With the postponement of the MACCL XC match on Saturday, I wondered whether there would be a large turnout at the parkruns. Then again. How many sore heads would there be after the WRC Christmas Party on Saturday?
We did have 22 members turning out at 8 parkrun events.
At a busy Highbury Fields – Qes PB’d. knocking over a minute off his 2019 time. Rebecca first timed at Marple and was third home – and first lady too.
Bramhall had 3 members running there. All with quickish times. Paul utilising the slipstream of Graham had his quickest run there since July. GarethA PB’d – 90 seconds faster than New Year’s Day. Graham and Paul top in their Age Category [AC].
Another threesome at a quieter South MCR saw Paul G first club member home. Big Al and Nic proved inseparable as they tussled or ran round with each other. Or was there a bet to finish 24 minutes dead?
Wilmslow results are a little confusing. Bear with me! Sam back and at his best. Not only first finisher but a PB too – Sub 17 beating his July time! Second is a runner – Lewis Jones who was three minutes behind Sam – but also had a PB. I have left him in at the moment until I get clarification on his membership status. [Now confirmed: Lewis is a new member]. That leads me to first lady – My assumption that’s our Frances! {if so please edit your Parkrun profile]; and second Lady too! Rachel! Who was down as Lymm. IanS was our second man home in a brisk 23 minutes. Graham and Andrew not far behind. AndyW volunteering.
Running Pairs – Roy and Ian. Members of the Elite Senior Team that we have.! Chose Didsbury. Both first in their ACs. Both just seconds off their October times.
I have written about “running there”s and “running pairs”. But had you gonet down to woods on Saturday there were a lot of bears around! Big Bear Bill was putting them through their paces beforehand. Whilst Jim warmed up by stretching his and his dogs’ legs at the same time. It worked wonders for him. His first time there: he was third runner home with an impressive time considering the terrain. RichardH, PB’d for the 4th time on the trot. His time – an improvement of over 2 minutes. Then came RichardL and then Mike, with Oliver not too far behind him. Then Steve. Then me! Oh! And Tony was out running there too!
My choice of venue as I assumed the trees would mean it wouldn’t be icy and would also be warmer there. Sadly, I forgot about leaves covering branches and uneven ground. Lap one a couple of slight rolls. 3.7k – nearly went as hidden branch rolled and ankle almost gave way. Wakes you that! With an intention to get near 30 minutes at the start. I revised this as the wind/cold started to make my eyes water. The glasses misted slightly making focussing on the ground a bit bleary as the leaves all blended into a browny/yellow mass. But much worse was the fingers! I’d taken the gloves out my bag earlier in the week and hadn’t put them back. After a mile the fingers were hurting. By two miles they were frozen and painful. One hand was a bit like GOT’s Jamie Lannister!! The legs were leggy. Perhaps going to the Gym on Friday is not good preparation for Parkruns. But with Bill snapping everyone and Cat encouraging her young bears whilst the admiring running kit of runners as they passed. Time seemed to go quicker – or the pain increasing made it seem so! The headphones kept telling me my splits. All over 6 minutes and getting longer – so I dug in and tried to ensure I’d get under 31 minutes if I could. Then, like magic, the finish suddenly appeared – though my watch said 400m to go. Stopping the watch with fingers that lost their feeling a while back, I managed to reset it back to an actual watch – so had no idea what time it was. Fellow club members were at the finish – seemingly unaffected by the cold. Must be an age thing. The next embarrassing thing was my attempt to retrieve my barcode and hold it for scanning. Straight to Café. Get a hot drink and hold it for a few minutes until life came back to hands. Then bacon butty and pay. Nice to see and chat to people for a change. Missed Cat as she was carrying food to feed her bears and was surrounded! A bit like a tourist feeding pigeons in Trafalgar Square!! Something easier next week.
At home when the time came through I was more than pleasantly surprised [and a PB] – mind you my watch said I’d only run 4.76k!!
Summary
- Busiest: Highbury [314]; Quietest Marple [108]
- Tourist: Qes
- First finisher: Rebecca, Sam, Frances
- Top AG:
- 80+ % :
- PBs: Qes, Gareth, RichardH, Patrick
Wilmslow runners results below
Bramhall parkrun
A total of 259 runners took part at Bramhall parkrun event #667
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | Gareth N R GRIFFITHS | U/a | 17:16 |
| 28 | 28 | Graham SCREAWN | WRC | 21:40 |
| 31 | 1 | Victoria CREIGHTON | U/a | 21:49 |
| 32 | 31 | Paul NORRIS | WRC | 21:49 |
| 122 | 100 | Gareth AMOS | WRC | 26:40 |
South Manchester parkrun
A total of 299 runners took part at South Manchester parkrun event #581
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | Callum ROWLINSON | U/a | 14:51 |
| 26 | 1 | Aileen LOFTUS | U/a | 20:09 |
| 43 | 39 | Paul GARNETT | WRC | 21:26 |
| 96 | 73 | Alan Charles TURNER | WRC | 24:00 |
| 97 | 74 | Nic BOWN | WRC | 24:00 |
Highbury Fields parkrun
A total of 314 runners took part at Highbury Fields parkrun event #508
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | Tom FANCETT | U/a | 17:24 |
| 30 | 28 | Qes HUSSAIN | WRC | 20:29 |
| 32 | 1 | Gillian HUGHES | U/a | 20:34 |
Marple parkrun
A total of 108 runners took part at Marple parkrun event #485
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | Tom REEVE | U/a | 19:32 |
| 3 | 1 | Rebecca JACKSON | WRC | 20:52 |
Wilmslow parkrun
A total of 168 runners took part at Wilmslow parkrun event #335
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | Samuel BAILEY | WRC | 16:52 |
| 2 | 2 | Lewis J JONES | WRC | 19:49 |
| 6 | 1 | Frances KENNEY | WRC? | 21:15 |
| 11 | 2 | Rachael Maskell | WRC? | 22:36 |
| 18 | 15 | Ian SMALLWOOD | WRC | 23:04 |
| 21 | 18 | Graham DUCE | WRC | 23:09 |
| 24 | 19 | Andrew CLEAL | WRC | 23:18 |
Fletcher Moss parkrun
A total of 190 runners took part at Fletcher Moss parkrun event #135
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | William Leon SMITH | U/a | 17:52 |
| 19 | 1 | Sarah RENSHAW | U/a | 22:40 |
| 113 | 68 | Ian ASHCROFT | WRC | 28:47 |
| 122 | 70 | Roy POWNALL | WRC | 29:42 |
Alderley Park parkrun
A total of 148 runners took part at Alderley Park parkrun event #23
| Position | Gender Position | parkrunner | Club | Run Time |
| 1 | 1 | David KELLY | U/a | 18:46 |
| 3 | 3 | Jim PENDRILL | WRC | 19:34 |
| 8 | 1 | Kristy GILL | U/a | 20:50 |
| 11 | 10 | Richard HARRISON | WRC | 21:08 |
| 20 | 18 | Richard LAWSON | WRC | 22:15 |
| 22 | 20 | Mike HILL | WRC | 22:26 |
| 35 | 31 | Oliver Thomas JOHNSTONE | WRC | 23:45 |
| 38 | 33 | Steve GREAVES | WRC | 24:07 |
| 52 | 43 | Tony Hulme | 25:21 | |
| 89 | 65 | Patrick GRANNAN | WRC | 29:30 |
Great run at Alderley Patrick! Not the easiest of courses, so anything under 30 is very good. You continue to improve week on week.