Month: August 2023

Posted on

August 2023 review

parkruns

The first Saturday of the month saw 56 of our members complete parkruns across 14 different parkrun locations. An impressive total considering I don’t think many of us escaped getting absolutely drenched. At Maesteg, OPR made up 3 of the top 5 overall with Claire Dunbar-Bowen the first female finisher and 10th overall. At Porthcawl, new member Angelo (Nico) Doria was first finisher overall in an outstanding 17:48. On the parkrun tourism front, Sally Pensom was in Bangor, Northern Ireland, Jamie Verran was 2nd overall at Aberdare parkrun, whilst Shawn Cullen and Julie Ransom ticked off a ‘U’ at University Parks in Oxford.

The second weekend of the month saw 68 runners across 14 different parkrun locations. Angelo Doria was our fastest runner of the day with a PB of 17:15 as he notched up another first finish at Porthcawl. Plenty of targeted tourism this week with Nick and Linda Harris at Oaklands, Kaye, Melinda an Huw at Jersey Farm, and Karl at Upton Court which I’m sure were all parkrun alphabet related trips. Sarah, Melanie, Dawn and Darija were at Teifi Marshes Nature Reserve which is the newest Welsh parkrun to come online.

The third weekend was a momentous occasion. After first being considered pre-lockdown several years ago and seemingly being ‘any day now’ for the last 18 months, it was finally the inaugural Aberfields parkrun. The heavy downpours before the start and unseasonably cool temperatures for the middle of August didn’t put off 180 runners turning up to run with 57 of those being from our club. It felt a bit like a BCRL event with our runners making up 12 of the first 20 runners across the line including Jake as the first finisher, setting the course record at a hard-to-beat 16:28. Claire Dunbar-Bowen can claim the club ladies course record with 24:23. We actually the first two and final two finishers with Angelo the second finisher whilst Karen Dando and Rhiannon Whiteley came in as the tail walkers. There was a huge cake to celebrate at the end before a load of parkrunners headed over to a packed Wyndham pub for breakfast.  A huge well done and congratulations to event director Jay Howells and a whole host of people that have volunteered as Run Directors and regular volunteers in the future.

On that third weekend, we actually had 31 runners elsewhere making it 88 runners across 7 parkruns. Karl ticked off an ‘I’ at Isabel Trail whilst everyone else was at local or South Wales parkruns.

August Bank Holiday weekend we had 83 runners across 15 different parkruns. We saw a sign of things to come with a relatively even split of members across Aberfields (23), Porthcawl (19) and Maesteg (17) with 24 tourists heading elsewhere. Johnson’s tours took 7 members to University Parks in Oxford with many chasing that ‘U’ for the parkrun alphabet.

Races

5K

The final Aberavon 5K of the 2023 series took place on the first Wednesday of the month. Gareth Battle was our first finisher in 18:53 with Aled finishing in 19:04, Mark Teesdale in 19:08 and a new PB for Wayne Hayhurst with 19:12. Aled finished third in the veterans category for the series but unfortunately only first place received a prize. Jo Jenkins ran her best time in almost a year with a 24:31 which also meant she finished 3rd in her age category for the series. We had 24 members at the event with 12 completing all 3 races in the series.

The Podium 5K is probably the closest we get as a club to an ‘elite’ only event. Jacob was the men’s race which was only for sub 16 runners! The first 4 runners finished in under 14 minutes. Jake smashed his 5K club record again with a 15:01. Incredibly he was ‘only’ around 50th out the 60 finishers going to show just how crazy fast the runners in that race were. There were also A and B races – you know – for those slow coaches that can only run sub 17/18/19 – I am of course joking and would love to be able to run these times myself. Nicky Bennett ran 16:11 whilst there were PB’s for Dylan Panting, Connor Panting, Scott Gray and Adam Kearns on a very successful night for some of our Flyers.

The Sunday before the Aberfields parkrun inaugural there was a trial run with OPR members making up 27 of the 66 runners and made up most of the volunteers.

