and everything – possibly including aliens. Defo heading over there later to check it all out. In the meantime, here are just some of the signs displayed in a charming montage for your edification and delight.
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See, lots of signs. The paintings were in the ladies loo, I don’t think they were actually originals though. Much like quality street, each one is someone’s favourite, mine is the people desperate for the loo. I empathise hugely.
You’re welcome.
Having availed myself of the facilities, I joined my tourist friend to await the arrival of the core time. Soon enough, they came striding over the horizon. High vis were dished out and the car park marshal received his instructions. For future reference, his role was to directs arriving parkrunners towards the far end of the car park, and then as it got fuller, to turn parkrunners away to park on surrounding roads to ensure that some spaces were left for locals using the tennis courts and cafe. He seemed to be a natural in the role. Hurrah. Check out his charismatic calm authority in traffic control. Surely his vocation. Just shows, talent will out. Nature always finds a way. As anyone who has watched any of the Jurassic Park franchise should already know.
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I introduced myself to the RD and asked if a report writer would be welcome. Yes they would! Hurrah! ‘Tis I! I would be report writer, I had but to add my name to the list to gain a place on the volunteer rota. Unfortunately, this proved challenging, as I got confused about my athlete id, ironically I wrote it down correctly from memory, then panicked that it was wrong, checked on my wrist band and wrote down my ICE phone number instead, realised my mistake, had to cross it out and start again. This would not have inspired confidence from the RD but she pretended it was all fine. Trained to be non-judgemental I guess and an inclusive bunch here at Rothwell parkrun. Got there in the end.
As is often the way,it seemed like ‘suddenly’ the masses appeared. A great wave of pink and laughter rushing towards the gathering point. So many people and such a buzz as meeting and greeting happened all around. It was just a lovely coming together, with eager anticipation about the morning ahead. Obvious regulars and many first timers, drawn like me to wish the happy couple well, others perhaps indulging in yorkshire pud acquisitions. Photos were taken, sashes donned and many a hug was offered. There was a sizeable Deaf and hoh community presence, and BSL interpreters helped keep communication flowing. Grand to see another couple of newly weds, joining the soon to be weds too. Hurrah. I had short envy too – Angel of the North running shorts, how perfect! And fine bright pink support bandaging from her other half, attention to detail with the dress code again. Magnificent. So much going on, I hardly know where to start. When the happy couple made their appearance there couldn’t have been more excitement if Elvis had arrived riding Elgar and escorted by Lord Lucan, or even if Paul Sinton-Hewitt himself had parachuted down from the skies in tandem with Jo S-H. Actually, I’m not too sure about that last one, tenuous, I mean both the S-Hs on a winged chariot, pulled by unicorns blacking out the sky above as they descended might conceivably have had the edge. Otherwise though, I kid thee not. It was honestly that exciting. Even a home grown Rothwell Incident (which to be fair, the winged chariot scenario might qualify for) wouldn’t have been guaranteed to be the centre of attention today. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just gasps of astonishment at the enormous quantities of cake being brought in like a bountiful harvest, though on reflection… no, no, perish the thought. It was the happy couple moving amongst us that really worked its magic! They are here! Hurrah! Let the joy jumping commence!
More and more arrived, and then ‘suddenly’ it was time for the first timers’ welcome. BSL interpreters par for the course here it seems, which was refreshing. The park itself is amazing as a venue. Not only does it have parking and quality toilets and cafe, the park itself has a sort of natural amphitheatre contour to it, so it was excellent for being able to both see and hear whoever was addressing the gathering parkrunners. Welcome concluded, we ebbed and flowed our way to the start, which was just a bit further down the slope.
