Parkrun from the other side

I was planning to run our local parkrun today but they emailed around that they were short of volunteers. I spoke to my 8yr old daughter who was going to run with me and as we had run 4.8 miles on thursday she was keen to help. So today we turned up at 0830 for duty. Appropriately dressed in neon tabards we hot footed to our marshalling post, a narrow bridge at halfway ish. At 0900 they started and 7 minutes later round came the bike with the first runner, my goodness was he quick! It was another minute before there was an onslaught of 700+ runners who had to pass us twice. We clapped and we shouted encouragement for 50 minutes. Each runner was amazing for being there and not in bed. There were fit youngsters running speeds I could only dream of, older generations of runners who inspire me, parents with kids setting healthy examples, runners with buggys as a means to keep fit and runners with their four legged friends. Some were effortless, some struggled and some walked/ran but everyone of them deserved every bit of encouragement and to feel like a winner. I spent the whole time with a massive grin on my face as I shared their achievements. The fastest lad did the run in 15.47 an amazing time I will never myself see and the last in 51.59 which was equally as much effort. 5k is 5k regardless of the time taken to get there and we do it for ourselves. So don't be afraid of parkrun and do try to volunteer to give something back.

[Madge50 Graduate]

Oh yes! 👏👏👏👍👍👍, love it, love it, love it, I am very proud to say I did parkrun 99 today, I am so looking forward to next Saturday, however, my favourite shirt is my parkrun purple 25 volunteer shirt (I've actually volunteered over 50 times...)

Parkrun would not happen without volunteers, so glad you had a good time, time well spent! Well done you and little Doyle! 👏👍

Mx

Ps did I mention......I love parkrun......! 😂

[Hidden in reply to Madge50]

I am growing to love parkrun! I am a mere beginner with 14 runs and one volunteering duty. I may be doing parkrun tourism next week in Kesgrave too. When i started c25k i never thought this would be me!

[Madge50 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Me neither, I only did it for something to think about and move about a bit......😂......d'you know what, my daughter is off to Uni in Swansea, one of the first things I searched for was parkrun.........looking forward to a bit of tourism there!

I'm going to stop counting runs after next week, it'll take years (literally) to get to the 250 shirt.....and don't even mention the 500....😱

What a fantastic hobby to have!

Mx

[SueKen Graduate]

I've just signed up to be a tail walker for my local event next weekend. First Parkrun as a volunteer. Nervous and excited at the same time 😬

[Hidden in reply to SueKen]

Go for it! I really enjoyed being a part of it.

[Madge50 Graduate in reply to SueKen]

You'll love it, I promise, one of my fave roles, you get a run credit and get to encourage newbies and the more sedate of us, what's not to like 👍😎

Mx

[damienair Graduate]

Great post. 👍 well done. I've volunteered twice as communication and today ran my 10th Parkrun. Hopefully this time next year I will have done 50 runs. I'm going to volunteer once every 5 or 6 runs. It's a fantastic movement. I'm so grateful to the amazing people who started Parkrun. An amazing story.

[CookieM Graduate]

Did my first one today as a run/walker and the volunteers were fab! Only thing I did notice was that there weren't any marshals around the course and now when I look at the volunteers roster, they don't have any!! Is this usual?! Will definitely be looking at volunteering some time this summer

[Hidden in reply to CookieM]

We have marshals around the course usually at junctions within the park pathways. The bridge is narrow so we make sure everyone is aware of it being there when running. I haven't been to other parkrun so I don't know if this is normal or not!

[CookieM Graduate in reply to Hidden]

It did mean there was no cheering on as you went round the course! But I guess it means less volunteers needed!