The final 5K of the month was a new event in Swansea by Tri Hard Harriers which 7 of our members completed including a sub 40 a for our reigning Runners Runner Laura Worrall.

10K

We had 26 runners at the Barry 10K with Dylan Panting our first runner across the line in 40:37 followed by Tom Mahoney and Wayne Hayhurst. Jamie Verran bagged himself a PB of 43:27 in his first 10K for the club. Our first female finisher was Dragon 100 finisher Angharad Hinam.

Bank Holiday weekend saw 4 of our member take on the Narberth Nobbler 10K whilst we had 5 at the Severn Bridge 10K event.

Other Races

Three members took on the ‘Murder Mile’ race with Jacob Tasker smashing the course record.

Angelo Doria proved he has the speed over the longer distances as well with a 1:18:29 Half Marathon which is the fastest debut Half Marathon in the history of the club. Danny Ridley, David Sheard and Gregg Harris also completed the event.

Carl Walsh notched up another marathon with the Menddips Hill Marathon and also completed the Beast of Llangattock 32 mile ultra as he continues he quest to reach his 100th marathon/ultra at Snowdonia / Eryri Marathon at the end of October.

BCRL

The penultimate BCRL event saw 76 runners take on a tough course at Heol y Mynydd. The course had been changed to previous years which included a brutal incline that apparently only a handful of runners actually managed to run, as well as various terrain but also will some fast downhill sections. Jacob picked up his 12th BCRL win and 5th of this year which almost certainly means he’s won more BCRL fixtures than any other runner in the history of the BCRL. Our 18 year old superstar Angelo Doria was second overall and we again had a really strong top 10 in the men’s category. Our ladies were equally if not more impressive with another excellent top 10 backed up by big numbers picking up minus points to help the cause. Our club won the event putting us in a really strong position going into the final fixture as we attempt to retain our team title from last year.

Another incredible month and it’s over to Chris for the Chairman’s Runners of the Month.

To set markers in the sand and show improvement over them and then keep beating times is mightily impressive.  When this just keeps running on and on over an extended period it’s worthy of celebration.  It’s not just event times – it’s the consistent and persistent attitude to the training.  The dedication to getting out there and not resting on laurels.  Making improvements takes some focus.  When there’s consistency to training the improvements come.  More PB’s and regular sharing of progress.  Positivity abounds and it’s infectious.  Others feed off it and it inspires people to head out themselves.  Something I’ve lauded previously with others.  Sharing the whole story too – the highs and the lows can help others to understand their own peaks and troughs.  I’m sure we’re going to see a continued journey along the same path for some time.  Keep the focus going Laura Worrall – my first Chair’s Runner of the Month for August.  

It’s happened before, and I’m sure it will happen again.  A new member joins and bursts onto the scene with some gusto.   Taking many of us by surprise and causing us all to sit up and take notice.  It can be for many reasons – not always speed.  There can be many reasons for having an impact.  When first (or thereabouts) finish positions become the norm and prizes are collected for podium finish in competition, heads are turned.  Whether running for free in non-competetive events good times are recorded and directly transpose to events that scoop rewards.  Snapping at the heels of our fastest runners and with youth on his side, it’s no doubt we’re going to see progression here.  A marker has been set at a number of distances and I’m sure we’re going to see those times tumbling over the coming months.  Although we are saying a temporary farewell while academia beckons, I’m sure we’re going to see much more from this young man for years to come.  My second Chair’s Runner of the Month for August is Angelo Nico Dorio.  Well done Nico – keep up the excellent work!

Posted on

11 years of our club – the stats report

On Monday 20th August 2012, around a dozen of us met in the Berwyn Centre in Nantymoel to discuss setting up a club in the Ogmore Valley and our club was formed.

To celebrate our 11 year anniversary I thought we’d have a look at the incredible stats that we have accumulated over that time.

