A weekend full of first's and an amazing weekend at that. Part 2 Sunday

'Sundays until recently were normally a day of rest and a catch up on TV programmes maybe a run now and again, but 4 weeks ago that changed and after this weekend I hope they never change again.

This Sunday was and will be for the foreseeable future Junior parkrunday and I sometimes look forward to it more than running on a normal parkrunday. It's pure fun in a disguised as a mass gathering of chaos, so many smiley faces before and even afterwards. It was SJ's turn as Run Director and she did a brilliant job we had volunteers coming out of our ears and 175 fabulous juniors giving it their all round our exciting course. Louise did the warm up again and she does it really well with music blaring and juniors jumping and waving. Then SJ did a great run brief and set the juniors off around Greenhead park in the glorious sunshine a complete opposite from the rain the day before. We are starting to get a nice regular team of volunteers and are starting to become more familiar with the juniors and their names. There is one thing that you don't take in to account when becoming an event director or run director is the amount of people who know you but you don't know them in return. As time goes by I'm sure we will get to know more and more and gain lots of friends in the process.

We had a lot of great performances again this week and we are always surprised by the number of fast juniors that return week on week to try and better their times or finishing positions. Matthew Burke decided to give his usual Saturday parkrun a miss this week to save his energy for the junior parkrun. This was so he could try and give it his all and improve his PB and beat it he did, so well done Matthew. Even among the juniors there is competitiveness between each other  but more importantly they're always trying to better themselves. Yet it is all done with complete honesty and friendliness, even helping each other too. Some with younger siblings will run back to find them and help them to complete the rest of the run together.

 We did have some slight issues but luckily none of the little problems affected the juniors runs or times. We had lots of PB's again and a few of them were helped by our first ever pacer Matthew Jack Potter who dressed up as a bunny and ran as a 10 min pacer. We had a couple of comments from parents that he helped their junior to a PB which was great to hear and will probably mean we have a pacer more often.

So with Junior parkrun done it was now time to head off home and prepare for the rest of the day, as I wasn't finished just yet. I had to be ready for 11.30 to meet up with my good friend Luke as we were taking part in our first Triathlon down at Scissett. It was a 400m Swim, followed by a 15km bike ride and then finished off with a 5km run. We were both really excited but Luke was more nervous than I was probably down to the fact I had been in more race/run events than Luke and was used to those pre-event butterflies. 

We arrived at 11.45 with plenty of time until our start times, Luke had put down a silly time for his swim so was setting off a whole hour before me so I was in for a wait. I also knew a few other people who were taking part in the triathlon all mainly from parkrun. Mr Ian Rutson of the parkrun show fame and Pontefract parkrun event director, and Rich Mcloed a fellow Huddersfield parkrun member and an amazing all round athlete.

Luke and I arrived and propped our bikes up and whilst Luke went to register and hear the event brief I said hello to Ian. He seemed really relaxed about the event but was a little confused about the layout of the transition area, he said it was a bit more complicated compared to last years. Ian was the first of us to start at 12.45 with Luke going at 13.00, me at 14.00 and Rich going off at 14.30. As this was Luke's and my first triathlon we had no real idea about what to do but we seemed to fit in pretty quickly with the set up. Luke parked his bike in the transition area and then I went to register whilst he got change into his triathlon suit then once I had parked my bike I did the same. It wasn't long before Luke was due in the pool so waited in the reception area and I took the opportunity to go upstairs and see Ian doing his swim. He looked like he was going well and was soon off out of the pool and on to his bike, which meant it was Luke's turn in the pool.

After Luke had done his swim and was off on his bike I was left with an long wait till it was my turn but as it was such a lovely day I just hung about outside watching the triathletes on their bikes and catching some rays. Just before Luke was due back from his bike ride section SJ and the boys turned up to support us and it was nice to see them before I had to get in the pool. I missed Luke's transition as I was pool side ready to start my swim, I was in lane 2 with just one other guy which was nice not to have too much pressure from other swimmers as some lanes had 4/5. Whilst waiting to go I could hear the boys and SJ on the balcony above me cheering which was an awesome feeling.

