Milestones

I did it!

On Saturday 13th July, I completed my 250th parkrun.

It's been quite a journey...

I completed my first parkrun on 12th November 2011 - it was Hanley parkrun's 8th event and there were 39 runners taking part, quite a few of whom were there yesterday too, either running or volunteering. I was a volunteer for the first time on the 14th January 2012. My first parkrun tourism was to Pollock parkrun in Glasgow on 28th January 2012 - it was a freezing cold day and we ran through icy puddles on their alternative cross country course. 

It didn't deter me. In fact, it's fair to say I was hooked... parkrun has been an ever present part of life since then. 

I reached the milestone of 50 parkruns in April 2013 and proudly received my 50 t-shirt from Hanley parkrun's originator Tommy Hill. I started run directing at roughly the same time. Mr T started his parkrunning adventures later that year (coinciding with a Doctor Who-themed fancy dress run). 

My hundredth parkrun was celebrated in September 2014, just before Hanley's 3rd birthday. In 2015, we took part in our first international parkruns, completing 9 events in Australia and New Zealand.  I proudly wore my 100-club t-shirt at all the runs we visited. We've added France, Ireland and Germany to the list since then and Mr T reached 100 parkruns in Newport in 2016.

 

For most of the last few years, I've not paid much attention to the number of runs I've completed - it's a big gap between 100 and 250. I've still loved being involved in parkrun; number of runs and running times were simply irrelevant. I've had the privilege as a parkrun ambassador of helping new events get started, meeting parkrun volunteers and staff from around the world and celebrating with friends as they've reached parkrun milestones too.

But over the last couple of months, the milestone of 250 parkruns has started to seem achievable. Once I got to 240 at the start of April, I began to look forward. By the time I got to 245 at the beginning of June, the challenge really was on. And then running club and parkrun friend Ruth and I worked out that we can make it a double celebration... if we didn't miss any runs from the middle of June onwards, we could meet our respective milestones of 100 and 250 runs on the same day.

And so we made a plan for July 13th and it all came together.

It was a special and emotional moment as I crossed the finish line, running alongside Liz and Marion, cheered by Mr T and lots of other runners, friends, club mates and volunteers. Friends I've not seen for a while came along to share the moment and we had a picnic. Friends who couldn't make it on the day sent messages of support and congratulations. The celebrations continued most of the day.

Thank you to everyone who made it so special.

And thank you to everyone who makes sure parkrun happens every week.