31,018 results have been recorded from 570 different members (past and present) from 4.374 events. In total the club has been represented at 1,087 different events.

Longest Standing Members

Aled Hughes, John Burridge Helen Griffiths and I attended that first meeting and are the only four ‘founding members’ who are still currently members of the club.

Other long standing members who have all been heavily involved in the club since the early days include Nick Harris, Denise Bradley, Liz Davis, David Kembery, Richard Lowcock James, Kevin Raymond, Fiona Evans and Chris Pratt who all joined within the first 2 years.

Most Events Records

Total events top 10 (races and parkruns combined)

  1. Gareth Jenkins 757
  2. Nick Harris 711
  3. Aled Hughes 557
  4. Chris Pratt 548
  5. David Kembery 471
  6. David Sheard 435
  7. Kris Denholm 402
  8. Dawn Hopkins 399
  9. Chris Roberts 377
  10. Jo Jenkins 355

Since last years post, Aled has overtaken Chris P into 3rd place, Dawn has overtaken Chris R into 8th overall, and Jo Jenkins has recently overtaken Denise to pop into the top 10.

Total events top 10 (races only)

  1. Gareth Jenkins 328
  2. Nick Harris 283
  3. Aled Hughes 234
  4. Chris Pratt 206
  5. Dawn Hopkins 197
  6. Denise Bradley 181
  7. Sharon Pritchard 155
  8. Mark Worrall 153
  9. Debbie Bennion 148
  10. Gareth Richards 148

After Dawn, Denise, Sharon and Debbie our next top females for number of races are Jo Jenkins (138), Fiona Drysdale (130) and Emma Loyns (129).

Most events in a single year (parkruns plus races)

  1. Nick Harris 125 in 2019 – also set the record for most races that year with 73
  2. Aled Hughes 116 in 2019 – became the first member to run all 55 available parkruns
  3. Christie Coleman 108 in 2016
  4. Gareth Jenkins 101 in 2015
  5. Gareth Jenkins 100 in 2019
  6. Dawn Hopkins 95 in 2023
  7. Aled Hughes 94 in 2023
  8. Gareth Jenkins 93 in 2016
  9. Dawn Hopkins 89 in 2019
  10. Sarah Davies 89 in 2023

Aled Hughes is currently leading the way so far this year and is on course to have a third entry in this top 10 when it’s refreshed next year. Just missing out on this list are Jo Jenkins, Sharon Pritchard and Debbie Bennion who did 88, 86 and 85 events respectively in 2019.

Longest race distances run (the top 10+ are all now 100 milers so just in date order)

  1. Nick Harris 100 miles – Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra – May 2017
  2. Jamie Vanstone 100 miles – Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra – May 2017
  3. Nick Harris 100 miles – Dragon 100 – May 2019
  4. Steven James 100 miles – London to Battle 1066 Ultra – July 2019
  5. Steven James 100 miles – Dragon 100 – September 2019
  6. Elizabeth Sim 100 miles – Dragon 100 – September 2019
  7. Gareth Jenkins 100 miles – Centaur 100 – June 2022
  8. Gareth Richards 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2022
  9. Gareth Jenkins 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
  10. Gareth Richards 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
  11. Emma Loyns 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
  12. Angharad Hinam 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023

Incredibly not making the list we have a further 92 finishes over 40 miles as well. I’ve also run 88 miles (local charity event), 80 miles (Conquer24), 77 miles (Escape from Meriden), 50 miles (Dragon 50) and 50 miles (Loopathon charity event). Wayne Hayhurst, and Simon Poole have done different 100K events (62.2 miles) whilst Denise Bradley, Fiona Evans, Mel Thomas and Rhiain Casseldine-Forman have run 100K split over 2 days. Several other members have done the Gower 50 miler and Brecon to Cardiff (44 miles). Including the Vale Ultra and all other Ultra distance finishes, the number of Ultra finishes is 286 from 71 different past and present members. If virtual events were counted then Steven James would make the list again with 84 miles for the Last Runner Standing event with Kris Denholm and myself completing 72 miles.

