Torrens parkrun #501 – January 28th 2023

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It was a hot one!!!  Humid too so well done to the 353 parkrunners that braved the muggy conditions and participated.  Some were fast and some took a little longer, it doesn't matter!!  We had plenty of first timers and PBs as well, well done to all on such a hot day - we're glad you didn't melt.  A healthy collection of tourists from around our wonderful country and plenty more from some rather exotic locations elsewhere on this little rock we're all trapped on orbiting a giant ball of nuclear fusion that we see as it was some eight or so minutes ago.  Well done Isobel Quick on 200 parkruns, my apologies if I missed you but I couldn't see any other milestones - all details are on the results page here.

We are very grateful to the volunteers who made this event happen every week, didn't  todays helpers they look amazing on course in their new vests!!!  Big thanks as always to: Judy M BAYLY, Kieron BERRY, Steven CAMERON, Ray CASTREE, James CORBETT, Ojo DOJO, Michael EMERSON, Linda GARDINER, Peter GARDINER, Hayley HILL, Mike HILL, Bailey KERR, Marino KOMLUSAN, Leah MACLENNAN, Mal MCMILLAN, Merrilyn MCMILLAN, Brett MORRIS, James RIEGER, Kent ROSSER, Nathan ROSSER, Aaron SARGENT, Madeleine SEITH, Elizabeth SLATTERY, Tiffany SMITH, Paul TEASDALE, Steph THOMSON, Stuart THOMSON, Justin WARNER.
Why not get involved and volunteer?

Torrens parkrun statistics
Events: 501
Finishers: 16,856
Finishes: 125,525
Average finishers per week: 250.5
Volunteers: 1,026
PBs: 18,243
Average finish time: 00:30:25
Average finishes per participant: 7.4
Groups: 909
Female record: Caitlin ADAMS – 16:17 – Event 339 ( 4 May 2019)
Male record: Riley COCKS – 14:35 – Event 205 (29 Oct 2016)
Age graded record: Jo THOMPSON - 99.09% 20:09 – Event 455 (19 Mar 2022)
It's been a while but here goes, on January 28th in:
1069 – Robert de Comines, appointed Earl of Northumbria by William the Conqueror, rides into Durham, England, where he is defeated and killed by rebels. This incident leads to the Harrying of the North.
1521 – The Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25.
1547 – Edward VI, the nine-year-old son of Henry VIII, becomes King of England on his father's death.
1591 – Execution of Agnes Sampson, accused of witchcraft in Edinburgh.
1624 – Sir Thomas Warner founds the first British colony in the Caribbean, on the island of Saint Kitts.
1671 – Original city of Panama (founded in 1519) is destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacks and sets fire to it. The site of the previously devastated city is still in ruins.
1724 – The Russian Academy of Sciences is founded in St. Petersburg, Russia, by Peter the Great, and implemented by Senate decree. It is called the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917.
1754 – Sir Horace Walpole coins the word serendipity in a letter to a friend.
1813 – Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom.
1855 – A locomotive on the Panama Canal Railway runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.
1871 – Franco-Prussian War: The Siege of Paris ends in French defeat and an armistice.
1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined one shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h).
1902 – The Carnegie Institution of Washington is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie.
1909 – United States troops leave Cuba, with the exception of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, after being there since the Spanish–American War.
1915 – An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard as a branch of the United States Armed Forces.
1916 – The Canadian province of Manitoba grants women the right to vote and run for office in provincial elections (although still excluding women of Indigenous or Asian heritage), marking the first time women in Canada are granted voting rights.
1918 – Finnish Civil War: The Red Guard rebels seize control of the capital, Helsinki; members of the Senate of Finland go underground.
1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
1922 – Knickerbocker Storm: Washington, D.C.'s biggest snowfall, causes a disaster when the roof of the Knickerbocker Theatre collapses, killing over 100 people.
1932 – Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
1933 – The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali Khan and is accepted by Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence.
1935 – Iceland becomes the first Western country to legalise therapeutic abortion.
1938 – The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W125 Rekordwagen at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph).
1941 – Franco-Thai War: Final air battle of the conflict. A Japanese-mediated armistice goes into effect later in the day.
1945 – World War II: Supplies begin to reach the Republic of China over the newly reopened Burma Road.
1956 – Elvis Presley makes his first national television appearance.
1958 – The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today.
1964 – An unarmed United States Air Force T-39 Sabreliner on a training mission is shot down over Erfurt, East Germany, by a Soviet MiG-19.
1965 – The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament.
1977 – The first day of the Great Lakes Blizzard of 1977, which dumps 3 metres (10 ft) of snow in one day in Upstate New York. Buffalo, Syracuse, Watertown, and surrounding areas are most affected.
1980 – USCGC Blackthorn collides with the tanker Capricorn while leaving Tampa, Florida and capsizes, killing 23 Coast Guard crewmembers.
1981 – Ronald Reagan lifts remaining domestic petroleum price and allocation controls in the United States, helping to end the 1979 energy crisis and begin the 1980s oil glut.
1984 – Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region.
1985 – Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single 'We Are the World' to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief.
1986 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-L mission: Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrates after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts on board.
1988 – In R v Morgentaler the Supreme Court of Canada strikes down all anti-abortion laws.
2002 – TAME Flight 120, a Boeing 727-100, crashes in the Andes mountains in southern Colombia, killing 94.
We're so lucky to have parkrun and as we all know parkrun is for everyone - even if it feels like we're in an oven!  Have a great weekend all you parkrun superstars.
Cheers,
Jim.