There was the usual buzz of anticipatory excitement. Me and the BSL interpreter, also a first timer as well as being a newlywed in possession of excellent northern shorts, oh, and probably an excellent husband too obvs – speculated about where the RD briefing would take place. Again, the natural slopes of the park created an obvious bank which was exceedingly handy AND a perfectly positioned tree stump on which the RD, or anyone else busy and important, could locate themselves for maximum impact. I snapped a few pictures whilst I was waiting, trying to freeze frame as much detail as I could in my mind in preparation for The Great Account to be produced later on – and a runner asked me if I would do the honours and take a picture of her. Of course I was happy to oblige and we had a bit of a chat. It turns out she is relatively new to Rothwell parkrun, claiming it to be her third parkrun, only I’ve checked the results, and either I’ve got her name wrong – which is quite possible given I couldn’t even write down my own barcode number when copying it off my wrist band – or she can’t count or has come up as an unknown because I think it is her fourth. What I do know, is that she was tipped off about parkrun by someone she met at a leisure centre as a brilliant way to feel a bit more connected to the community. She’s kept on coming back for more, so the parkrun magic has clearly washed over her as over so many of us who find our Saturdays are never the same again post parkrun discovery. Anyway, give her an extra special wave and say hello if you are a Rothwell local and see her next time. parkrun is a bit like the internet, it’s really hard to imagine life before it was a thing.
The RD duly mounted her pedestal to commence the briefing. She explained about there being a parkrunner all the way from New Zealand so no point in anyone else trying to impress the rest of us by claiming to have travelled from almost the other end of the earth as someone else had pretty much achieved this. They got their own bespoke round of applause in recognition, I moved in to snap a photo as it was really important to properly acknowledge this person in this account. Unfortunately, I think I may have snapped the wrong person entirely. Oh well, they do say it’s the thought that counts. The New Zealander in question was in a black t-shirt with blue shorts, with peachy bits on the top I think. Whoever he was, he was most welcome, and thank you for choosing Rothwell for your parkrun tourist destination. He’s definitely in a photo somewhere, though possibly running too fast to be caught by the naked eye.
Anna and Heath appeared as treasured exhibits for everyone to gawp at appreciatively, just in case there was any confusion about who exactly were the bride and groom, they were labelled though, so without wishing to diss anyone in particular, it was pretty obvious. Then, there was the usual thanking of the volunteers. This was done with a glorious display of jazz hands, which is BSL equivalent of applause or recognition. Here serving as thanks. I love jazz hands, it’s so expressive of gratitude. Audible applause is so terribly last year. Jazz hands there is no mistaking enthusiasm.
Thanks and milestones and birthdays and weddings and furthest travelled announcements, along with the ‘keep left’ appeal concluded, all assembled at the start, and there was a countdown to awf! And here they are! All the lovely parkrunners scampering away at a run, walk, jeff, jog, scurry whatever. A sight to behold. A colourful iridescence of lycra flying before my eyes, with more than a hint of purple and pink in honour of the day.
Think I got everyone, possibly even the New Zealand runner, though not sure how you can spot him. Would he be upside down maybe, or accompanied by a kiwi (the bird, not the fruit, that would be ridiculous) I have no idea to be fair, but he must be in the mix somewhere, perhaps you are too?
My next challenge, was to catch a snap of the balloon man. This was harder than you might think. No sooner than I had in my sights, than he was off. Fortunately stealth is not my default modus operandus, which I know may come as something of a surprise, so eventually, he cottoned on to my somewhat pathetic paparazzi endeavours, and did a slow motion run so I could get the money shot of him in action. I say money shot, but just to be clear, no actual money changed hands. parkrun has always been, and will remain free, weekly, timed. #goodtoknow Though you can, should you wish to do so, subscribe to help ensure it remains so.
Photo nabbed, I joined in at the back of the throng. Well, this is a very nice park. Perfect weather too, I had thought we might get rained on, but no, all good. The park is pretty compact but full of interest. The tarmac path that took us round, went alongside a little back, which was lined with an abundance of himalayan balsam which looked lovely, but is a menace. There were graceful willow trees lining the banks too, and indeed plenty of mature trees. Early on, we passed some junior supporters who were dishing out some very splendid high fives, that would have helped many and any a weary parkrunner on their way. Excellent work, thank you.