Most number of Ultra’s completed (official events only)

  1. Kris Denholm 21
  2. Gareth Richards 20
  3. Emma Loyns 15
  4. Steven James 13
  5. Nick Harris 12
  6. Gareth Jenkins 11
  7. Liz Sim 9 (much higher with those done whilst not a member)
  8. Wayne Hayhurst 8
  9. Jamie Vanstone / Simon Harrison / Chris Pratt

48 current members have run an Ultra with 24 of those doing more than 1.

Most number of Marathons completed (official events only)

  1. Chris Pratt 38
  2. Carl Walsh 23 (over 90 marathons or ultras including those before joining us)
  3. Nick Harris 17
  4. Kris Denholm 17
  5. Wayne Hayhurst 16
  6. Gareth Richards 15
  7. Emma Loyns 14
  8. Liz Sim 14
  9. David Kembery / Niki Puleio 13

89 current members have run a marathon with the club meaning around 34% of our current total membership have run a marathon. 67 of those have run more than 1 marathon.

Most number of Half Marathons completed (official events only)

  1. Gareth Jenkins 68
  2. Chris Pratt 31
  3. Nick Harris 30
  4. Denise Bradley 28
  5. Dawn Hopkins 28
  6. David Kembery 26
  7. Mark Worrall 26
  8. Sharon Pritchard 25
  9. Liz Davis / Debbie Bennion / Wayne Hayhurst 24

Interestingly these figures haven’t changed massively since last year which maybe indicates a preference for longer or shorter events for some of our most regular race entrants. 161 current members (around two-thirds of our total membership) have run a Half Marathon with the club. 140 of those have run more than one, and incredibly 52 members have run 10 Half Marathons or more with the club.

Most number of 10Ks completed (official events only)

  1. Gareth Jenkins 51
  2. Dawn Hopkins 51
  3. Sharon Pritchard 49
  4. Debbie Bennion 46
  5. Aled Hughes 36
  6. Nick Harris 35
  7. Emma Morris 31
  8. Denise Bradley 29
  9. Mark Worrall / Niki Puleio 28

184 current members have completed a 10K with the club which is around 75% of our membership.

Number of event finishes by distance

  1. 5K / parkrun – 19,609
  2. Other distances – 4,883
  3. 10K – 2,788
  4. Half Marathon – 2,129
  5. Marathon – 654
  6. 5 mile – 419
  7. Ultra – 285
  8. 10 mile – 251

Biggest events by number of members finishing

  1. Cardiff Half Marathon 2019 – 116 finishers
  2. Ogmore Castle BCRL 2019 – 114
  3. Kenfig Sands BCRL 2022 – 98
  4. Porthcawl 10K 2019 – 97
  5. Sandy Bowl 2023 – 95
  6. Planka BCRL 2022 – 93
  7. Merthyr Mawr Lane 5K BCRL race 2017 – 92
  8. Cardiff Half Marathon 2016 – 92
  9. Llanilid Loop BRCL race 2019 – 92
  10. Ogmore Castle BCRL race 2022 – 92
  11. Cardiff Half Marathon 2018 – 91
  12. Cardiff Half Marathon 2017 – 90
  13. Pencoed BCRL 2022 – 90
  14. Sandy Bowl BCRL 2022 – 90
  15. Pencoed BCRL 2023 – 89

In total there have been 54 races where we’ve had 50 or more members finishing. 32 of those are BCRL races with Cardiff Half also making a frequent appearance. Our biggest Marathon attendance was at Snowdonia in 2019 when we had 45 finishers.

We’ve also had 65 finishers at Porthcawl parkrun on 2 occasions – way back on Christmas Eve 2016, and then again in September 2019 which coincided with a Zero to Hero graduation. On the latter date, we also had a record 85 members finishing a parkrun on the same morning and more than 100 members attending a parkrun when including those that volunteered or supported.

