"Volunteers Shine"

TROPICAL weather and the hottest day of the year so far welcomed the 151 runners to the 112th running of Barry Island parkrun.

With the Eastern shelter being in use with the Gwyl Fach y Fro event, the runners undertook the 5k run using our much loved alternative course.

The alternative course uses a route that omits the promenade, utilising the gardens and headland portion of Barrybados for 3 'mildly undulating' laps.

On Thursday evening, run director, Dave Shields, was considering making the event non-timed as there were insufficient marshals to safely cover the course and provide the timing logistics.

Dave said: "With safety being the number one priority it would have been necessary to redploy those pencilled in for the finish funnel onto the course so that the essential marshal posts would be covered. Thankfully, a late surge in volunteers meant the threshold for the minimum number required for a timed event was reached." Dave added: "Marshalling at parkrun is very rewarding and gives an insight of what goes into putting on this free weekly event. Volunteer numbers are a continuing problem at a number of events and could be eased somewhat if people pledged to volunteer say once in every 10 runs."

The finish area team consisted of Ian Jenkins, acting as funnel manager, Alex Tombs and Richard Sewell on timing (Richard's first time on the watch!), Denise Aplin and Leanne Hockey on tokens and Jo Bagwell, Sarah Lees and Natalie Taylor on scanning duties. Jo caused quite a stir when spotted with a huge golf umbrella on such a fine day. With Jo being a seasoned scanning pro, it soon transpired that it was to effect some shade to assist in the laser scanning of runner barcodes and finish tokens. Out on the course, providing safety information for both runners and public alike, were: Nigel Adams, Mal Bradley, Marc Durkin, Tracy Elliston, Sarah Gronow, Kirstine Hughes, Tony Jenkins, Harriet and Paul Kehl, Scott Rose and Kirsty Wilson. A huge thanks goes out to all as without them, the timed run couldn't have taken place.

First finisher was Lee Mills, stopping the watches at 19:16. The 'first' lady, who was the 7th overall and a first timer to Barry, unfortunately did not present a barcode at the finish so her efforts went unrecognised in the results.

Of the 151 finishers, 21 were first timers, 10 recorded new PB's - no mean feat given the weather conditions - and 15 different running clubs were represented.

Male placings:

Lee Mills (VM40-44) of Islwyn RC, was first over the line in 19:16 - 6th time in 8 appearances.

Jeffrey Cox (VM50-54) of Les Croupiers RC, was second over the line in 19:36 - has been first to finish on 6 previous occasions.

James Jewell (VM40-44) of Bideford AAC, was third over the line in 19:57.

Female placings:

Rachel EALES (SW30-34) of Penarth & Dinas Runners, was first (12th overall) over the line in 22:40 - 5th time in 8 appearances.

Cath BRADLEY (SW30-34) of White Rock Runners, was second (25th overall) over the line in 25:54.

Sarah PHILLIPS (SW30-34) was third (32nd overall) over the line in 26:31.

The three highest age grades were recorded by:

Jeffrey COX (VM50-54) – 77.72% for the time 19:36 (second overall).

Lee MILLS (VM40-44) – 70.85% for the time 19:16 (first overall).

James JEWELL (VM40-44) – 68.92% for the time 19:57 (third overall).

The female record is held by Emma Wookey who recorded a time of 00:18:09 on 20th June 2015 (event number 8).

The male record is held by Oliver M Williams who recorded a time of 00:15:58 on 25th March 2017 (event number 100).

The Age Grade course record is held by Angharad Mair who recorded 88.54% (19:55) on 26th September 2015 (event number 21).

Barry Island parkrun started on 2nd May 2015. Since then 2,634 participants have completed 11,798 parkruns covering a total distance of 58,990 km, including 2,415 new Personal Bests.

Taking part in parkrun is easy. Simply register on www.parkrun.org.uk then print off your unique barcode. Bring this to any of the events across the globe, get it scanned at the end of your run, then see your name in the results. The parkrun website provides stats on all of your runs and also runs at a particular event, instantly showing you progress made.

Reminder 1: Junior parkrun is coming to Barry on 13/8/2017! It's a free 2k run for 4-14 year olds and will be held in Romilly Park on SUNDAY mornings at 9am

Reminder 2: There is no parkun at Barry on 24th June 2017 as the Beats Eats and Treats event is using the promenade and gardens. Why not come to Barry Island to check it out?