The first Burgess parkrun this year took place on 1st January, with 373 participants but this was a Wednesday, not a Saturday and perhaps a lot of people might not have known it was taking place. However, on the first Saturday of the year, there were 732, on the second Saturday 771 and today there were 748 participants. A huge congratulations to all the people who have made attending parkrun a New Year's resolution and are sticking with it, amazing.
Today I had the pleasure of completing parkrun with Charlotte, a Burgess regular and Anna-Marie, who was doing her first stint of volunteering, by being the tail walker for the event.
As we walked the course, cheering on other runners and admiring the park we spoke about how great it is that you don’t have to run parkrun to benefit from it. Here we were, walking the event and enjoying all the benefits of being outside, Vitamin D and community that parkrun offers.
Charlotte shared how she’s been touring different parkruns for which there are various challenges to complete, such as LonDone; completing all the parkruns in London and the Alphabet challenge which is completing a parkrun with each letter of the alphabet. There are lots of ways to add another dimension to your parkrun experience.
However you can also continue your parkrun journey on Sundays! Junior parkruns take place on Sunday mornings, at 0900. These events are 2k in distance and participants have to be aged 4 to 14 years old. I’m a little too old to run it; however, anyone can volunteer, which is exactly what I did last Sunday when I decided to visit Caledonian Juniors Parkrun in Caledonian Park in the London Borough of Islington. At 18.72 acres, the park isn’t big enough for a Saturday 5k event; however, they have a circular two-lap course finishing under the impressive 155ft grade II listed Clock Tower, which was built in 1853.
I arrived and was given a warm welcome, by Jess the Run Director and Helen the Event Director. I was given my high-viz jacket, lanyard of instructions, cones to mark the floor and poles. Kitted out I was sent to Marshal Point 5.
This park was created in 1970 by Islington Council on what was a former cattle market and previously a place of assembly for political demonstrations. The most famous of which was in April 1834 to support the Tolpuddle Martyrs, agricultural labourers who had been deported to Australia for forming a union! This morning the only protesting was from the parents trying to keep up with their children as they did the two-lap course🙂
Afterwards in the warmth of the park cafe, I learned how some of the volunteers were exchanging their high-viz jackets for ivy crowns as they prepared for today’s Wassailing festivities! Wassailing is the tradition of waking up the trees in an orchard by chasing off evil spirits by banging drums, singing folk songs and pouring libations of ale and cider!
As fascinating as this was sadly I wasn’t able to stay to participate but it just goes to show how attending parkrun be that on either Saturday or Sunday can be a porthole to a world of adventures taking place.
I’m already looking forward to more Sunday Junior parkrun adventures in 2025 and your attendance at any Junior parkrun counts towards your overall parkrun results/statistics.
Next week I’ll be returning to Liverpool to complete Princes parkrun in Liverpool!
Stay well, stay safe, happy running and happy volunteering!
For more insights and updates, visit www.Nuhorizons.uk
So good to volunteer!