The whistle went and I was off swimming front crawl at a nice steady pace but before long I had to change to breast stroke as I just couldn't comfortably get a good breathing rhythm. Luckily my pace didn't slow too much and after 10 mins I was off towards transition and my bike.

Once on my bike and on the main road I put my foot down and was soon at the first corner and on my way up the hill towards Emley and the Emley mast. There are 2 steep sections of the 6km climb and on the flatter sections I tried to push it as much as I could. I did get overtaken by about 6 riders on proper road bikes and a couple on olympic style time trial bikes funnily enough they were part of the GB triathlon team, so didn't mind getting overtaken by them. Once at the top I pushed once again and even managed to overtake someone who had passed me earlier, that was a nice feeling. From here it was pretty much all downhill to the end and I tried to push hard to the transition area. About halfway down there was a photographer and he took a photo of me looking like I was on a gentle bike ride and all I was missing was my shopping basket on the front but I promise you I was going fast.

Once I was back at the swimming baths I quickly put my bike back and got on my way round the 5k run

I took me about 500m to get my calfs working properly after the bike ride but once they were going again I found the run ok. It was another uphill route all the way to Skelmanthorpe and then a nice steady downhill all the way to the finish. You finished the run on the same roads as the bike so I passed the same photographer as before so this time I tried to give a pose but looked more like I was dying rather than having fun

Once I was back down on the flat on the final stretch to the finish I dug in deep and keep going all the way to the line and where the final chip mat is. The final mat was rather thin so when the guy behind me tried to do a sprint finish to beat me on the line he missed the mats and had to double back to stop the time on his chip. A bit of a fail on his part but I liked his determination to get to me before the line, maybe next time. Well that was it I had finished my first triathlon and I was so pumped that it kind of felt like it wasn't long enough and I was up for going round again, I had a really amazing time and experience and I was really pleased with my time. I finished my first triathlon in 1hr14m25s and I know I could do better too, maybe next year.

The set up of the event was great and rather than a race it felt more like a competitive time trial, there was always someone to chase and someone chasing you which kept you pushing all the way. 

For all of you who are wondering how Luke, Ian and Rich did, well they all did pretty amazingly.

Ian knocked 3 mins off his time from last year completing it this year in 1hr18min12s

Luke finished his first Triathlon in a fabulous time of 1hr12min16s

I finished in 1hr14min25s as you know

And Rich did it in an amazing 1hr02min41s

Well done everyone who took part and usually at this point I say keep running everyone but this time I will say

Keep swimming, biking, and running everyone.

Huddersfield juniors parkrun event #3 in brilliant sunshine

Just 3 events in and we are starting to get some stand out performances from our juniors with new course records set from both the boys and the girls this week.

It was my (Matthew Pattison's) turn as RD at this weeks Huddersfield juniors parkrun and with a full volunteer roster and the weather fairies working their magic it was all set up to be a fantastic junior parkrun morning.

The pre-event setup is becoming a favourite of the juniors team's children as they like to draw the start and finish lines and add pictures, arrows and messages. This also makes them feel more a part of the event and even helps them make friends with the other juniors.

       

I am assured that this is a rocket a firework rocket drawn by my son Dexter (6) and his brother Clark (3) helped him with the finish line.

The run as a whole is becoming a very slick and well oiled machine but the behind the scenes action is still being fine tuned and altered slightly by each of the team as they take their turn as RD. Plus we are there backing each other up as we go and make sure that we make a junior parkrun that the juniors can enjoy and be proud of.

As the junior, parents and marshals started to stream through the park gates there was a buzz in the air and the smiles on the juniors faces was amazing and the sun just topped it off.

After the run brief we attempted a Marshal Mexican wave to make sure they can see each other, we know they can see each other but this week it failed. Maybe we will try it again next week as it's a great way to get the juniors involved at the start, with the juniors starting the Mexican wave down towards marshal 1.

