1 June 2024
Woodbank
Today was my 500th parkrun. I did my first one on the 27th September 2008 and had I not been such a lazy git, I’d be on a lot more. I’ve ran at 46 different locations and 209 times at Woody and always do my landmark runs at Woodbank. This is my home parkrun.
I first ran here on the 19th December 2009 at only the 18th event. Today’s was the 687th. Woodbank is the place where I fell in love with running. Woodbank is the place where I fell in love with parkrun. Woodbank is the place where I can write ridiculously, obviously smug posts on our Facebook page and get absolutely rinsed by people who have known me for about 20 years.
Woodbank is what parkrun is about. The legend that is Mike Thirsk is an example of many who epitomise this. He’s one of my oldest running friends. I met him when I first moved up here over 20 years ago. He, Carole Chadwick and I have had so much fun over the years and you only have to be in Mike’s presence for 5 minutes to realise what a thoroughly lovely man he is. Every week you’ll see him tail walking, chatting to walkers on the course, looking after people and generally ‘being Mike’. One of the nicest, most decent people you’ll ever meet.
Kath Ward and Anthony Ward were some of the folk that originally set up Woodbank, back in the day when we were on the track. These two were the masters of ‘the alternative course’. Be it the ‘dashing through the woods’ or the 10,000 laps of the grass triangle. People like Kath and Tony are the backbone of any running community. Despite handing the reins over to the just as brilliant Stuart Belll and Sarah Russell they continue to put on runs, looking after the running community in the North West and beyond.
I don’t think people realise what work goes on behind the scenes of putting on a parkrun. Stuart, Sarah and the rest of the core team work tirelessly behind the scenes every week ensuring that parkrun is on. It is only weeks like this week when they are close to cancelling as they cannot get enough volunteers do we get a sneak peak into what they’re doing every week. We probably forget that they are volunteers themselves and fit this around their days jobs. Selfless people at the heart of the community. Thank you all.
Today was a beautiful day. It’s the type of day you dream of when its blooming freezing in January and you’re jumping up and down trying to keep warm when the run brief is being given. Turning up, seeing people you’ve known for years, having a pic with people like Paul Plummer (an other incredible man who guide runs with the very fast Helen Judge ) Phil Nixon and David Wood, and just having the freedom to run.
It's easy to take it for granted. ‘It’s only parkrun’, its just ‘a run in the park’ but if Covid taught us anything it is how much we miss something when it is not there. I love parkrun, I love everything about it. How everyone is welcome, how it is it a run, a walk, a jog, or a combination of all 3. It having a coffee and butty after, it’s pacing your mate, it using it as part of a long run, it's smashing it out, its….parkrun.
146 people ran round today, and there were a number of milestones, Ciara O'Keefe, Phil Nixon and Charlotte Atkinson all reached the incredible milestones of 100 and Samantha Morris getting her half Cowell with 50 different events. What an effort ! Each with their own story and achievements. Well done everyone
Thank you to my great friends Carole and Mike for the cheers and coffee and butties after. Forget milestones, forget times. Coffee, butties and great friends. The essence and power of parkrun.
Here’s to the next 500 with apologies to the many people I've missed. You're all amazing x
(How could I forget Susan Holland and Brian Holland. Both 'get my humour' and Brian Holland especially knows how to put me back in my running box. No Hollands ? no parkrun. They're very much my cup of tea)
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