parkrun report 646 – 20th April 2024 by Michael GACH

Brueton parkrun
Event number 646
20th April 2024

Report

A beautiful morning for a Parkrun and it was great that we had so many people turn out to Brueton; I'm always amazed to see what a large community we have every week. I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on my experiences of Parkrun and to let you know about my London Marathon fundraising that this has led me to (plus a request for your help).

Before I had attended Parkrun, my previous experiences of running at school weren't particularly interesting and so I decided it wasn't the sport for me. Yet after quite a bit of pushing from avid Parkrunner and friend, Helen Roskell (Horspath Parkrun), I eventually decided to attend my local Parkrun at Brueton. Two and half years ago on an Autumn weekend, armed with a barcode and some old trainers, I just turned up.

What a life-changing decision. From the very first moment of running with others and being cheered on by marshals, I knew this was my place. Suddenly I loved running. In that first Parkrun I finished the two laps of Brueton in 32 minutes and soon afterwards I saw my times quickly improve. Since then I have hardly missed a Parkrun on Saturday, and I have often taken the opportunity to visit other Parkrun locations. I am drawn back by the warm smiles, the regularity of the event and the great feeling of running in a park in the morning, whatever the weather. Without exaggeration, Parkrun is life-changing.

I am now approaching my 100th Parkrun and getting ever closer to my sub-20 minute goal. Tomorrow (Sunday), I will be running my first ever race, the London Marathon. I am running in aid of Tinnitus UK, a charity which supports patients who have tinnitus, a permanent ringing in the ears that affects 1 in 7 of the population. Many patients find this condition debilitating and it affects their daily lives, often impairing sleep.

I have been diagnosed with tinnitus but I also work as an ENT (Ear, Nose & Throat) doctor and a lot of my patients have this condition. Even though it is common, tinnitus can be devastating when patients are first diagnosed and people's mental health can also be severely affected. Tinnitus UK does great work spreading awareness of the condition, supporting patients in their moments of need and they also fund critical research into tinnitus.

If you would be able to help support my fundraising efforts for Tinnitus UK, then please donate using the link https://www.justgiving.com/page/michaelgach If you have tinnitus or would like to read more about the work of Tinnitus UK, please visit https://tinnitus.org.uk/

5 Random numbers

In 7th (because 1 in 7 people have tinnitus) was Peter SHACKLADY in 19:52
In 44th was Simon COLYER in 22:26
In 188th was Kian CHOHAN in 27:55
In 200th was Robert PERKS in 28:15
In 465th was John MEIKLE in 52:28

5 Random PB's

66 got the words New PB! attached to the results page. Amazing work everyone!
5 names at random
#92 Rufus JONES in 24:32
#176 Ben JONGMAN in 27:26
#255 Santosh UPADHYAY in 29:29
#385 Charlotte DOHERTY in 35:11
#456 Anne ALCOTT in 48:29

5 Random First Timers

We welcomed 43 to Brueton parkrun for the first time, with 10 taking part in their first ever parkrun. Welcome to parkrun!
5 first timers at random
#212 Ayo MUSTAPHA in 28:43
#286 Kesh PATEL in 30:58 (first parkrun)
#321 Rheanna GEOGHEGAN in 31:57 (first parkrun)
#426 William JOHNSON in 38:17 (first parkrun)
#475 Ursula SCOTT in 1hr 16:54 (first parkrun)

New run club members

It was all about the 25 club yesterday for Brueton registered parkrunners. Congratulations to
25 - Andrea BURNETT, Karen LARKIN, Louise WHITE, Siu Hung CHAN and Sonia MCCORMACK

New volunteer club members

...and 4 volunteer milestones to report for Brueton registered volunteers
v100 - Dean Paul JARDINE - at Malvern Park juniors)
v10 - James CHATWIN(Funnel Manager), Vedant UPADHYAY(Barcode Scanning) and Ziqi DING(Timekeeping)
Thank you for everything you've done for our events!

Your volunteer team this week

Michael ABBOTT • Fiona PENHALLURICK • Nick HANSON • Sarah SASSE • Justin SASSE • Chris DIX • Caroline ATKINS • Viv PAYNE • Paul GRIZZELL • Jessica SHANKS • Dawn PHILPOTT • Jake ANDREWS • Allan MASON • Kate SHEPHARD • Chris RAW • Mark SMITH • Chris ATKINS • Gail PARTRIDGE • Max CAPELIN • Kate BARR • Ralph SANDERS • Louise MCEVOY • Maria SMITH • James CHATWIN • Mark WIGGINS • Erica ADAMS • Harry ELLIOTT • Alex TICKNER • Joshua DANIEL • Sophie MITCHELL • Carol RICKWOOD • Ursula SCOTT • Euan GEORGE • Nate COLEMAN • Davi PATTAR • Grace GARNER • Michael GACH • Kyle COTTINGTON • James RAW • Archy LOWE • Anwesha MAHESHWARI • Shyam VADHER • Jake ELLIOT • Yusuf SATTAR • Ziqi DING • Constance LO • Lillie MCCORMACK • Raymond PHUNG • Vedant UPADHYAY • Ben HUMPHRIES • Danny JONES • Ryan PANDEY

Solihull parkruns in numbers

Total Finishers - 718
Volunteers - 96
Personal Bests - 114
First Timers to the events 80 (includes 29 brand new parkrunners. 10 @ Brueton, 8 @ Babbs Mill and 11 @ Malvern Park juniors)

Official report

Brueton parkrun
Event number 646
20th April 2024
This week 475 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 43 were first timers and 66 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 27 different clubs took part.

The event was made possible by 53 volunteers:

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Brueton parkrun Results Page.

Brueton parkrun started on 24th July 2010. Since then 22,419 participants have completed 217,295 parkruns covering a total distance of 1,086,475 km, including 31,526 new Personal Bests. A total of 1,563 individuals have volunteered 20,558 times.

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