Most popular races by number of times club has been represented (excluding parkruns)

  1. Aberavon / Run4All 5K series – 15*
  2. SSAFA 5K (Cardiff) series – 15
  3. Cardiff Half Marathon (including World Half) – 10*
  4. Llanelli Half Marathon – 9*
  5. Cardiff 10K – 8*
  6. Swansea Bay (Paul Popham) 5K series – 11
  7. Merthyr Mawr Pudding Run – 9*
  8. Swansea 10K – 9*
  9. Caerphilly 10K – 8*
  10. London Marathon – 8*
  11. Cardiff 10K – 8*

*club has been represented in every one of these events since we formed or the series stared. Aberavon / R4A series could arguably be 22 as we’ve also done all 7 Santa 5K’s there as well.

Club record progression

Male records

5K / parkrun

First 5K / parkrun result: Ross Jones – Cardiff parkrun – September 2012 – 26:31.

First sub 20: John Burridge – Porthcawl pakrun – May 2013 – 19:59

First sub 19: Neil Jones – Pontypridd parkrun – October 2015 – 18:58

First sub 18: Neil Jones – Cardiff parkrun – May 2016 – 17:41

First sub 17: Neil Jones – Pontypridd parkrun – December 2017 – 16:55

Current club record: Jacob Tasker – SSAFA 5K – July 2022 – 15:01

10K

First 10K result: Gareth Jenkins – Cardiff 10K – September 2012 – 48:25

First sub 45: Gareth Jenkins – Cardiff 10K – September 2013 – 44:17

First sub 40: Neil Jones – Caerphilly 10K – June 2015 – 39:31

Current club record: Jacob Tasker – Caerphilly 10K – May 2023 – 31:45

Half Marathon

First Half Marathon result: Matthew Jones – Great North Run – September 2012 – 1:48:26

First sub 1:40: Matthew Jones – Cardiff Half Marathon – October 2012 – 1:39:05

First sub 1:30: John Burridge – Cardiff Half Marathon – October 2013 – 1:29:31

First sub 1:20: Neil Jones – Swansea Half Marathon – June 2016 – 1:18:51

Former Club Record – Neil Jones – Cardiff Half Marathon – October 2018 – 1:18:33

Current Club Record: Jacob Tasker – Swansea Half Marathon – June 2023 – 1:09:35

Marathon

First Marathon result: Phil Lewis – Budapest Marathon – October 2012 – 4:14:49

First sub 4 hour: Chris Mogg – London Marathon – April 2013 – 3:59:04

First sub 3:30: Aled Hughes – Manchester Marathon – April 2015 – 3:28:27

First sub 3:20: Kevin Raymond – Great Welsh Marathon – April 2015 – 3:18:46

First sub 3 hour: Neil Jones – Great Welsh Marathon – April 2016 – 2:57:43

Club Record: Neil Jones – Newport Marathon – April 2019 – 2:43:07

Fastest current member: Niki Puleio – Chicago Marathon – October 2022 – 2:48:21

Female records

5K / parkrun

First 5K / parkrun result: Elinor Marsh – Cardiff parkrun – March 2013 – 32:52

First sub 24: Helen Davies – Porthcawl pakrun – April 2013 – 23:16

First sub 22: Sian Price – Porthcawl parkrun – November 2016 – 21:14

First sub 21: Anneliese Loveluck – Porthcawl parkrun – October 2018 – 20:41

Current club record*: Emma Morris – Swansea parkrun – September 2021 – 19:52

10K

First sub 50: Helen Davies – Cardiff 10K – September 2013 – 48:31

First sub 48: Heather Garratt – Swansea 10K – September 2015 – 47:51

First sub 47: Josie Bishop – Cardiff Bay 10K – April 2017 – 46:29

Club Record: Anneliese Loveluck – Magor 10K – July 2018 – 41:26

Fastest current member: Emma Morris – Swansea 10K – September 2021 – 42:19

Half Marathon

First Half Marathon result: Helen Davies – Cardiff Half Marathon – October 2012 – 1:48:40

