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 12 year anniversary I thought we’d have a look at the incredible stats that we have accumulated over that time.
36,404 results have been recorded from 602 different members (past and present) from 5,049 events. In total the club has been represented at 1,211 different events.
Longest Standing Members (based on first event if joining date not known)
- Gareth Jenkins / Aled Hughes / Helen Griffiths / John Burridge – August 2012
- Nick Harris – May 2013
- Steven Clatworthy – Oct 2013
- Dai Kembery / Denise Bradley – Mar 2013
- Richard Lowcock James – May 2014
- Kevin Raymond – June 2014
- Fiona Evans – Sept 2014
- Chris Pratt – Oct 2014
- Liz Davis – Nov 2014
- Alica Thomas / Chris Roberts – Jan 2015
- Dawn Hopkins / Jayne Kembery – April 2015
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.
You may be wondering who Steven Clatworthy is – amazingly despite not attending any club sessions or running specifically for OPR in the last 9-10 years, he continues to renew his membership every year to support a local club.
It’s interesting how many of those listed play significant roles in the club with 3 of the 4 captaincy group, our Chair, two members who have been instrumental in running our juniors section since it’s inception to current day, and several committee members included. We do always welcome anyone to apply for the positions or volunteer in any capacity whether you are a new member or been with us for 10+ years.
Most Events Records
Total events top 10 (races and parkruns combined)
- Gareth Jenkins 848
- Nick Harris 797
- Chris Pratt 620
- Aled Hughes 616
- David Kembery 524
- David Sheard 497
- Dawn Hopkins 484
- Kris Denholm 470
- Jo Jenkins 421
- Chris Roberts 420
Since last years post, Chris Pratt has overtaken Aled into 3rd place after the two had swapped places last year. Dawn has overtaken Kris Denholm into 7th overall and is our highest placed female member. Jo Jenkins has recently overtaken Chris Roberts into 9th overall and is the only member of the top 10 to have been a member for less than 8 years.
Total events top 10 (races only)
- Gareth Jenkins 372
- Nick Harris 316
- Aled Hughes 245
- Chris Pratt 233
- Dawn Hopkins 230
- Denise Bradley 200
- Sharon Pritchard 181
- Mark Worrall 180
- Debbie Bennion 178
- David Sheard 166
After Dawn, Denise, Sharon and Debbie our next top females for number of races are Jo Jenkins (162) and Fiona Drysdale (151)
Most events in a single year (parkruns plus races)
- Nick Harris 125 in 2019 – also set the record for most races that year with 73
- Aled Hughes 116 in 2019 – became the first member to run all 55 available parkruns
- Christie Coleman 108 in 2016
- Gareth Jenkins 101 in 2015
- Gareth Jenkins 100 in 2019
- Dawn Hopkins 95 in 2022
- Aled Hughes 94 in 2022
- Gareth Jenkins 93 in 2016
- Aled Hughes 90 in 2023
- Dawn Hopkins 89 in 2019 / Sarah Davies 89 in 2022
I am currently leading the way so far this year and could be on course to have a fourth 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 100 mile club (in date order)
- Nick Harris 100 miles – Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra – May 2017
- Jamie Vanstone 100 miles – Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra – May 2017
- Nick Harris 100 miles – Dragon 100 – May 2019 (first member to run two 100 milers)
- Steven James 100 miles – London to Battle 1066 Ultra – July 2019
- Steven James 100 miles – Dragon 100 – September 2019
- Elizabeth Sim 100 miles – Dragon 100 – September 2019 (first female member to run 100)
- Gareth Jenkins 100 miles – Centaur 100 – June 2022
- Gareth Richards 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2022
- Gareth Jenkins 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
- Gareth Richards 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
