19th August 2023 – it finally happened – a parkrun in the valley the club was formed. Not only that, a parkrun that starts and finishes where the club did it’s first ever training session almost to the day 11 years earlier. It’s also where our first Couch to 5K sessions took place which included a couple of graduates who are still members to this day.
The less said about the weather for that first parkrun, the better, and it has become a running theme that when Jay is the Run Director that the weather is often bad. Despite the weather, 180 turned up to the inaugural which is still by far the biggest attendance overall. That figure included 52 OPR members running with a further 16 making up the majority of the volunteer team. Jake set a course record of 16:28.
Week 2 saw what is still the second biggest attendance with 128 finishers including 23 OPR members running and 17 OPR volunteers making up a even bigger percentage of the volunteers than the first week. After a few weeks of the hardcore tourists visiting to tick off the latest new event, numbers settled at an average of around 55-65 per week. The average after the first year (which is inflated slightly due to a couple of big weeks) is 67 runners. Occasionally the numbers have been lower when the weather hasn’t been good whilst there’s also been some higher numbers for a couple of special events. One of which was Aberfields being used as the graduation parkrun for our latest Zero to Hero group. We beat our own OPR record attendance at Aberfields with 53 runners on that occasion as well as a record 31 volunteers.
There have been 5 cancellations in the first year resulting in 47 events so far. In those 47 events, 159 different runners with OPR as their club have run 891 times at Aberfields. With 3,148 finishes at Aberfields in total, that means we’ve made up over a quarter of all finishers.
Most runs at Aberfields parkrun
- Gareth Jenkins 33
- Aled Hughes 31
- Jo Jenkins 25
- Sally Pensom 24
- Jonathan Matthews 21
- Adam Pohl 20
- Nick Harris 20
- Laura Worrall 19
- Mark Worrall 18
- Chris Stanlake / Karen Dando 17
Laura Worrall ran the first 11 Aberfields parkruns and was our early leader for most parkruns there before other commitments ended that run. Nick Harris then took over the baton running at Aberfields 16 times in the first 19 events before going back to regular parkrun tourism. Over a longer period, Jo and I have climbed the ranks with it now being our home parkrun and default if we’re not away. That’s despite having run 370 times at Porthcawl between us before Aberfields started and being around the same distance / travel-time from both events. It’s probably not that surprising that Aled is high on the list given I think he may hold the title for OPR member living closest to a parkrun with the start just 0.5 miles from his front door and the course passing within 500 feet of it.
Worth noting that outside of the club, there are a couple of runners who’ve run Aberfields more times with Andrew Williams and Steve John both on 37 occasions whilst the most (I can find) by a female runner is Lynne Cabble with 32.
Fastest times at Aberfields (Men)
- Jake Tasker 16:28 – course record (also 16:37 and 16:38 as second and third fastest)
- Angelo Nico Doria 18:02
- Aled Hughes 18:53
- Nicky Bennett 19:00
- Jamie Verran 19:27
- John Burridge 19:43
- Rhodri Thomas 19:46
- Toby Kearns 19:53
- Wayne Hayhurst 19:57
- Daniel Jenkins 20:19
The fastest time apart from Jake is 16:47 from Oliver Williams.
Fastest times at Aberfields (Women)
- Claire Dunbar-Bowen 23:39
- Sarah Davies 23:59
- Katie Plimmer 25:15
- Marina Konstantinova 25:23
- Alison Allen 25:39
- Fiona Drysdale 25:55
- Arwen Rees 26:19
- Jo Jenkins 26:23
- Carol Bartle 26:38
- Jules Esmond 26:52
The female course record at Aberfields overall is 20:05 by Sally Pugsley from Porthcawl.
First finishers at Aberfields
- Aled Hughes 6
- Jake Tasker 3
- John Burridge 3
- Jonathan Matthews / Jamie Verran / Dylan Panting / Rhodri Thomas / Adam Kearns 1
Unlike other parkruns, Aberfields don’t really have a regular first finisher with 31 different runners picking up the number one token in the first year. I’m sure Aled would easily be on double figures if he wanted to though.
First female finishes at Aberfields
- Sarah Davies 2
- Jo Jenkins / Deborah Edwards / Alison Allen / Arwen Rees 1
Despite being our fastest female at Aberfields and having the club record for most different parkrun female first finishers, Claire Dunbar-Bowen always seems to turn up when other fast ladies are in attendance and has been second female three times, third female once and fourth female once in her 5 runs there.
Volunteering at Aberfields
- Jay Howells 47
- Chris Stanlake 41
- Toni Howells 40
- Gareth Jenkins 31
- Judith Howells 30
- Liz Davis 23
- Catherine Robinson 16
- Rhiannon Whiteley 16
- Claudine Nicholson-Lewis 15
- Julie Ransom 15
- Shawn Cullen 15
- John Burridge 10
Aberfields has had a huge effect on how regular many of members volunteer. The 12 listed above total 291 volunteer credits between them, but there’s also a further 20 current members who’ve volunteered at least once in the first year as well.
Jay has volunteered in some capacity at all 47 events so far. Even when he’s not there on the actual day, he’s normally coordinating the volunteers during the week or still involved during the lead up to the next event as part of his Event Director role. Chris Stanlake is one of the Run Directors and has volunteered in multiple roles including getting a few run counts in as tail walker or park walker. Toni has notched up 40 volunteer credits in various roles. My 31 are all from roles that have meant volunteering and running – First Timers Welcome (3), Pre Event Course Check (1) and Pacing (27). Judith makes it three of the Howells family in the top 5 and is often on barcode scanning or marshalling. Liz Davis and Claudine Nicholson-Lewis have also been regular Run Directors in the first year.
If you haven’t been to Aberfields parkrun yet, then go along sometime soon. It’s one of the most friendliest, welcoming parkruns around and you’ll be sure to see a Phoenix or two running and on the volunteer team as well.