First sub 1:45: Julie Webster – Llanelli Half Marathon – March 2016 – 1:44:43

First sub 1:42: Sian Price – Cardiff Half Marathon – October 2017 – 1:41:44

Current Club Record – Anneliese Loveluck – Merthyr Half Marathon – March 2019 – 1:32:33

Fastest current member: Emma Morris – Tewksbury Half Marathon 2022 – 1:38:02

Marathon

First Marathon result: Fiona Evans – London Marathon – April 2014 – 4:23:02

First sub 4:15: Lorna Domachowski – Manchester Marathon – April 2015 – 4:12:06

First sub 4 hours: Julie Webster – Manchester Marathon – April 2016 – 3:48:55

Club Record: Anneliese Loveluck – Great Welsh Marathon – April 2019 – 3:13:56

Fastest time from a current member: Claire Dunbar-Bowen – London – April 2023 – 3:46:07

Presentation Nights

Runners Runner Winners Roll of Honour

  1. 2013 – Gareth Jenkins
  2. 2014 – Nick Harris
  3. 2015 – Chris Pratt
  4. 2016 – Christie Coleman
  5. 2017 – Niki Puleio
  6. 2018 – Tammie Baker
  7. 2019 – Nick Harris
  8. 2020 – Kris Denholm
  9. 2021 – Jacob Tasker
  10. 2022 – Laura Worrall

Most main awards won

This includes Runners Runner, Best in age category, Club Championship winners, Most Improved, Best Newcomer, Zero to Hero, Spirit of the Phoenix and Outstanding Achievement. The number represents the number of times they have won in total and in brackets are the years they won one or more prizes.

  1. Denise Bradley 9 (2014, 2016, 2019, 2021)
  2. Gareth Richards 7 (2017, 2020, 2022)
  3. Niki Puleio 7 (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)
  4. Jacob Tasker 6 (2021, 2022)
  5. Neil Jones 6 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
  6. Claire Dunbar-Bowen 6 (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022)
  7. Nick Harris 5 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
  8. Emma Loyns 5 (2018, 2019, 2022)
  9. Keith Coleman 4 (2016, 2019, 2020, 2022)
  10. Adrian Pearce / Aled Hughes / Anneliese Loveluck / Chris Pratt / Christie Coleman / Gareth Jenkins / Juliet Amner / Kevin Raymond – all received 3

77 different members have received awards over the 10 presentation nights.

parkrun specific stats

Like it, loathe it, or just indifferent to it, parkrun is a huge part of our club with over 50% of all results recorded to date being parkrun finishes. We also have a significant amount of parkrun tourists so I thought I’d share some of the crazy stats and challenges below.

Most popular parkruns (number of parkrundays with at least one club finisher)

  1. Porthcawl 451
  2. Maesteg 225
  3. Pontypridd 158
  4. Swansea Bay 144
  5. Cardiff 119
  6. Grangemoor 99
  7. Gnoll 90
  8. Barry Island 89
  9. Newport 75
  10. Llanelli Coast / Sandy Water 74

There have been 404 events at Porthcawl meaning there have only been 4 parkruns at Porthcawl with no members of the club finishing – all of these were in 2013 and the last time we had no recorded results at Porthcawl was 12th October 2012. Niki Puleio, Chris Pratt and David Sheard were all in attendance that day but weren’t members at that point. I’ll take the blame as I was our only member who was parkrunning that day but went to Pontypridd. Nevertheless, it does mean we’ve been represented at the last 376 Porthcawl parkruns that have gone ahead. At Maesteg we have 100% record with at least 1 member at every one of their 176 parkruns so far – Tom Mahoney saved that record recently when he was the only finisher from the club although we did have a few others volunteering.

