Hi, I'm Chris Smith, I started running at Worsley Woods to help me with my diabetes, about 3 years ago, and volunteered after a few runs.
When and why did you first choose to volunteer with parkrun?
The first time I went to the first timers briefing, Andrew Scialpi-Sullivan was doing it, and he was such a laugh, I thought I'd love to have a go. Soon after they asked for Pacers, and as I was consistently running at ab6out 25mins I volunteered to do the 26 min spot. I didn't have a watch or anything so I just winged it, and came in at about 25.20. (Sorry).
Which is your favourite volunteer role at parkrun?
I love first timers briefing, but also did a course in Visually-Impaired Guide running which I did a few times as a backup at Stretford for a lovely lady, quite challenging as she's mostly deaf too, I'd recommend it to anyone. I'm available if you know anyone with VI - but WW would be quite challenging, so maybe a nearby course.
What would you say to someone who is unsure if volunteering is for them?
Just have a chat with any of us, there are several roles where you can run too if you're trying to get the next T-Shirt, you'll meet some lovely people.
What are you doing when you're not at parkrun?
Work wise I'm a data scientist for an investment bank, it's very boring and desk based, so it's important to me to get exercise and do something interesting and sociable at the weekend. For fun my wife and I cook and are either out dancing or DJing ourselves.
What song would be your parkrun anthem (either for volunteering or walk/jog/running)
I generally like house music and disco when I'm running, and my playlists tend to include lots of that. I always think "I just can't wait for Saturday" is the perfect anthem for me.
