No better feeling

Ok, I admit it, there are some better feelings than encouraging someone round to finish off a well earned parkrun PB, but it is certainly still a great feeling.

After a calf injury three weeks ago and 3 runs and 24 miles in the preceding 36 hours, plus more than my fair share of 3 bottles of (well earned) red last night, I arrived at parkrun in two minds this morning. Should I start from the front and push it a bit, or start from the very back and work my way through the field?

Well, common sense prevailed and I did neither. Option 3 was conceived about a minute before the start and I pushed my way a few rows back. This allowed/forced me to start pretty slowly as the best part of 200 parkrunners overtook down the flanks.

A couple of minutes in and I decided that half pace was too slow. I gradually picked my way through runners for the next 10 minutes or so until reaching clear air.

At about 6 minutes in I found myself in a photo being taken by Olympic legend and former British and World record holder Dave Moorcroft. It turns out that I was just passing his son. I chatted with his son for the next couple of minutes.

I guess having such a famous Dad you probably have a lot of people tell you how amazing your Dad is/was, but he seemed quite touched when I told him that his Dad's Bislet Games World Record was one of my earliest sporting memories.

Dave Moorcroft was an incredible runner. I still regularly see him running in the park and one day I WILL pluck up the courage to ask to run with him for just a few minutes.

Anyway, I could see a friend going very well ahead and put a little burst in to catch him at 13 minutes in.

A quick exchange of words told me he was already well ahead of his 19:41 PB so I decided enough was enough for me and I would just encourage Matthew round to the end. I'm certain he didn't need my "help" but I wanted to cheer him on, and he didn't seem to mind.

Well Matthew got his PB by around 30 seconds and I have to say that I enjoyed that feeling almost as much as when getting a PB myself. Probably because it didn't hurt as much and seeing him so pleased.

A really great feeling.

So if ever you feel you aren't up to a PB yourself, why not find someone a little slower and help and encourage them to a new PB. It really is the next best feeling.

parkrun Event Anniversaries in May

The parkrun newsletter may tell you about the parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the following weekend, but what if you'd like to know a little further ahead?

Well here is the list of upcoming parkrun event anniversaries/birthdays for the whole of May, starting with this coming weekend:

Event	Next Anniversary
Lower Hutt parkrun	2013 05 04
Fritton Lake parkrun	2013 05 04
Pontefract parkrun	2013 05 04
Abingdon parkrun	2013 05 04
Medina I.O.W. parkrun	2013 05 04
Belfast Victoria parkrun	2013 05 04
Eastleigh parkrun	2013 05 11
Brabrand parkrun	2013 05 11
Bedfont Lakes parkrun	2013 05 11
Preston parkrun	2013 05 11
Hampstead Heath parkrun	2013 05 11
Amager Faelled parkrun	2013 05 18
Camperdown parkrun, Dundee	2013 05 18
Wanstead Flats parkrun	2013 05 18
Northampton parkrun	2013 05 25
Marple parkrun	2013 05 25
Falls parkrun, Belfast	2013 05 25
Hackney Marshes parkrun	2013 05 25
Crystal Palace parkrun	2013 05 25
Nibe parkrun	2013 05 25
Albert parkrun, Middlesbrough	2013 05 25

parkrun stats of the week...27th April 2013

The parkrun statistics of note for last weekend are:

239 parkrun events run (a new record by 5!).
37,848 runners! This is yet another new global record attendance, by well over 3,000!

The average number of runners per parkrun event run was: 158.3.

47 events recorded new record attendances last weekend, as follows:

Event		Record Attendance
Abingdon		158
Ally Pally		60
Amager Strandpark		52
Basingstoke		300
Bramhall Park		519
Brueton		218
Cardiff		479
Chelmsford Central		143
Clermont Waterfront		38
Colchester Castle		153
Coomera		124
Coventry		463
Darley		97
Edinburgh		471
Eglinton		128
Finsbury Park		174
Gdansk		129
Gdynia		102
Ginninderra		188
Gunnersbury		250
Hilly Fields		96
Huddersfield		394
Ipswich		142
Kings Lynn		127
Launceston		155
Leamington		335
Little Stoke		142
Lódz		131
Lower Hutt		146
Malahide		513
Margate		86
Mulbarton		96
Norwich		451
Oak Hill		67
Pennington Flash		159
Poole		535
Porthcawl		136
Poznan		126
Preston		159
Rockingham		111
Sandgate		227
Sheffield Hallam		498
South Manchester		310
Valentines		156
Waterworks		258
Winchester		280
Wynnum		219

The longest standing parkrun attendance record is:
Amager Faelled  146 28/08/2010

And in the UK it's now :

Banstead Woods		220	23/04/2011

The highest attendance this week was exactly 1000 at Bushy parkrun.

The lowest attendance this week was just 7 at Summerfields parkrun.

There are now 5 parkrun events with a record attendance over 500 and 23 events with a record over 400.
And for balance, and just as importantly, there are 57 parkrun events with a record attendance below 100.