Total number of parkruns Top 10 – ranked by number done with club then numbers in brackets are total parkruns run including those before joining the club

  1. Gareth Jenkins 429 (429)
  2. Nick Harris 428 (428)
  3. Chris Pratt 341 (412)
  4. David Kembery 332 (332)
  5. Aled Hughes 323 (323)
  6. Chris Roberts 308 (336)
  7. David Sheard 294 (383)
  8. Kris Denholm 281 (359)
  9. Bev Sheard 221 (221)
  10. Jo Jenkins 217 (252)

When looking at overall numbers including those done before joining club then we also have Peter Harrop (270), Richard Lowcock James (264), Claire Goldsworthy (222) and Liz Davis (211).

Top 10 volunteers (number of different days volunteering – includes volunteering at both the 5K and junior parkruns)

  1. Alison Allen 264
  2. Stephne Puddy 241
  3. Karl Johnson 195
  4. Rhiannon Whitely 131
  5. Chris Stanlake 119
  6. Angela Parry 117
  7. Freya Allen 115
  8. Richard Lowcock James 105
  9. Sian Jenkins 72
  10. Kris Denholm 72

This information isn’t as easy to find so apologies to anyone I’ve missed who would make this list. These numbers have shot up since last year with Rhiannon, Chris, Angela and Richard all passing 100 in that period plus the addition of Alison and Freya plus Stephne and Karl notching up more than 50 in the last year. The numbers will also include volunteer stints done before joining the club. Also have to mention some former members – Maria Lalic has done more than 350 different days of volunteering, Emma Marshall who is on 257, Michael Brain who is on over 100 as well as Dave H Evans with a significant proportion of each of these being whilst a member of the club.

Top 10 parkrun tourists (number of different venues)

  1. Chris Roberts 125
  2. Karl Johnson 121
  3. Julie Ransom 116
  4. Dawn Hopkins 109
  5. Shawn Cullen 109
  6. Gareth Jenkins 102
  7. Kris Denholm 80
  8. Sarah Davies 76
  9. Chris Stanlake 75
  10. Jo Jenkins 72

I was the early leader for parkrun tourism and was the first to complete 20 different parkruns back in 2015 and led the way until mid 2017 when Shawn and Julie took over and were in joint top spot for over 4 years and became the first to reach 100 different parkruns. Karl Johnson breifly held top spot but for the past few months its Chris Roberts who has been top of our tourism table. In the past year, I also joined the ‘Cowell’ club by running 100 different parkrun venues becoming the 6th member to do so. Chris Pratt was also one of our early regular tourists and set himself a challenge of running all the Welsh parkruns in 2015 when I believe there were around 15 or 16. Shawn and Julie have by far the highest ‘tourist percentage’ in the club having run 109 different venues in just 143 parkruns overall. Jamie Verran is heading for all sorts of tourism records and is currently on a club record tourism streak having done 35 different parkruns in a row.

Most new parkrun venues visited in a calendar year

  1. Karl Johnson 35 in 2019
  2. Jamie Verran 34 in 2023
  3. Dawn Hopkins 30 in 2019
  4. Dawn Hopkins 27 in 2022
  5. Shawn and Julie 26 in 2019
  6. Karl Johnson 25 in 2017
  7. Sarah Davies 25 in 2022
  8. Toni Howells 25 in 2022
  9. Sarah Davies 24 in 2019
  10. Paul Barrett / Melanie Thomas 24 in 2023
  11. Shawn and Julie 24 in 2018

Jamie is on the brink of setting a new record in a calendar year and is likely to set an unbreakable number given he’s even done a special (extra) day overseas this year as well and therefore could exceed 52.

parkrun Alphabeteers (members who have run a parkrun starting with every letter of the alphabet)

Dawn Hopkins was the first to achieve this followed by Sarah Davies. Alexis and Paul Barrett in becoming alphabeteers with Paul completing it in just 68 parkruns overall.

Dawn is now on course to complete it for the second time!

We have around a dozen members who are all just a few letters away from completing the challenge.