- Emma Loyns 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
- Angharad Hinam 100 miles – Dragon 100 – July 2023
- Gareth Richards 100 miles – Pembrokeshire Coastal Ultra – May 2024 (first to run three)
Next top 10 longest
- Gareth Jenkins – 88 miles – 24 hour charity event – Feb 2023
- Gareth Jenkins – 80 miles – Conquer 24 – June 2022
- Gareth Jenkins – 77 miles – Escape from Meriden – Nov 2022
- Wayne Hayhurst – 62 miles – London to Brighton 100K – Apr 2017
- Fiona Evans – 62 miles – Race to the Stones 100K – Aug 2021
- Denise Bradley – 62 miles – Race to the Stones 100K – Aug 2021
- Simon Poole – 62 miles – Race to the Stones 100K – Aug 2023
- Melanie Thomas – 62 miles – Race to the Stones 100K – Aug 2023 (over 2 days)
- Rhiain Casseldine-Forman – 62 miles – Race to the Stones 100K – Aug 2023 (over 2 days)
- Anneliese Loveluck – 60 miles – Dare Valley 12 hour – Sept 2019
The 50(ish) mile club
- Gareth Jenkins – 53 miles – Loop-a-thon – Sept 2023
- Steven James – 52 miles – Race to the King – June 2019
- Carl Walsh – 52 miles – Race to the King – June 2021
- Denise Bradley – 52 miles – Race to the Tower – June 2022
- Simon Harrison – 52 miles – Race to the Tower – July 2018
- Steven James – 52 miles – Race to the Tower – July 2018
- Emma Loyns – 50 miles – EDDUM – Aug 2022
- Gareth Jenkins – 50 miles – Loop-a-thon – Aug 2022
- Denise Bradley – 50 miles – 24 hour charity event – Feb 2023
- Dragon 50 – Gareth Jenkins, Dai James, Leanne Parsons
- Gower 50 – Gareth Richards (4 times), Kris Denholm (3 times), Nick Harris (3 times), Neil Jones, Tim Phillips, Aled Hughes, Brian Cotton, Liz Sim, Simon Harrison, Mark Worrall
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 whilst I also did two other 50+ milers as part of virtual challenges.
Most number of Ultra’s (50 miles+) completed (official events only)
- Gareth Jenkins 8 (11 including virtual)
- Gareth Richards 7
- Nick Harris 5
- Steven James 4 (5 including virtual)
- Kris Denholm 3 (4 including virtual)
- Denise Bradley 3
Most number of Ultra’s completed (official events only)
- Carl Walsh 22 (much higher with those done before joining the club)
- Kris Denholm / Gareth Richards 21
- Emma Loyns 15 (couple more since leaving the club)
- Steven James 13 (much higher since leaving the club including 200+ milers)
- Nick Harris 12
- Gareth Jenkins 12
- Liz Sim 9 (much higher with those done whilst not a member)
- Wayne Hayhurst 8
- Jamie Vanstone / Simon Harrison / Chris Pratt 7
93 members have run a ultra with the club but interestingly only 42 of those are current members. That still means that around 20% of our current total membership have run an ultra. 18 of those have run more than 1 ultra.
Most number of Marathons completed (official events only)
- Chris Pratt 40
- Carl Walsh 30 (over 100 marathons or ultras including those before joining us)
- Nick Harris 19
- Gareth Richards 18
- Emma Loyns 18
- Kris Denholm 17
- Wayne Hayhurst 17
- Niki Puleio 15
- Liz Sim 15
- David Kembery 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)
- Gareth Jenkins 73
- Chris Pratt 34
- Nick Harris 31
- Dawn Hopkins 30
- Denise Bradley 29
- Wayne Hayhurst 29
- Mark Worrall 27
- David Kembery 26
- Sharon Pritchard 26
- Liz Davis / Debbie Bennion 25
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. 152 current members (around two-thirds of our total membership) have run a Half Marathon with the club. 131 of those have run more than one, and incredibly 49 members have run 10 Half Marathons or more with the club.
Most number of 10Ks completed (official events only)
- Sharon Pritchard 57
- Debbie Bennion 55
- Dawn Hopkins 54
- Gareth Jenkins 53
- Aled Hughes 37
- Nick Harris 37
- Mark Worrall 36
- Niki Puleio 32
- Denise Bradley 30
- Shawn Cullen / Helen Griffiths 29
174 current members have completed a 10K with the club which is around 75% of our membership.
