Gunnersbury parkrun Hits A New Record
Running event going from strength to strength with over 600 enthusiasts
Picture: parkrun.org.uk
The weekly parkrun that takes place on Saturdays in Gunnersbury Park is going from strength to strength. Its first 2019 outing hit a new record with 626 participants, of which 54 were taking place in their first ever parkrun.
This compares with the 163 participants who took part in the first event in October 2011. The average number is now over 300, so the record has now more than doubled in the New Year.
The organisers were delighted with the attendance and tweeted: "The first Gunnersbury parkrun of 2019 and we kicked off with a bang and a new record attendance. 626 of you came out to run, jog or walk beating the previous record by 23. Good to see those New Years resolutions are off to a solid start!"
A total of 95 were first timers at Gunnersbury, of which 54 of which were doing their first ever parkrun.
The Gunnersbury parkrun is a free 5km run that begins at 9am every Saturday. To participate you need to sign up first online.
Event Director, Arlene Gallagher said: ''We were delighted to welcome so many runners, walkers and volunteers. We always welcome new members." You can read about the history of the event and the runners,
Volunteers from the GoodGym were there to provide help with pacing. GoodGym is a running club that meets up to get fit, run and do good in the local community. They have groups all over London (and the rest of the UK!) and in Ealing they meet every Tuesday evening to run and help a local community organisation or charity with a hands on task.
The group of 32 GoodGymers that came along also completed a plog (litter picking jog) around Gunnersbury Park to help make the space beautiful for all its users!
The event also had a few milestones. Alf Heggbrenna of Ealing Eagles Running Club completed his 100th run and scored himself a new course PB at the same time. Rachel McClements also of Ealing Eagles Running Club ran the big 100 too and they had 4 people celebrating number 50, well done to Peter Macdemid, Nigel Blades, Billy Lawrence and Ali Mullaley.
First finisher, for the second time at Gunnersbury, was William Aitken and hot on his tail was Graham Atkins of GoodGym in 2nd place with a new PB! Other notable efforts include Rob Swales with a PB and dipping under 19:30 minute for the first time and Callum WINSTOCK for his PB and first sub 20 parkrun! Jennifer BUSHELL also bagged herself a new PB and 3rd Female! Jane Rowden had the highest age grading this week with 88.21%.
A local group of enthusiasts in Chiswick would like to set up a new parkrun every Saturday at 9am in Dukes Meadows and they are looking for volunteers to help out.
If you’re interested in hearing more, they will also be meeting for a founder volunteer course walk on Saturday 26 January starting at 9am at The Pavilion artist studios, Dukes Meadows.
The parkrun organisation (www.parkrun.org.uk) recommends that they recruit at least 10 ‘founder volunteers’ to get it up and running. If you would be interested in volunteering (e.g. being a marshal, first aider, tail walker, etc) and you are available between 8.30am and 10am a few Saturday mornings a month, then please drop a note to them via our Chiswick forum.
January 11, 2019