The juniors were all set off safely and before we could blink we had some of them completing lap 1 which still catches us of guard at how quick they are. The funnel was set out and we clapped the remaining junior on to their 2nd laps and again we were almost caught off guard as our first finisher crossed the line in a course record time and our first sub 7 minute time. 3 events in and we've already broken the 7 minute barrier, where will our course record time settle at in a few weeks time, it keeps getting broken, but that wasn't it. The time he finished in was also an age grade record for the course. plus not settling for that, our first girl across the line also broke the girls course record and completing the trifecta of course records.

This weeks run finished with a lot of happy juniors, with 56 first timers and 35 new PB's out of the field of 155 runners. Following on from Leeds parkruns trip to the moon (see their Facebook page if confused) so far our juniors have run from Greenhead park to the outskirts of Berlin and by this time next week we will have visited Zary parkrun in Poland. (http://www.parkrun.pl/zary/)

I wonder how far our juniors will travel over then next year or is that thinking too far ahead too soon.

Keep running everyone

Huddersfield juniors parkrun event #1

After 2 years of behind the scenes hard work the first Huddersfield juniors parkrun was here and what an impressive turnout we had.

With excitement in the air all our team arrived early to make sure that everything was set up nicely and early so we could concentrate on assigning marshals to their positions, timekeepers their stop watches, scanners to the correct people and explaining to the funnel managers the plan of action. 

We were lucky to have Tom Williams from parkrun visiting to oversee the event and check that our event ran smoothly, and share some constructive criticism if necessary. It was great to finally meet him after running at a few events at the same time but never managing to talk to him. With the number of people at parkrun events sometimes it is difficult to talk to and catch up with everyone you want to in time you are there. So after I had been introduced to him and a quick chat I went back to the community room to help with the last few volunteers and to make sure Simon didn't want me to do anything else before things got under way. It was nearly time for the warm up with Louise and as I left the community room I was amazed at the number of juniors and parents that had gathered at the start and like the senior parkrun they were still streaming in at the gates with 5 mins to go. 

The excitement of the juniors was evident as they were encroaching on the start line and beyond as 9am got closer and closer, we had to move them back about 10ft by the time Simon came down to give the run brief. 

This was it, it was time to get the inaugural Huddersfield juniors under way, but we had to give everyone a quick brief on how the barcodes and tokens work, because as we found in our test last week there were a few that weren't sure. Once that was done we had to clear out of the way so that when we set the juniors off we didn't get trampled in the stampede. Then after avery anticipated countdown they were off and with a few screams of excitement all the juniors were safely off and running. There was a couple of falls at the start but all juniors got under way without any injuries or tears, a huge relief to all the team.

We moved down to the finish and set out the funnel where they would all be sent to collect their tokens and then be shown where to get them scanned to register their run and time. It wasn't long before we had our lead junior Sam Robinson finishing lap 1 and in a fantastic time too, there was a huge amount of marshals and other volunteers at the finish area. So the cheering and clapping for each of the juniors as they ran past must have been amazing from their perspective because there was not one unhappy face as they passed through to start lap 2. The steady stream of juniors was still In full flow as Sam came round to finish his run and he had to do a bit of zig zagging round some of the smaller juniors on his way to the finish line, and crossing the line in a superb time of 7m31s. 

He was closely followed by Matthew Burke (7m48s) who was fastest at last weeks test event. Having Sam in front of him might of helped as it gave him someone to chase as he crossed the line this time 8 seconds faster than last week. 

This also gave him the highest age grade percentage of all our juniors, an impressive 76.74%. Our fastest female was Lucy Margetson in an excellent time of 8m34s with an age grade of 70.33%, but all our juniors deserve a massive well done. It's not all about who's fastest or has the highest percentage, it's all about keeping fit and healthy and having fun in the process.

We had to be alert on timers as more and more juniors were crossing the line some sprinting and some strolling across with enormous smiles across their faces. Plus I could barely take my eye off the finish line and straight to see how the funnel system was doing, but when I did get a chance everyone seemed to be getting their tokens and making their way to the scanners. 

It almost seemed endless as more and more juniors kept crossing the finish line but after 23 mins Sanchia Edwards, our tail runner, crossed the line and brought to an end the first Huddersfield junior parkrun. It really took us all by surprise how many had turned up and had fun and run with smiles on their faces. 192 juniors completed the 2k making a warm and sunny day even more fantastic than we could have wished for. I had guessed at 100 during the week and the lead up to the day but to get nearly double that was purely outstanding.

