Thanks to Jo for her report from the 25th Isle of Wight parkrun. In her own words. Ed
At a time when the Medina IW parkrun seems to be getting better and better every week, I am thrilled to report that the event this week was definitely not lacking in excitement, support and personal bests (PBs)!
Conditions were good for us again, with sunny weather and a refreshing (but not icy) breeze across the course, and we welcomed 85 runners, including 19 first timers, to our 25th event, including representatives from ten different athletics clubs.
Over 400 people registered
Race Director – Ray Scovell – tells me that we now have over 400 people registered for the IW parkrun, so numbers will hopefully not decline too much when the winter weather starts! Big thanks to Justine and Mike who did the timing, Simon and Nicky who managed scanning duties, and to everyone who helped Ray to set-up and then pack-away the event. Thanks too to all our ready and willing marshalls dotted around the course, and apologies to those who had to stand in draughty places! We couldn’t operate parkrun without you.
New ladies course record
One of today’s excitements came in the form of a new ladies course record, thanks to the first dynamic appearance at IW parkrun of “veteran parkrunner” Jackie Perrin (VW45-49) of the Reading Road Runners.
Jackie was the first lady, but also the third person, over the line with her amazing time of 19:19, and achieved the highest age graded performance score today of 82.66%. This was Jackie’s 36th parkrun to date. The second lady home was our very own 11-time former winner Eden Crumplin (JW14), of the IWAC, in 22:57, with Natalie Lazenby (SW25-29) of the IW Road Runners in third place with 23:32.
Although this was not quite Natalie’s PB, she is appearing more and more often in the top three and achieving PBs fairly frequently, and I think she is a talent well worth watching. Well done Ladies, and indeed to all the female participants today.
Will Ambrosini third time winner
Our winner for the third time, and setting himself yet another PB in the process, was Will Ambrosini (VM40-44) of the Ryde Harriers, in 18:26.
Will’s son – Connor – also ran well and achieved his own PB and 26th placing overall! Taking part in his first (but not, apparently, his last I’m glad to say!) parkrun, and coming second overall, was Steve Gratton (VM55-59) of the Wight Tri Club, with 19:15; a performance which also earned Steve the second highest age graded score of 79.83%.
Late runner excelled
Our third place male was former winner Om Beacom-Halliday (SM20-24) with a time of 19:26, but I have to say that this was by far the most magnificent run of the morning – no disrespect intended to any of our winners – as I will explain.
Om was late arriving to parkrun you see, and set off on his own when all the runners had left the starting field and the lead runners were already tackling the Seaclose part of the course! However, Om ran AMAZINGLY, and managed to cope with safely overtaking every runner on the course bar three during his 5km dash, to finish fourth overall! We would like to thank Om for continuing to take part despite knowing that his time could not be altered, and for giving us such a good show, and with such good humour and sportsmanship. That course record could be yours next time, Om!
New course record
So we’ve had a new course record, an awesome late starter and a fantastic 33 new PBs today (bringing the total number of PBs since IW parkrun started to 381) – what a morning!
One of these PBs was set by our oldest participant – David Gammage (VM85-89) – of the IWAC, so very well done to him. Special mentions also to Steve Rumsey, who achieved a parkrun PB hot on the heels of a series of gruelling marathon runs he has done over the past 6 weeks, and to Paul Judge for not only getting a PB but achieving the third best age graded score of 77.05% in only his second parkrun so far. Congrats to you all, and especially to all the junior runners – such as Sam and Mabel – who achieved new PBs.
Eden still leading
In the ladies points table, 12 year old Eden still leads with 2,283, whilst Elsie Lewis (who is injured but very kindly volunteered again this week) now has 1,801 points. I hope you are recovered and back running very soon, Elsie, and I look forward to seeing your Hallowe’en costume next week! Elsie’s Mum, Katie, is still in third place with 1,639.
Meanwhile, in the men’s points table Michael Morris gained his volunteering points and has consequently brought his leading score up to 2,102, whilst Jay Tuck (who was away but no doubt running with us in spirit!) is still second with 1,905. Kev Fry is now back in third place after his run with 1,611 points.
Age-graded tablesOver 340 runners
Since the Isle of Wight parkrun started we have had 341 different runners, representing 40 different athletics or running clubs, running the equivalent of 1,306 parkruns and covering a total distance of 6,530 km.
This is the exact length (according to Wikipedia!) of the now disused transcontinental “Theodore Roosevelt International Highway” that used to run from Maine to Oregon. That’s quite a distance, chaps!
Hallowe’en parkrun
Don’t forget that next week is our Hallowe’en parkrun, where fancy dress is definitely encouraged for runners and marshalls! If any-one would like offer their assistance at any future event (we need course setting-uppers, timers, scanners, marshalls and packer-awayers!) please do not hesitate to let Ray know as soon as possible. The events are planned several weeks ahead, so please give us advanced notice of any intention to help. Thank you!
If anyone has Saturday mornings spare and would like to be a deputy Race Director, Ray would love to hear from you too.
Laminate your bar-codes
Some runners are using bar-codes that fail to scan every week. If this is happening to you, please can you print off a new one, pop it in a clear plastic cover or get it laminated, ready for next week? It makes things much easier for the volunteer who is scanning and for Ray to download after the event, especially as the number of participants is increasing.
Ray is the force behind the IW parkrun, and gives a lot of his time to parkrun, and I know we all want to do what we can to help him to keep this event going. Volunteering occasionally, and laminating our bar-codes, is something we can all do to help.
Join us at Medina next week – 8.45am assembly for a prompt 9am start – and share the fun, fitness and community spirit of parkrun.
