ON A beautiful sunny but chilly Saturday morning it was the 79th Barry Island parkrun.

The sun was shining on a calm sea and there was a slight breeze to spur the runners on around the course. It would’ve been easy to mistake it for a July morning.

Among the 128 runners that completed the 5km course that takes participants along the promenade up through the gardens and out onto Nell’s Point before turning around and heading back were 23 runners that were tackling the route for the first time.

These included parkrun visitors from Bushy Park, Leigh on Sea and Andover who thoroughly enjoyed the challenging course, friendly atmosphere and enthusiastic marshals.

Notable finishers this week included regular parkrunner Richard Williams (Seriously Mad Runners) who, after a long road back from injury celebrated his 50th parkrun and joined his wife Lisa and daughters Bethan and Caitlin who all joined the 50 Club back in the summer.

Richard was also one of the 36 runners who managed to achieve personal bests this week on the slightly undulating course, as was Glyn Fletcher (Les Croupiers RC) who was first to finish in a time of 17:12. In second place was Lance Cooksey who made his way around in 17:45. Third male finisher this week was an unknown runner.

For the ladies it was Seriously Mad Runner Caitlin, youngest of the Williams family finishing first for the fifth time in 60 appearances in an impressive time of 23:22 beating Kirsty Wilson into second place, crossing the line in 24:44. Third place for the ladies was Yvonne Williams (Penarth and Dinas Runners) who finished in a PB time of 25:12.

If you have been thinking about running at parkrun but are a little bit unsure, just print your barcode that’s assigned to you when you register at parkrun.org.uk/register and take it with you. The event starts at 9am and starts under the Eastern Shelter on the promenade at Barry Island.

Each week there is a new runners briefing at 8.50am to ensure you are aware of the parkrun basic rules and safety information and to ensure you know the route.

Friendly marshals are always around for you to ask any questions.

If running is not your thing then each week it takes a minimum of 17 volunteers to ensure the parkrun can take place. If you want to have a go at volunteering at Barry Island parkrun or if you have a race coming up or if you are currently nursing an injury please have a think about volunteering, Barry Island parkrun needs you.

You will be given any support you need for the role you undertake and is friendly and such fun cheering the runners around.

You can get in touch at barryislandhelpers@parkrun.com