The response we got from the juniors and the parents was amazing and we were surprised at how many children were already thinking towards next weeks event. With the weather being as good as it was there was already a large amount of non runners at the park with family members who were asking how they get involved for next week. Once all the runners had crossed the line we all congratulated each other on a great inaugural event that went off without a hitch. We managed to attract 192 juniors to our first event which was beyond all our expectations, we knew we would get about a hundred just from talk at the senior event. We didn't expect so many juniors that have had no contact with any parkrun event, not even their parents had been to an event before, a complete parkrun debut. Our attendance was the second biggest in the country and the largest weekly junior event and from our first event aswell! What will the next couple of weeks have in store for us and will we continue to grow or will our attendances dip? We are all excited to find out and the next few weeks will be awesome. I can already see that we will have a lot of wristbands to hand out soon to all our happy juniors, and we are looking forward to handing them out to them.

We hung about for a while talking parkrun with Tom, Helen and even Rosie before we started to tidy away all the cones, tape and signs ready for next week. Simon was doing the results from home so all we had to do was put things away in the community room and go home still on a parkrun high, which will easily last until next week when it starts again. #lovejnrparkrun

Below is a list of all the junior events in the UK with their record attendances and the attendance figures from their first event. Just like its not about who wins it's also not about who can attract the most juniors and have the biggest attendances. As most parkrunners know just because you have the big attendances does not mean you have the best parkrun, its all about the community spirit and the feel of a parkrun that stands out more. I have added this list as more of an example of how parkrun juniors is growing and how it began.    

Bushy - Highest 432 - First event 9

Huddersfield - Highest 192 - First event 192 (new this week)

Woodley - Highest 145 - First event 44

Savill gardens - Highest 134 - First event 43

Roundhay - Highest 131 - First event 66

Newport - Highest 126 - First event 110

Rushcliffe - Highest 124 - First event 118

Helix - Highest 123 - First event 87

Marple - Highest 118 - First event 118 

Southampton - Highest 112 - First event 68

Chelmsford - Highest 88 - First event 88

Brockwell - Highest 88 - First event 88 (new this week)

Winbledon park - Highest 85 - First event 68

Forest of Dean - Highest 77 -  First event 34

Harrow lodge - Highest 34 - First event 22

Mile end - Highest 21 - First event 21 (new this week)

Barking and dagenham - Highest 19 - First event 7

Keep running everyone

AKoJA - All Kinds of Junior Awesome

This weekend was the first trip to Bradford parkrun for team Pattison and it was also the test event for Huddersfield junior parkrun, so an awesome weekend was in store but I didn't know just how awesome.

Parkrunday (Saturday) morning SJ, Dexter and I set off to join in with Arthur's run at Bradford parkrun which is a memorial run held annually to celebrate the life of Arthur James who sadly died at the age of 76 the night after recieving his 100 parkrun T-shirt and Jacket at Bradford parkrun. 

Arriving at Lister park in plenty of time we walked through the park towards the meeting point of Bradford parkrun and was greeted by lots of smiling people, flowers and balloons decorating the finish area. 

There was also a table full of books and photos of rememberence and also almost every single member of his family wearing special T-Shirts to celebrate his life. SJ teaches one of his great grandsons so we said hello as we arrived and then settled in waiting to be sent to the start by Sue the run director for the day as Linda was unwell. When we got the call to go to the start 400+ athletes walked down the hill and congregated at the start waiting for the run brief. As it was Arthur's run his daughter in-law gave a lovely moving speech and presented an 'Arthur' award for services to parkrun to Sue for all her hard work with parkrun and the community. Sue then carried on with the run brief (with an obvious frog in her throat) and we were soon on our way on the three lap course and in beautiful sunshine too thanks to the weather fairies.

