New Contributor: Steven Stockwell

Name: Steven Stockwell
Home parkrun: Riddlesdown, UK.
Date of first parkrun: 28 May 2011
Total Number of parkruns: 32 (as of 6 January 2011)
Number of other parkrun locations run: 2 (Banstead Woods and Roundshaw Downs)
Number of times volunteered: 2
My parkrun history: click here

I was checking my twitter feed recently when I received amessage from Ian (@parkrunfan), author of the parkrunfan blog. As I already write a blog about running, he asked if Iwould like to be a contributor to a new blog he was setting up. I wasvery flattered to be asked and instantly jumped at the chance. Here is a very brief overview of my parkrun journey to date.

I registered for parkrun on 22 November 2010. It took me another six months to actually get up early enough on a Saturday morning to run atmy first event (I blame the long cold winter). The closest parkrun to me is approximately 25 miles away and involves a stint on the M25, which can be quite unpredictable at the best of times.

My home parkrun has a very strong family feel to it, and I always have support in the shape of my wife and daughter. At first that is all theydid - support me. But before long they started to volunteer while I ran. To date my wife has volunteered twelve times, including seven occasions as the official photographer. As time went on we began tojoin the volunteer team for the post-run coffee and we slowly got to know people. We now count many of these people as friends, and often to refer to them as our parkrun family.

My own volunteering record is still pretty small. I have written two event reports for Riddlesdown, which is stressful but rewarding. The other report writers have set the standard pretty high and I never feel thatI can match their quality! To date I have run at every Riddlesdown parkrun since the inaugural event back in July 2011. I hope to continue this streak until the 50th event. After that I have a few volunteering roles on my to-do list that I'd like to complete. Then who knows, maybe I'll become a part-time parkrun tourist!

Steve.