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Just a tad further on and you get a great view of the finish. Though some might find seeing the finish whilst still running round a bit dispiriting, personally I quite like this, it means even as a slower participant you get the fun of seeing bulging eyed speedier parkrunners bursting a blood vessel on the way across the line, or next time around the party at the back of the pack squads coming home all fun and frolics. Heading out though, I saw the posse of high vis heroes manoeuvring into position and waving greetings to their fellow parkrunners as they strode on by. All good. I loved the sight of my fellow parkrunners romping ahead like wildebeest on migration, wildebeest wearing bright coloured running gear obvs, that’s a thing right? There were parkrunners ahead, parkrunners to the left, parkrunners to the right, and a very few parkrunners to the back of me, which were in the most part tailwalkers to be honest, but that’s as it should be in the parkrun world.
The park is relatively long and thin, but every space seemed to be utilised, so we ran past a little aviary, alongside a junior girls football team in training. Punctuating the route were the aforementioned marshals who were unfailingly generous with their support, smiles and all round good cheer. Again, the contours of the event work in favour of the volunteers as there were no bad spots, all marshal points had a good view of the action, and the lovely park, and all was well with the world.
Cue, photo smorgasbord of fellow parkrunners in action.
What is rather fun, is that you can see the other parkrunners storming along the tracks opposite you. After a short while as well, the speedier parkrunners were coming round lapping me, it made for quite a social and interactive parkrun. There were some large flattish stones along the edge of the park, presumably to stop people bringing vehicles onto the grass, but also handily for me to stand on to try to get some better photos of other parkrunners as they passed. This gave me a great view of purple and pink compatriots, which was very pleasing.
and then you get to a point where you can see some of the faster parkrunners cutting across towards the finish, I was approaching the t-junction where a one man and his dog had a marshal point under a tree. Signs directed you to the left for the first two laps and to the right for the final one. It was all happening here! I was somewhat fretful at various junctures to see Heath and Anna no longer actually alongside one another, that could have made the labels on their backs a bit awkward. What if someone other than their betrothed espied the bride or groom arrows pointing at them and took it to be a proposal, that would have been awkward. Mercifully, no such misunderstanding occurred, and all was well. Phew, bullet dodged!
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From here it was round to the left and past the fairy ring of toadstools, a dinky incline to another cheery marshal guarding some steps to stop us from fleeing from the park presumably, through some dense shrubbery (on a path, not with a machete, they are not savages here) and then a dog leg through some railings on either side of the path to keep us from the bowling green and tennis courts, or possibly to keep the bowlers and tennis players away from us. It was unclear which side of the fence the people were caged in at this point. A metaphor for life perhaps, we are all subject to boundaries, it is debatable whether the strongest restrictions are those which we put upon ourselves, or those constructed by others. Sometimes we can choose how we perceive our situation. That’s not to say we might not be entirely delusional of course, but food for thought all the same. There was an accessorised high five meerkat marshal (read the palm of the paw – do paws have palms? You be the judge) to provide directional guidance and tambourine assisted encouragement. All good. She was especially important to be fair, as in close juxtaposition to the pavilion cafe, which we’ve already established had the most tempting of menus. Running past those sipping their flat whites in the morning sunshine took quite an effort of will I don’t mind telling you. parkrun was always about the coffee after all…
and then we were back in the car park waved round and back past the start, this time I paused to snap some shots of triumphant finishers, before shimmying my way back on track and leapfrogging (figuratively not literally) over the tailwalkers who had now got ahead of me. My bad, for deviating from the track in search of a photo op. Some early finishers were already in possession of the cake table by the time I came around for the second time – and who can blame them!
and round I went again, a quieter less frenetic lap, as fewer people were now out and about on the course, and I was in less of a frenetic tail chase trying to get photos of as many people as possible.
