Now on to the main report - I forgot to do a Star Wars style parkrun event report on 4th May - so I am doing a belated one today!
A long time ago in a park not too far way…
The East Coast Park parkrun was in session with event 345!
Today Emporer Renee VAN DE BULT was in charge of proceedings at todays podrace (aka parkrun). She was ably assisted by her legion of stormtroopers:
88 Runners of all abilities gathered to participate in the free, weekly, timed 5k event.
The course was flat and fast, and was perfect for parkrunners and walkers of all levels. The event was timed, so runners could see their official time for the run with a barcode scanning system, so runners could collect points towards their parkrun milestone scores.
The East Coast Park parkrun is a great way to get fit, meet new people, and enjoy the outdoors. On this particular day - it felt like we were running in the desserts of Tatooine - it felt HOT!
The parkrunners lined up at the start line, eager to get started. The starter gave the signal, and the runners were off. They quickly spread out across the course, each runner running at their own pace. Imran as usual started out like a Pod speedster and ended up limping home like a Bantha!
The park was especially beautiful today with a stunning sunrise! And some of the trees looked like they were from the Jungles of Naboo.
Todays podrace winner was parkrun debutant Ezra Ganske running his first ever parkrun with a hyperdrive time of 19:25 that puts the Millenium Falcon to shame!
Joining him on the Kessel Run podium were Viraaj Mehta and Stephen Ramwell who came 2nd and 3rd.
We had 13 parkrunners who completed their first ever parkrun today! 5 of whom came in the Top 30! The Empire is still deciding whether to punish these individuals with double the entry fee for next weeks run for being far too fast for us mere mortals!
A huge galactic commendation must go to Zoe B (in the 11-14 age group) who was running her 2nd ever parkrun and finished as the fastest female finisher with a time of 24:12!!
A special mention to young Alex Ko who joined us for parkrun today after hearing about it on veteran parkrace speedster Pris Chews running blog (prischew.com).
The runners ran and ran, until they reached the finish line. They crossed the line, cheered by the volunteers who were there to greet them. They collected their finish tokens and their barcodes, and they headed off to the Starbucks to enjoy a well-deserved drink and a chat with their fellow runners.
It had been a great day at the East Coast Park parkrun. The runners had enjoyed the run, the company, and the weather. They had all made new friends, and they had all gotten a little bit fitter.
And as the runners headed home, they all knew that they would be back next week for another parkrun.
May the force be with you…