Whenever we do a new parkrun we always find it hard to go all out without burning out before the end of the last lap. The unfamiliar course means you don't know how to pace your run properly and not running with the usual runners you're use to means you don't know what pace everyone else is running at even with running app or garmin. Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it, well for now at least. The course itself is very nice and the park is lovely adding to the run, there are lots of flat and a long slight downhill before you get to the infamous teeny tiny hill at the bottom of the park. The teeny tiny hill is a short but steep hill that does drain the energy out of your legs that you thought you were saving on the flats and long downhill. After the 3rd climb of the teeny tiny hill my legs were quite tired and by the time I reach the bandstand for the finish I was really slow and crossed the line in 23.40 which for a flattish course was slow for me. After I finish, and as I always do when I'm running solo and SJ is with Dexter, I meet up with them and help with Dexter.  This means that SJ can run a bit faster while I run or walk with Dexter depending on how he feels. This time he wanted to go faster and we ran on and left SJ behind us to finish her own run and meet us at the finish. By the time Dexter and SJ had finished there was a lot of people gathered at the finish making it difficult for first timers to figure out where to go to get their barcodes scanned.   The scanners were not at the end of funnel like we are used to, as parkrun regulars they at least knew what to look for and soon had their tokens scanned and heading towards the playground so Dexter could have a play before we set off home. We enjoyed our trip to Bradford parkrun and would definitely recommend it and will be returning again at some point.

So parkrunday done and now it was onto junior parkrunday and our test event for the Huddersfield juniors parkrun. 

We were up early at 6am because the boys decided it was time, I think they were just excited for junior parkrunday and to be honest so was I. So we packed up the car and set off in plenty of time, and arrived at Greenhead park at 8.15 and met up with Simon and Louise and we got straight to work setting things up. I went round the course with Simons daughter Sanchia to put out the cones and mark out the Marshall places with numbers so they can easily find their designated spot. Whilst I was doing this Simon was assigning the marshals their hi-vis and giving them their numbers for on the course. Louise was preparing for the warm up and meeting and greeting the parents and juniors. As well as drawing the start and finish lines with the help of her daughter Molly. It wasn't long before the park seemed to be full of Hi-Vis covered marshals, photographers, and other volunteers, it almost looked like there was more volunteers than juniors. 

Soon it was warm up time, Louise had some music with her and gathered the juniors to take part in our first warm up before the run started. Almost all the juniors took part and they had smiles from ear to ear whilst jumping up and down and performing high knees etc. 

Warm up done and it was over to Simon to give our first run brief, which was done with an air of relief given how long it has taken to get to this point. Then Simon gave a quick countdown and the Huddersfield juniors test event was under way and the smiles on all of our faces grew substantially as all the hard work was replaced by 33 happy juniors charging down the starting straight towards the first corner.

It wasn't long before the first juniors were coming round to complete their first lap and the time surprised us a little and when the rest of them came through to complete lap one, not one of them had stopped smiling, helped on by all the cheering volunteers around the course. Soon our first junior was crossing the line in an impressive time and still smiling, quickly followed by more and more juniors. 

It soon became clear we had a few little tweeks to change for the inaugural event next week as the funnel system was a little unclear and needed managing a bit better. Plus as we are all used to the main parkrun event and people knowing how the token system works we forgot there might be a few juniors that don't know what to do, so for next week we need to give a clearer run brief our first timers briefing. Other than that the test event went perfectly and all juniors came in smiling and giving us positive feedback on the course and marshals. Best of all the weather fairies also worked their magic for the junior event and held back the rain until everyone had completed their run and had a play in the playground afterwards.

We processed the results as best we could as some of the athletes had registered at the last minute so the system didn't recognise them so we could completely process the results straight away. Simon later put the times up on our Facebook page so that the junior and/or parents could see their times. There were some stand out performances today from the bigger juniors but my star of the week goes to a little girl who was only 4 years old a couple of weeks ago. She crossed the line after running on her own, without an adult in a very impressive and smiley 13.52, a true future star in the making.

So we now have the nervous wait for next week where we will be creating AKoJA (All Kinds of Junior Awesome) at our inaugural event and with a lot more Juniors. As long as we can iron out those little kinks then it should be a very successful event and if we can attract as many marshals as we had today every week then we could have a very popular junior parkrun.

Keep running everyone