‘Gold Obsessive’ parkrunners (members who have run 50 or more parkruns in a calendar year)

  1. Gareth Jenkins – on 4 separate years
  2. Aled Hughes – on 4 separate years
  3. Nick Harris – on 2 seperate years
  4. Kris Denholm – on 1 occasion

Surprisingly despite being on more than 300 parkruns each, Chris Pratt, David Sheard, Chris Roberts and David Kembery don’t make the list, although all have been just one or two off on a couple of occasions. Aled Hughes and Kris Denholm are the only members to have run every parkrun occasion available in the UK in a single year (52 Saturdays plus New Years Day and Christmas Day).

Stopwatch Bingo (collecting finishing times ending in all possible numbers from 00 to 59 seconds)

  1. Chris Roberts – completed in 202 parkruns (started before joining club)
  2. Aled Hughes – completed in 203 parkruns
  3. Richard Lowcock James – completed in 210 parkruns (started before joining club)
  4. David Sheard – completed in 214 parkruns (started before joining club)
  5. Jo Jenkins – completed in 216 parkrun (started before joining club)
  6. Nick Harris – completed in 222 parkruns
  7. David Kembery – completed in 256 parkruns
  8. Chris Pratt – completed in 258 parkruns
  9. Peter Harrop – completed in 260 parkruns
  10. Gareth Jenkins – completed in 286 parkruns

Kris Denholm has the most parkruns without completing this challenge and is on 359 parkruns and still has 1 more to tick off (number 9). Since last year, Jo Jenkins and Peter Harrop have joined the list of having completed Stopwatch Bingo.

Some other random parkrun stats

Earliest parkrunner (former member) – Ann Davies – 23rd February 2008 at Cardiff parkrun – Ann was in the first 13,000 to sign up for parkrun and there are now over 7 million registered worldwide.

Earliest parkrunner (current member) – Jo Jenkins – 14th February 2009 at Cardiff parkrun – Jo was in the first 27,000 in the world to sign up for parkrun

Fastest to reach 50 parkruns – Jamie Verran – 47 weeks from 1st to 50th

Fastest to reach 100 parkruns – Nick Harris – 107 weeks from 1st to 100th

Fastest to reach 250 parkruns – Nick Harris – 274 weeks from 1st to 250th

Longest to reach 100 parkruns – Ann Davies – 564 weeks from 1st to 100th

Most International Tourisms – Chris Roberts – 13 – Chris ran 11 parkruns in Australia whilst there over on two separate occasions over Christmas / New Year and has also run parkruns in Denmark and Poland.

Number of different parkruns visited by all members past and present – 404

Number of different parkrun countries visited by all members past and present – 15 (UK, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Canada, France, USA, Norway, Australia, Russia, Netherlands, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden)

Longest parkrun streak – Kris Denholm – 92 parkruns

Current ongoing parkrun streak – Jamie Verran – 74 parkruns

Number of current members to have reached 50 parkruns – 109

Number of current members to have reached 100 parkruns – 58

Number of current members to have reached 250 parkruns – 11

Most runs at Maesteg parkrun – Aled Hughes 111

Most runs at Porthcawl parkrun – Nick Harris 329

Most parkruns only at one venue (no touring) – Claire Goldsworthy – all 222 parkruns at Porthcawl

Other stats

Longest standing coach – Aled Hughes

Longest standing committee member – Liz Davis (secretary / general committee)

Longest standing captain – Gareth Jenkins

Most age category records – Kevin Raymond

Most club records – Jacob Tasker

Number of current members to have run 100 events (parkruns plus races for the club) – 73

Highest number of events without doing a parkrun – Simon Harrison – 74

Number of people to have recorded a result with the club – 570

And finally….

Number of hours spend collecting these stats over the past 11 years: I don’t want to even think about it but it’s something I enjoy and will continue to do. Hopefully if you’ve got this far then you’ve enjoyed reading the stats. I’ll do a refresh of all the numbers for the 12 year anniversary – until then, happy running.