THE sun was shining for Gloucester’s 208th parkrun on the June long weekend for the 64 finishers, including visitors from Newcastle, Sydney and Barrington (they wanted a special mention).
The Run Director needed to don sunglasses and the autumn leaves of the park’s trees were a contrast to the bright blue of the sky. The pile of winter jackets on the parkrun’s rug grew as people stripped off at the end of the first loop.
We were using the wet weather course (as the fields were still boggy). This meant three loops (instead of the usual two) and a slightly longer course – resulting in a few groans when this was announced by the Run Director at the beginning of the run.
The first male finisher was Charlie Coombes in 22.12, with Samantha Charlier the first female home in 28.27. Despite the longer course, visitors Lyndsey James and Katie Cameron managed to get personal best times.
The event was the first ever parkrun for two finishers – while another 15 were enjoying their first time at Gloucester parkrun, and visitor Andrew Price was celebrating his 25th milestone run.
The event was managed by a team of volunteers – with Pat Burrows as timekeeper working seamlessly with John Watts on finish tokens. Tracy Wilson was doing another volunteer stint – this time as scanner and photographer. Ros Poynting had put her name forward when there was a late opening for tailwalker, guiding the group from behind and helping those enjoying their first parkrun.
By Carolyn DAVIES
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