Number of event finishes by distance
- 5K / parkrun – 23,581
- Other distances – 5,632
- 10K – 3,073
- Half Marathon – 2,315
- Marathon – 731
- 5 mile – 489
- Ultra – 308
- 10 mile – 267
Biggest events by number of members finishing
- Cardiff Half Marathon 2019 – 116 finishers
- Ogmore Castle BCRL 2019 – 114
- Merthyr Mawr BCRL 2023 – 102
- Sandy Bowl BCRL 2024 – 101
- Kenfig Sands BCRL 2022 – 98
- Pencoed BCRL 2024 – 97
- Porthcawl 10K 2019 – 97
- Sandy Bowl 2023 – 95
- Planka BCRL 2022 – 93
- Merthyr Mawr Lane 5K BCRL race 2017 – 92
- Cardiff Half Marathon 2016 – 92
- Llanilid Loop BRCL race 2019 – 92
- Ogmore Castle BCRL race 2022 – 92
- Cardiff Half Marathon 2018 – 91
- Cardiff Half Marathon 2017 – 90
- Ogmore Castle BCRL race 2024 – 90
- Pencoed BCRL 2022 – 90
- Sandy Bowl BCRL 2022 – 90
- Pencoed BCRL 2023 – 89
- Tuska Beach / Rest Bay BCRL 2024 – 87
In total there have been 63 races where we’ve had 50 or more members finishing. 36 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)
- Aberavon / Run4All 5K series – 18*
- SSAFA 5K (Cardiff) series – 18
- Swansea Bay (Paul Popham) 5K series – 14
- Cardiff Half Marathon (including World Half) – 11*
- Llanelli Half Marathon – 10*
- Merthyr Mawr Pudding Run – 10*
- Swansea 10K – 10*
- Cardiff / CDF 10K – 9*
- Caerphilly 10K – 9*
- London Marathon – 9*
*club has been represented in every one of these events since we formed or the series stared. Aberavon / R4A series could arguably be 26 as we’ve also done all 8 Santa 5K’s there as well.
Club records
Male
- 5K / parkrun: Jacob Tasker – SSAFA 5K – July 2024 – 14:53
- 10K: Jacob Tasker – Magor 10K – July 2024 – 30:57
- Half Marathon: Jacob Tasker – Swansea Half Marathon – June 2024 – 01:08:11
- Marathon: Aled Jenkins – London Marathon – April 2024 – 02:30:40
Female
- 5K / parkrun: Emma Morris – Swansea Bay parkrun – Sept 2021 – 19:52
- 10K: Anneliese Loveluck – Magor 10K – July 2018 – 41:26
- Half Marathon: Anneliese Loveluck – Merthyr Half Marathon – Mar 2019 – 01:32:33
- Marathon: Anneliese Loveluck – Great Welsh Marathon – Apr 2019 – 03:13:56
Current Female members
- 5K / parkrun: Sian Price – Porthcawl parkrun – Nov 2016 – 21:14
- 10K: Sian Price – Porthcawl 10K – July 2022 – 42:38
- Half Marathon: Sian Price – Cardiff Half Marathon – Oct 2022 – 01:34:34
- Marathon: Claire Dunbar-Bowen – London Marathon – Apr 2023 – 03:46:07
Age Category Records (total number of age category club records)
- Niki Puleio – 8
- Denise Bradley – 7
- Gareth Richards – 7
- Sian Price – 7
- Neil Jones – 7
- Kevin Raymond – 6
- Anneliese Loveluck – 5
Age category records are split into 5 year increments for 5K, 5 miles, 10K, 10 miles, Half Marathon and Marathon. Niki and Denise actually hold records in 3 different age categories. Denise definitely has the opportunity to increase her numbers and would be almost guaranteed the 5 mile, 10K, 10 mile and Marathon in her current age category which could out her on over 10 age category records.
Presentation Nights
Runners Runner Winners Roll of Honour
- 2013 – Gareth Jenkins
- 2014 – Nick Harris
- 2015 – Chris Pratt
- 2016 – Christie Coleman
- 2017 – Niki Puleio
- 2018 – Tammie Baker
- 2019 – Nick Harris (first member to win it twice)
- 2020 – Kris Denholm
- 2021 – Jacob Tasker
- 2022 – Laura Worrall
- 2023 – Jacob Tasker
Most main awards won
This includes Runners Runner, Best in age category, Club Championship winners, Most Improved, Best Newcomer, Zero to Hero, Chairman’s Award, 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.
