welcome to the newsletter
In this week’s newsletter Tim shares the first part of his Cape Town adventure, we hear from some intrepid parkrun tourists on the East Coast, and our friends from Women’s Running Australia invite you to renew your subscription.
As previewed in last week’s newsletter, I am now in Cape Town where over 3 consecutive Saturdays I plan on trying 3 new (and different) parkruns. Last Saturday it was the turn of Cape Town’s newest event, Rondebosch Common parkrun. Conveniently the suburb of Rondebosch sits next to Claremont where we are staying with my wife’s family so it was only a 5-minute drive to get myself to the common for the 8am start. As I anticipated the atmosphere was very similar to one of our Australia parkrun events with a large cross section of ages, shapes and sizes all gathered to get their weekend started in the best possible way.
The run itself was breathtaking as the 100 acre Rondebosch Common sits in the shadows of Table Mountain, Groote Schuur Hospital (where the first human heart transplant took place), the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Rhodes Memorial. The 2 lap anticlockwise course is predominantly flat tarmac and as such lends itself to some fast running so I was pretty happy with my time of 19:21. Funnily enough I led the pack for the first 4km or so and was laughing to myself about it being the perfect start to the day for Australians in Cape Town (the cricketers did their bit later in the day) however I was overtaken by one of the locals on the home straight. Foiled again!
Next week I am meeting up with South African Country Managers Bruce & Gill Fordyce in Stellenbosch for the Root 44 parkrun which is held in the grounds of a wine estate so it should be another wonderful parkrun experience. I won’t be running too hard though as the following day I am taking part in South Africa’s most famous cycle race, the 110km Cape Argus Cycle Tour, so it’s going to be a big weekend!
Lastly I want to say a big congratulations to the incredibly passionate and dedicated team from Mosman parkrun who, after many months of negotiations with Mosman Council, finally got their event back up and running last Saturday. I look forward to visiting this event next time I am in Sydney, it looks incredible!
Happy running,
Tim from parkrun Australia (get in touch)
p.s. Only 227 days until International parkrun Day 2014
Were you a first timer last weekend, or did you run a personal best? We would love to hear about your experience on email, @parkrun_au or on Facebook.
Essential stats
Number of runners – 8,654
Number of volunteers – 550
Number of new registrations – 1,586
Total number of registered parkrunners – 91,987
Our East Coast parkrun Adventure by Daisy Hall
Having completed Gladstone parkrun this past Saturday (1st March) we met two lovely people who are the Event Directors at Wynnum parkrun, Alan and Roisin Burrell. It was a pleasure to meet them both and everyone made us feel so welcome. After chatting to them for a while about our travels they suggested we email you with our story of how we have planned our entire east coast Australian adventure around running as many parkruns as possible.
So my boyfriend and I are traveling Australia for 6 months having arrived in late October. Having discovered parkrun myself just before leaving England for Australia, I was thrilled to discover parkruns were worldwide. So I persuaded my boyfriend, Thomas, to sign up and our first parkrun was completed in South Bank, Brisbane. Unlike England, we were shocked by the heat, even at the earlier time of 7am. We soon got a job in the outback for three months but continued to run; waking up at 5.30am five days a week and running a dusty track was a struggle to say the least. Nearing the end of our outback experience, we started planning our east coast trip from Cairns down to Sydney, then flying over to New Zealand. By this point completing as many parkruns in Australia and New Zealand was on our 'Bucket List' (along with many other things such as Whitsundays and Fraser Island tour). So we planned our route so that every Saturday we were at an event. So far we have completed South Bank, Cairns, Riverway and Gladstone. The most recent being Gladstone were we both ran our PBs coming 1st male and female. Out next parkrun is scheduled for the Sunshine Coast.
We feel that as well as visiting the beautiful tourist attractions Australia has to offer, running the parkrun every week makes us feel like we are a part of the community, if only for an hour. As you can tell we love the weekly parkrun and look forward to it after a hard week of exploring this amazing country and relaxing on beautiful beaches with a stubby.
We would be thrilled if this was included in the newsletter as a way of saying thank you for the amazing runs we have had.
Renew your Women's Running Australia magazine subscription
Last year our friends at Women's Running Australia magazine offered all parkrunners a fantastic introductory 6-month subscription which has unfortunately recently expired. To avoid missing out on their next issue, simply use your existing login details to access your account and renew your subscription.
Although we can't give too much away, Issue 13, which is scheduled to start hitting subscriber mailboxes tomorrow, is one of their best yet and features the annual Women's Running Shoe Review, a brand new 'Trail Zone' and much, much more cool running stuff! We wouldn't want you to miss out...
