Inaugural Cleethorpes parkrun 24th May 2014

Photo of all the volunteers (left) by Cleethorpes parkrun volunteer Anne-Marie Fowler. Run Director Darren Rowe is far right. The photo was taken on 24th May 2014 after the first ever Cleethorpes parkrun had finished.

 

 

Playing a part in the first ever Cleethorpes parkrun was one of those moments where I can say that once again “I was there”. Had a few of those in these past few years. I played no part in the organising or setting up of it but was one of the first people to express an interest in volunteering at it as soon as I knew of the intention to set one up.

Before attending the meeting about parkrun at the Cleethorpes Leisure Centre for anyone interested in volunteering at parkrun I was aware that a donation had been given due to an article in the Grimsby Telegraph: Weekly parkrun set up in Cleethorpes

At that initial volunteer meeting one of the matters that had been discussed was a trial run on 21st May. I attended and volunteered at the trial run too, which went really well, with 20 odd local runners turning up. It gave the Run Director Darren Rowe and the other Run Directors – some of whom volunteered at the event – an opportunity to test it out and see what needed tweaking and resolve any possible issues before the official launch. A few of the core volunteers do take it in turns to become the Run Director.

On the 24th May 2014 it was the Official launch day of the Cleethorpes parkrun and the weather was not on our side. Overcast and wet but not short of volunteers (see above). I marshalled in my London 2012 Olympics Games Maker uniform as I like to do on occasion with the aim of trying to inspire and encourage people to run, with the help of my cheery uniform. This time I also brought my Join In foam finger that was given to me when I went on the Olympic Park last year, specifically July 19th 2013 (see photos below). The North section of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park – where the Velodrome is – opened to the public on 27th July 2013.

With my foam finger I planned to use it to give directions – well, I was marshalling, which I did. My inspiration was my fellow Games Makers who used foam fingers in London during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to give directions. To my surprise, most runners seemed to cheer up when they saw me and most of the runners high-fived it, which was also fun. Bit of a party atmosphere. Noticed many experienced parkrunners running around with one of those ‘100’ parkrun T-shirts for parkrunners who have ran in more than 100 parkruns.

In total there were 177 runners on the Inaugural Cleethorpes parkrun, which was amazing! They came from all over. Here is the Run Report on the 1st ever Cleethorpes parkrun by Colin Wright.

Reports in the local paper: New Weekly parkrun gets Underway with a Bang and 170 Runners turn up for first ever Cleethorpes parkrun 

To anyone who doesnt know, a parkrun is NOT a race! It is a weekly timed 5k run. You run as fast or as slow as you want. parkrun cannot function without volunteers: Volunteer at Cleethorpes parkrun

You can find photos from the Cleethorpes parkrun here