- Jake Tasker 11 (2021, 2022, 2023)
- Denise Bradley 10 (2014, 2016, 2019, 2021, 2023)
- Gareth Richards 8 (2017, 2020, 2022, 2023)
- Claire Dunbar-Bowen 8 (2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)
- Niki Puleio 7 (2017, 2019, 2021, 2022)
- Emma Loyns 6 (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023)
- Neil Jones 6 (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018)
- Keith Coleman 5 (2016, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023)
- Nick Harris 5 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2019)
- Gareth Jenkins, Aled Hughes, Sarah Davies 4
96 different members have received awards over the 11 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)
- Porthcawl 504
- Maesteg 277
- Pontypridd 158
- Swansea Bay 144
- Cardiff 119
- Grangemoor 99
- Gnoll 90
- Barry Island 89
- Newport 75
- Llanelli Coast / Sandy Water 74
There have been 508 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 2013. 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 428 Porthcawl parkruns that have gone ahead. At Maesteg we have 100% record with at least 1 member at every one of their 277 parkruns so far – there have been a few occasions in the past year that there was only one finisher.
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
- Nick Harris 483 (483)
- Gareth Jenkins 478 (478)
- Chris Pratt 388 (459)
- David Kembery 383 (383)
- Aled Hughes 373 (373)
- Chris Roberts 348 (376)
- David Sheard 332 (421)
- Kris Denholm 331 (409)
- Jo Jenkins 260 (295)
- Dawn Hopkins 255 (255)
Nick overtook me to take top spot at the start of this year and is on course to become the first member to reach the 500 club around Christmas this year! I already know of a few I’ll miss so am looking at around Feb/Mar 2025 for mine. Liz Davis, Alison Allen, Niki Puleio and Gareth Davies are the next to reach 250 but all at least 6-9 months away.
When looking at overall numbers including those done before joining club then we also have Peter Harrop (286), Richard Lowcock James (266), Claire Goldsworthy (263), Karl Johnson (257), Saul Harris (254) and Bev Sheard (251).
parkrun milestone clubs
- 250 club – 16 current members (5 have joined this year)
- 100 club (100-249 parkruns) – 53 current members
- 50 club (50-99 parkruns) – 39 current members
- 25 club (25-49 parkruns) – 26 current members
134 members have 25 or more parkruns which is around 60% of our current membership.
Top 10 volunteers (number of different days volunteering – includes volunteering at both the 5K and junior parkruns)
- Alison Allen 322
- Greg Allen 298
- Karl Johnson 257
- Chris Stanlake 194
- Rhiannon Whitely 161
- Mia Allen 152
- Angela Parry 149
- Freya Allen 119
- Sharon Pritchard 114
- Richard Lowcock James 105
This information isn’t as easy to find so apologies to anyone I’ve missed who would make this list. The numbers will also include volunteer stints done before joining the club. The Allen family dominate the list and could hit 1,000 volunteer credit between them by the time this list is refreshed next year. I suspect we might see a couple of Aberfields regulars pop up on this list next year. Also have to mention some former members – Maria Lalic has 357 volunteer credits, Emma Marshall 318 and Stephne Puddy 315 with many of those whilst a member of the club.
Top 10 parkrun tourists (number of different venues)
- Karl Johnson 148
- Dawn Hopkins 140
- Chris Roberts 136
- Julie Ransom 125
- Shawn Cullen 115
- Gareth Jenkins 108
- Sarah Davies 100
- Kris Denholm 92
- Jo Jenkins 80
- Chris Stanlake 78
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. Over the past couple of years, the top spot has been occupied by Chris Roberts and Dawn Hopkins at different points but it’s Karl who is now quite a few clear.
Recently Sarah Davies joined the ‘Cowell’ club by running 100 different parkrun venues becoming the 7th 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. Jamie Verran holds multiple club tourism records including an entire calendar year of doing a different parkrun every week (including a couple of extras overseas and Christmas Day / New Years Day).