Upcoming Special Events
March
8 – Albury Wodonga (NSW / Vic) launch, Parramatta (NSW) 1st anniversary
15 – Cambelltown (NSW) launch, Albert Melbourne (Vic) cancelled
22 – Mount Barker (SA) launch
29 – Riverway (Qld) 1st anniversary / Manjimup (WA) launch
April
5 - Main Beach (Qld) 3rd Anniversary
12 - Fingal Bay (NSW) 1st anniversary, Augustine Heights (Qld) 1st anniversary
19 - Guinness World Record attempt – “Fastest 5km Egg and Spoon Race”
26 - Rockingham (WA) 1st anniversary, Ginninderra (ACT) 2nd Anniversary
Feedback from the field
Randall Gibson - I run at Cleveland parkrun and am amazed at the number of runners participating. Just wondering if you may consider a children’s race of 1-2 km whereby this could commence towards the end or after the adults’ race and be marshaled by the parents. You may get more families attending and certainly more children who perhaps might not be inclined to run 5km. This way the whole family can participate in your amazing event each weekend.
Karen Wilson - Just sharing my daughter's quote from Saturday’s Point Cook parkrun and my favourite photo below. As we all took off from the start line Abigail (aged 3.5yrs) tells me "We're all going to be winners, and I'm going to be a winner too!" It just summed up the parkrun philosophy nicely. She loved her first parkrun and I can't wait till she's big enough to run the whole course. Thanks for the awesome event each week guys, I'm really loving it.
Kriek Van Zyl - A HUGE thank you to the organisers and volunteers of the Bunbury parkrun, which was a well organised and supportive event meeting some amazing people last weekend. Julius van der Wat, is the bloke who inspired me to take up running and coming from a guy in a wheel chair, I had no excuses - not even my 54 years of age.
Christiaan Janse van Rensburg, my son-in-law, entered me for the Two Oceans half-marathon on his birthday in Cape Town, over the Easter weekend. If he was satisfied with my sweat (and maybe even tears) as a prezzie, why not? What a motivation this young athlete is to all. So, it was my first run and that around the beautiful swamp. On Saturday morning my husband boost my energy levels with breakfast in bed and Val and her husband, my new found park run buddies boosted my confidence at the starting point. And guess what? Watch for my hubby with a big grin, as he will be joining us soon - letting the numbers of the park runners grow even bigger! See you later, or rather catch me later, if you can!
Fiona Gilks – I was listening to the parkrun podcast the other day and Russ was interviewing his nephew in the UK. There was a mention of a junior parkrun. Would this have been a one off? Is this something that they are trialing in the UK? It got me thinking that a junior parkrun would be awesome. Logistically, not all parkruns could offer this, but many I am sure could. My local parkrun, Balyang Sanctuary, could offer this as they have changed the route from the original path (adults/5km go one way, and the juniors go one km down the old route. The juniors could have a 'leader' for the fast ones, and a tail end Charlie/motivator at the back) Just wondering if it is feasible?
Drop me an email if you have an interesting parkrun related fact, happening or comment that you would like to share with all parkrunners.
Volunteer Profile
Name: Kelly Leighton
Age: 38
Home parkrun: St Peters
Occupation: Finance Manager
Number of runs: 38
PB: 21:51
Number of times volunteered: 16
Favourite volunteer role: Scanning barcodes or handing out finish tokens.
What do like about volunteering at parkrun: Watching everyone cross the line, knowing the course they’ve just run – from first to last.
Most memorable or funniest parkrun moment: Cheering Martin Dent on as he SMASHED the record at St Peters in January, being impressed by what can be achieved.
How can we improve parkrun: Just keep mentioning how awesome it is – the next best thing to running actually!
Reminders
Barcode reminder
Printed barcodes are used at all our events to record your result. Please click here to collect and print your barcode. No barcode = No result = No exceptions. To order your barcode on a durable plastic key tag as shown above please click here. #dfyb (don't forget your barcode).
No printed barcode, no result.
All questions answered
Do you have a question about parkrun? How do I collect my club T-shirt? How do I get my barcode? All your questions are answered on our brand new support site
Volunteering at parkrun
We ask every parkrunner to volunteer 3 times a year. When volunteering you receive the maximum number of points towards the yearly competition.
Children at parkrun
All children under 11 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Guardians must ensure that children place themselves appropriately so as to prevent a situation where they are being repeatedly overtaken at the start. This is to ensure the safety of your child.
The parkrun Show AU
You can download your copy of the parkrun show Australia here. The parkrun show Australia is the free, weekly, timed podcast celebrating parkrun Down Under, hosted by Dave Robbo and Russ Jefferys
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