Here is Bill
When & why did you first choose to volunteer with parkrun?
Volunteering for me started in 2014. Being injured & not wanting to miss my fix of Saturday morning parkrun it seemed a good idea to put my name forward. My 1st role was as marshal & its a great one to start with. If you know your right from your left & can hold out the correct one, you are half way there. You just need to learn 2 or 3 phrases from "great running", "nearly there", "well done", "keep going" to use as encouragement or "thank you", "you're welcome" when you get thanks from a runner. Having enjoyed it so much I have continued volunteering, managing to coordinate my 25th time as a volunteer with my 50th run, and then my 50th volunteer with my 100th run.
Which is your favourite volunteer role at parkrun and why?
Over the years I have tried all the roles and can honestly say I have enjoyed every one. Forced to choose I would probably pick scanning as my favourite. Everyone is happy to have finished, its busy, its noisy and there's lots going on.
What would you say to someone who is unsure if volunteering is for them?
Just give it a go!
Its as much fun as you can have with your clothes on, on a Saturday morning. The hardest part is putting your name forward. On the day the Run Director will fully brief you, explain any equipment you many have to use and there's lots of friendly volunteers to help you out if you get stuck. Remember, hardly anyone will know if its your 1st time or 100th time
What are you doing when not at parkrun?
My wife is an avid gardener and over the 20+ years of retirement we have cultivated 2 distinct roles- head gardener and under gardener. Suffice it to say I'm NOT the head gardener. As relaxation, I like to get on my yoga mat. In normal circumstances that would be 3 times a week in classes at the gym. Having to do it at home, I have become a devotee of "Yoga with Adreine" on youtube.
What song would be your parkrun anthem?
I don't listen to music whist running, preferring to talk encouragement to myself. My all time favourite track, however is Albatross by Fleetwood Mac.