Most new parkrun venues visited in a calendar year
- Jamie Verran 55 in 2023
- Karl Johnson 35 in 2019
- Dawn Hopkins 30 in 2019
- Dawn Hopkins 27 in 2022
- Shawn and Julie 26 in 2019
- Karl Johnson 25 in 2017
- Sarah Davies 25 in 2022
- Toni Howells 25 in 2022
- Sarah Davies 24 in 2019
- Paul Barrett / Melanie Thomas 24 in 2023
- Shawn and Julie 24 in 2018
Jamie’s 2023 total included 32 different Welsh parkruns which is also a club record.
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 has since become the first in the club to do the parkrun alphabet TWICE and is well on her way to a third. Whilst a few thousand have done it once, only a couple of hundred of the nine million registered parkrunners have done it three times.
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)
- Gareth Jenkins – on 4 separate years
- Aled Hughes – on 4 separate years
- Nick Harris – on 3 seperate years
- Kris Denholm – on 2 seperate years
- Jamie Verran – on 1 occasion
- Brett Bonell – on 1 occasion
- David Kembery – on 1 occasion
Surprisingly despite being on more than 350 parkruns each, Chris Pratt, David Sheard, Chris Roberts don’t make the list, although all have been just one or two off on a couple of occasions. Aled Hughes, Nick Harris, Jamie Verran, Brett Bonell 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)
- Chris Roberts – completed in 202 parkruns (started before joining club)
- Aled Hughes – completed in 203 parkruns
- Richard Lowcock James – completed in 210 parkruns (started before joining club)
- David Sheard – completed in 214 parkruns (started before joining club)
- Jo Jenkins – completed in 216 parkrun (started before joining club)
- Nick Harris – completed in 222 parkruns
- David Kembery – completed in 256 parkruns
- Chris Pratt – completed in 258 parkruns
- Peter Harrop – completed in 260 parkruns
- Gareth Jenkins – completed in 286 parkruns
Interestingly none of our recent members who have reached 250 parkruns (Claire Goldsworthy, Dawn Hopkins, Saul Harris, Karl Johnson, Bev Sheard) have achieved Stopwatch Bingo yet. However, Kris Denholm has by far the most parkruns without completing this challenge and is on 409 parkruns and still has 1 more to tick off (number 9).
Some other random parkrun stats
Earliest parkrunner – 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 9 million registered worldwide.
Fastest to reach 25 parkruns – Jamie Verran – 24 weeks
Fastest to reach 50 parkruns – Jamie Verran – 47 weeks from 1st to 50th
Fastest to reach 100 parkruns – Jamie Verran – 94 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
Longest to reach 250 parkruns – Jo Jenkins – 754 weeks from 1st to 250th
Most different first finishes – Jake Tasker / Jamie Verran – 9
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 – 425
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 – Jamie Verran – 129 parkruns
Most runs at Aberfields parkrun – Gareth Jenkins 34
Most runs at Maesteg parkrun – Niki Puleio 136
Most runs at Porthcawl parkrun – Nick Harris and Chris Pratt 335 (David Sheard 334!)
Most parkruns only at one venue (before touring) – Claire Goldsworthy – 245 parkruns at Porthcawl
Other stats
Longest standing chair – Chris Pratt (over 7 years)
Longest standing coach – Aled Hughes
Longest standing committee member – Liz Davis (secretary / general committee)
Longest standing captain – Gareth Jenkins (over 7 years)
Most club records set – Jacob Tasker – 27 (Bettered the 5K record 8 times, 5 miles once, 10K record 4 times, 10 miles twice, HM three times, Marathon once)
Number of current members to have run 100 events (parkruns plus races for the club) – 84
Highest number of events without doing a parkrun – Simon Harrison – 74
Number of people to have recorded a result with the club – 602
And finally….
Number of hours spend collecting these stats over the past 12 years: I don’t want to even think about it but it’s something I enjoy and will continue to do. A huge thanks to Pippa Clark who searches for all the results and without her this level of detail would not be possible. Hopefully if you’ve got this far then you’ve enjoyed reading the stats. There’ll be the usual end of year review which tends to include some of these overall numbers as well. I’ll do a refresh of all the numbers for the 13 year anniversary – until then, happy running.