All very lovely and verdant, and pink and wavy in parts too. More passing the finish – people were definitely tucking into the cakes with purposeful vigour by now
then before I knew what was happening, here we were at the finish, loved the lap three sign (did I mention how much they love their signs) proclaiming the finish in sight! I passed groups excitedly posing for photos by the pop up parkrun sign, and then soon I was welcomed into the warm figurative embrace of the finish funnel, flanked by the vision of loveliness that is high vis heroes standing by for the grand finale of any parkrun, the arms uplifted stride by of the timers. parkrun nailed!
But you know what, lovely as the whole event had been, that wasn’t even the end of the discoveries for the morning. Dear Reader I kid you not. Check out the token man! He only had a 3D patent original gizmo token dispenser. I kid you not I was quite giddy and weak at the knees just to be in its presence. ambassador Zee of Millhouses had told me about this I now recalled. Millhouses parkrun also has a 3D printed token gun, but it wasn’t the first. The original, nay the best, came from hereabouts. Futuristic technology of the sort you might expect to find on an alien spaceship perhaps, though obviously there is a cover story that the RD was able to trot out about the whole thing to put me off the scent, that’s OK, I understand the need to be discreet about such extraordinary innovations. We wouldn’t want to upset the equilibrium of the time space continuum with a big reveal, I was more than happy to play along with it all.
So FYI, we are speaking of this little beauty:
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So the official version is that it was designed and built by one of the Mr Men. I’m not making this up, just because there isn’t yet a book for him, doesn’t mean this isn’t true. He has a name and everything Mr Richard MANN, the vicar here (perfect cover), it is a bit like a hogwarts magic broomstick, there was a version designed over lockdown, which I think is the big gun number we have at Millhouses in Sheffield, this is a more compact re-imagining of the original mark 4 dispenser super elite titanium model, if I’ve understood correctly. Something like that anyway, you get the gist. Anyway, it is suitably marvelous, love a parkrun innovation.
The team busied themselves with event close down as the tailwalkers came through. A well oiled machine, they had it all nailed.
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Thank you for a fabulous and friendly event. You are supers stars, all of you who made it so.
A particular shout out to today’s RD, who I caught up with after the event. She was sharing her experience of having to use the defib following an incident on a different parkrun course. The parkrunner concerned was fine, but without the quick responses of her and another parkrunner who took turns at giving compressions until a nurse, who was also parkrunning on the day, was able to take over and then an ambulance arrived. He did make a full recovery, but it was sobering. Few points arise, please, please, just check you do have ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact details up to date and accessible. A parkrun wristband is ideal. Look out for each other, because that parkrunner who takes a tumble, may not have tripped be alert. Oh, and seriously, pleas don’t take part in any official race or event under someone else’s number, it’s not fair. Nobody thinks they are going to be the one who has a heart attack or accident that day, or they wouldn’t have been on the start line but it happens. It isn’t jobsworths spoiling your fun, it’s people trying to keep everyone safe. For the record, the most devastating part of the incident was that to apply the defib today’s RD Caroline SHELTON had to cut through the parkrunner’s in question prized marathon t-shirt, but fret not dear reader, she made a point of doing it carefully to the side so as not to cause too much damage. Also, she did pause their is garmin, as every running meme you’ve ever seen requires you to do in the event of a mid run collapse. Just a reflex response I suppose. Food for thought. They would have got him a time too I think, but couldn’t get his barcode, also, not sure if he’d finished the course so ethically dubious in any case. Thanks though Caroline, and thank all high vis heroes, it’s volunteers that keep the parkrun show on the road, though to be fair, without the parkrunners dashing around between them, they might look a tad eccentric standing alone clapping and jazz handing random passers by in the park. Kudos if they feel like doing that though, why not, who doesn’t like being applauded as they go about their daily business. That’s right dear reader, no-one ever. Precisely so. Spread the love.
