I had an idle thought this morning, and this is the result …...
It shows (I hope) everybody Dexy5 and I have run with this year at VRB parkrun meetups, and all the parkrun connections those VRBs have had with one another in our presence - so for instance I think cheekychipmunks met BaddieThePirate at Lyme Park, but we weren't at that one so that connection isn't shown.
So mine are in red (of course), Dexy's in green, and the rest in blue. If I've missed any connections, please let me know - and if I've missed any people …… well, that'll be messy. Apart from those already mentioned, I'd better already tag (in no particular order) Wimborne , Windoze , lexi6 , Katnap , Oldgirlruns , Sandie1961 , JonathanP , Sadie-runs , TailChaser , Shake-and-run , damienair and Coddfish .
Enjoy …...
Edit - I seem to have cut myself off at the bottom. Hopefully this will be better ….
Written by
UpTheStanley
Graduate10
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What a splendid thing UTS! Looks like Katnap and I are on a par with cheekychipmunks but you two are the ultra-tourists! How long until you qualify for your cow cowls?
Definitely right, except I missed a hyphen out. It’s the unofficial tourist buff (black cow on a yellow background) you can claim after doing 20 different tourist runs. It’s a Facebook group, detailed as follows:
“***** The story behind the cow-cowl *****
A post was made to the UK parkrun tourists group in 2015 started it all off - a couple of tourists finished one behind the other at Canterbury, but didn't know at the time and missed the opportunity to say hello. If only they had some way of easily spotting each other at parkrun! And so the *cow cowl* was born.
Why a cow? If you've read the jargon-buster in the blurb for this page you'll know that the first parkrunner to complete 100 different parkrun events was Chris Cowell. The Cowell Club was a term coined by Danny Norman on the parkrun show. And then Nicola pointed out that half a Cowell was a Cow - so at 50 different events you've done your 'Cow'. A cow-head seemed a fitting motif for tourists. By poetic coincidence, 'cow-cowl' sounds like 'Cow-Cowell'.
So when people ask you to explain the cow-cowl, you now know the history. It's a piece of group "kit" so members of the UK parkrun Tourists Group on Facebook (to join you need to have completed a 5K parkrun at 20 different locations) can identify each other.
The only exceptions to this are friends and family of group members who are eligible but choose not to be in the group (or can't be, by dint of being mere calfs and heifers).
It's flattering that people think they are 'working towards their cow cowl' but not strictly accurate. They're really working towards membership of the UK parkrun Tourists Group - at which point they have the option of buying a cow cowl to wear wherever and whenever they want.”
Copied from the UK parkrun tourists Facebook page. We’ve got 7 to go. Cheeky must nearly be there. We get quite a few people at our parkrun wearing them. So now you have another niche to go for 😊
I have often seen people wearing the cow buffs, particularly at London parkruns. Whenever I have talked to someone wearing one, they have been hardcore tourists, leading me to think you had to be a member of the Cowell Club (100 locations) to order one. They’re unofficial, not something you get through parkrun, but I must admit I haven’t looked into it. I have a visceral dislike of Facebook so don’t have an active account to join the tourist group. In terms of qualification, I am at 37 locations.
In terms of your connections, I have also run with Sandie1961 (but at GSR, not parkrun).
I know what you mean about Facebook- I started an account only so I could look at the parkrun site And leave messages with other parkruns after tourism.
Stanley decided to restrict the VRB chart to parkrun only.
That is a very good 'tangled web' UTS, I am just wondering what has happened to our friend from New Zealand, not heard from Lexi6 for some time, remember she visited us a few months ago but has been silent for some time.
Virtual Running Buddy - someone you chat to on here as if you know them, but will probably never meet unless you arrange to find one another at an event - usually a parkrun.
Wow. I’m impressed. That has been a very good 2019. Well done UTS and Dexy5 for moving around the country to visit everyone at parkrun. Meeting up with you all at Eastville parkrun was the highlight of my year. Just pipped the post on my 25:36 PB. Wishing you an equally successful 2020. Hopefully we will meet again at Portrush and add a few more connections to that Web. UpTheStanley Dexy5 cheekychipmunks
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