THE Warrington Victoria Park First Anniversary Parkrun took place at the weekend attracting large numbers to the 55th event in the series.
Organiser Tony Carroll was blown away by the response. He and his volunteers had been setting up the bunting, marquee, and table from 6.30am!
Tony said “Just like the inaugural event, when 401 runners took part, it became clear that it was going to be another great turn out. As 9am approached I could still see a stream of cars arriving.
“I didn’t want anyone to miss out on the celebratory run so I asked our special guest Ted Finnegan, Warrington’s Mayor, to delay the start by 5 minutes.”
The delay passed quickly as Tony told the crowd about his wonderful group of volunteers without who the events could not take place. A special mention was made for Rachel Aldersley who had baked the Anniversary cake in the form of a sculptured version of the park entrance and course. A slice of her cake was a clear incentive to finish quickly.
Tony then handed over to the Mayor Ted Finnegan who welcomed everyone to the Victoria Park parkrun and said “It’s great to see so many future Olympians lining up here today, I will be looking out for you on my TV set during the next games in Rio.” And with that the race was off and a sea of fluorescent lycra passed him by and runners sped off around the 5km course.
The planning and preparation put in by Tony and his team paid dividends and coped well with the high numbers.
Mat Rushbrook crossed the line first in a very good time of 17 minutes 17 seconds leading the 367 brilliant runners of all abilities finished. The Deputy Mayor, Cllr Geoff Settle completed his 12th Parkrun of the year and said: “It would have been 368 finishes today if one lady had registered for the event. She had accompanied her friends to give them a cheer but got carried away with the atmosphere and joined in. She ended up running in her knee length boots and coat and jogged along with her puppy at her side attached to its lead.”
Tony added: “It’s a great way to exercise, meet people and start the weekend off. You can view the results on the Parkrun website http://www.parkrun.org.uk and watch the video on our ‘Warrington Parkrun’ Facebook site or Tweet us @waparkrun.
“If you haven’t taken part so far please think about doing so you will be made most welcome and it’s a great way of getting fit or fitter.”