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So that was parkrun done and dusted. Only it wasn’t because then there was the intensive jumping training and display team in action. With lots of top tip sharing and practice going on, it was a joy to behold. Hopefully all this practice will put the the wedding party in a good position for some fabulous wedding shots. Bend the knees and keep the feet to the side for maximum height is the general advice I believe. And have lots of goes. Eventually one will make everyone look magnificent! Great team building activity and hilarious spectator sport as well, everyone’s a winner! There was also much appreciative grazing going on around the cake table – and at least one mischievous sprite tried to do a runner with some of the sweet treat bounty, caught in the act though, we all pretended it was a merry jape and not a big deal but the incident was nevertheless logged in the parkrun event report, just to beon the safe side you understand, can’t be too careful these days…
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And that really was that.
Many sojourned to the cafe, and I did too, but the queue was long and I needed to get away to make a phone call, though in the event I just got stuck in traffic following an accident which closed the M1 so maybe I should have stayed an indulged, oh well, there’s always next time. Was very tempted by that little scooter though, matched my outfit to perfection…
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… by which I mean next parkrun day obvs, not that they are going to be doing it all over again wedding wise. I reckon both Heath and Anna have found themselves a keeper. I spoke to them a bit before I left, to get their story. It’s very sweet…
Heath spoke lovingly of Anna, explaining how they both keep each other going, motivating each other to go all over the place ‘it’s just amazing‘. Rothwell is their home parkrun, they live in sight of the course practically, just 10 mins walk away, if they hadn’t had to carry so many cakes and get dressed up this morning they could still be in bed at 8.45 and make the parkrun start for 9.00 with ease. The story of how they met is that they both belonged to Rothwell Harriers,The a local running club. They both then turned up to a race at Elmsley, a fair distance away, and found they were only two there from the running club and got chatting. It seems they must have hit it off. Heath started to learn sign language pretty quickly to help move things alone. When they first met they had to communicate just through phones and drawing pads, which was quite enjoyable in a way, though as Anna said it helps that Heath is good at drawing, quick, sign him up for the local pictionary challenge squad, you could make millions. It dose sound like the communication challenges added an extra pleasurable frissance to things, requiring a bit of creativity to keep things going.
And what does Anna have to say? Just that it ‘made my life a lot more exciting after meeting you and we like to do similar things and of course it helps that you are very sweet and cute as well’. Aww, that’s so adorable, I feel all lovely and squidgy inside now.
Seriously dear reader, Anna and Heath are a huge asset to the parkrun community. I was fortunate to meet Anna through a mutual friend – my namesake Lucy COWELL whilst doing some parkrun tourism, and then again when the Deaf and HOH parkrun community came together for a takeover event first at Endcliffe parkrun in Sheffield and then later on at Millhouses parkrun. They have really helped me to gain some insight into the challenges associated with being a Deaf or HOH parkrunner, but more than that, they have been funny inclusive and given me a newfound appreciation of the expressiveness of BSL as well as being forgiving of my rather inept attempts to offer up a greeting. I can do jazz hands though. so extra jazz hands to Heath and Anna for sharing their pre wedding celebratory parkrun. It was officially fab.u.lous.
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Congratulations and good luck to you both as you embark on this next adventure in life. May you always be in reach of a parkrun and here’s to many future laughs and shared experiences as you stride out ahead together. It’s going to be grand!
and so, alas, we come to the end, although in a way of course, it’s just the beginning…
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You still here?
Thanks for sticking with me, it really is time to go now, but worry not, there will be another parkrun coming round shortly, and I daresay more cake tables too. It is the parkrun way. We come together, rejoice, we celebrate we move on. Be happy Anna and Heath, know your parkrun friends wish you well and are happy for you too. May you never be without a barcode and a smile. 🙂
And if you want even more, you could always browse through all my parkrun related posts here. Or not. It’s up to you. You’ll need to scroll down for older entries though.
’til next time then.
Be happy.
Running Scared 