New Contributor: Kerry Noble Huddersfield parkrun

Name: Kerry Noble
Home parkrun: One half (the better looking half) of the ED team at Huddersfield parkrun
Date of first parkrun:  Volunteering 16/04/2011, running 19/11/2011
Total number of parkruns:  Volunteering 28+, running 4
Number of other parkrun locations run:  Cambridge (lovely flat course), Roundhay (lovely hilly course), Volunteered at Oldham (Wet, wet, wet)
My parkrun history: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/huddersfield/results/athletehistory?AthleteNumber=142126

Let me firstly point out, that I am not a runner.  And really, it is likely that I will never be a real runner.  It has been pointed out by the team at Huddersfield parkrun that as I have actually run a parkrun now, that I am technically a runner......but at the moment I am still denying it!  What I am though, is a passionate advocate of the wonders of parkrun.

I first was introduced to parkrun by my lovely friend (who is a runner) Sharon Whitworth (she has a lot to answer to), who suggested that my son, Jack (14), would like to pop down to the park for a quick run.  So, early one Saturday morning (very early, don't you know it's a Saturday and he's a teenager) we set off to Greenhead Park.  I duly dumped the teenager where all the runners were milling around and went off to buy my bacon sandwich.....just as I was about to sit down, with a coffee, eat said bacon sandwich and read the papers, the cry for volunteers came from the community room.  I looked at my coffee, bacon sandwich and paper and for some reason, totally unknown to man, I raised my hand and said "I can help out"......little did I know then what I would end up doing!

Three weeks later, Chris Smith (my parkrun wife) and I were handed the keys to Huddersfield parkrun and wished good luck! 

Since then I have made friends with runners, reluctant runners and non runners.  I have helped create the monster that is known as the Huddersfield Running Bunny (check out it's facebook page  www.Facebook.com/huddersfieldparkrunbunny), taken part in four actual running parkruns, eaten my body weight in cake, been part of a midnight sledging competition (I won), found myself dressed up in a park at 7.30am more times than is probably right (check out the photos on our facebook page www.Facebook.com/huddersfieldparkrun, supported parkrunners running other races, made a lot of bunny signs, danced in the disco dungeon, handed out Jaffa Cakes at Darkrun, won a drink at the pub quiz, admired a lot of men in tights, spent Christmas morning with incredible people ......and have laughed and laughed and laughed!

Huddersfield parkrun is probably one of the least sane parkruns.  We have a very large core group of volunteers, who at best are a little bit crazy and at worse are down right dangerous.  They seem to enjoy dressing up to run (?), have a love of bunnies and tell everyone they meet about parkrun.  Our numbers have grown in a year from the 75 mark to over 200 and they seem to be heading quickly to the 250 mark.  They also spend a lot of time making and eating cake!

At Huddersfield parkrun we have a lovely park to run in.  Greenhead Park is situated just half a mile from the centre of Huddersfield and has just had a whopping amount of money spent on restoring it to it's former glory.  It has the best parkrun cafe in the world (they have a certificate and medal to prove it) which now opens very early in order that I can get coffee (required part of parkrun), and is packed post run....in fact is so busy now they have had to expand into the community room.  The park also has a pretty cool zip wire.....which we have found totally confuses the Garmin and is impossible to log on Fetch!

I will be posting more about Huddersfield parkun, some sensible posts, some not so sensible, soon.

In the meantime.....why not come and visit us......we don't bite......most of the time ;-)

Kerry x