Worsley Woods Parkrun Event 96
Saturday 28th December
Season’s Greetings Parkrunners! Hope you all had a very happy Christmas.
A cold, bright morning was in store for our 96th event, which found itself nestled cosily in between the Christmas and New Year celebrations. For many of us, it was a mini-detox in the midst of all the eating, drinking and merriment.
Clichés-a-plenty could be heard amongst the hardy souls braving the wintery weather: “Where has the time gone?” “Can’t believe 2013 is nearly over!” “Need to get back into *healthy eating/exercise/my clothes (*delete as appropriate) in the New Year!” But seriously, 2013 has absolutely whizzed by! When we approach the end of a year, it can often be a melancholy time of reflection; however, in terms of Parkrun, 2013 has given us plenty to be grateful for and cheerful about. Week in, week out, many of us have turned up to run or volunteer; in a country where obesity is in the headlines far more than healthy living, this in itself is worthy of celebration. Friendships have been forged, good-natured rivalry has been established, children have been inspired by parents/parents by children, club memberships have grown and runners have achieved goals that had once seemed unattainable.
Approaching the start with my Swinton friends Lisa and Sharen, we were ‘welcomed’ by today’s tailrunner, Carl, who likened us to the witches from Macbeth – cheers Carl! I’m not sure which version of the play he’s seen, but I’ve never seen witches dressed in fluorescent pink and trainers. He reckoned he was bringing some culture to Parkrun; I’m not too sure!!
As usual, the race began promptly and the runners made their way along the path. Briefly, the bright weather threatened to change and a small shower of rain fell; thankfully, it soon passed and the rest of the run was relatively dry. Well, not underfoot! Rain over the previous couple of days meant today’s run was a pretty muddy one, giving some of us cross country fans a little extra training. At least the tree that we had hurdled on Christmas Day had been moved, so that was one less obstacle for us to encounter.
This week there were 157 runners, of whom 15 were first timers and 16 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 14 different athletics clubs took part.
Very grateful thanks to all of the marshals who gave their time today. Parkrun could not operate without your generous help. If you haven’t already volunteered, please try to make 2014 the year that you offer your support.
And so, as we approach a new year, let us look forward to all that the prospect of 2014 brings. What will your running goals be? Whatever they are, good luck and God’s blessings.
Wishing you all a peaceful New Year and enjoyable, injury-free running.
“If you make one resolution this year, make it Parkrun.”
Lauren Marsden
(Swinton RC)
Here are this week’s statistics for those percentage geeks like me!
Men's placings:
Dave MILLIKEN (VM45-49) of Horwich RMI Harriers, was first over the line in 17:55 - first appearance.
Simon James ATKIN (SM35-39) of Swinton RC, was second over the line in 18:18 - has been first to finish on 3 previous occasions.
An unknown runner was third.
Current standing in the Men's annual points competition:
Nigel BURKE (Salford Metropolitan AC) 3416 pts.
Peter BROWN (Unattached) 3338 pts.
David BURKE (Swinton RC) 2960 pts.
Women's placings:
Maya CROASDAILE (JW14) (Unattached) was first (39th overall) over the line in 23:01 - first time in 2 appearances.
Jane GRANEY (SW30-34) (Unattached) was second (50th overall) over the line in 23:56 - has been first to finish on 2 previous occasions.
Catherine HOOPER (JW14) of Salford Harriers and AC, was third (57th overall) over the line in 24:08 - was first to finish once before.
Current standing in the Women's annual points competition:
Olivia BIRCHALL (Unattached) 3797 pts.
Jane GRANEY (Unattached) 3429 pts.
Jessica BIRCHALL (Unattached) 2216 pts.
The following runners recorded the best Age Grade scores:
Dave MILLIKEN (VM45-49) was graded 80.37% for the time 17:55 (first overall).
David BURKE (VM60-64) was graded 77.56% for the time 20:52 (20th overall).
Maya CROASDAILE (JW14) was graded 76.25% for the time 23:01 (39th overall).
Worsley Woods parkrun started on 3rd March 2012, and since then 2,292 different runners, including participants from 135 athletics clubs, have completed 12,935 runs covering a total distance of 64,675 km, and there have been 3,060 new Personal Bests.
The women's record is held by Jennifer MEADOWS who ran in a time of 00:17:23 on 2013-12-14 (event number 94).
The men's record is held by Anthony VALENTINE who ran in a time of 00:15:46 on 2013-07-27 (event number 74).
The Age Grade course record is held by Martyn BELL who recorded a 88.56% run (15:53) on 27th July 2013 (event number 74).