How blessed we are with such wonderful autumn weather for our regular Saturday ‘parkrun’ fix – it does make it so much easier to get out of bed on these cooler mornings. A colourful morning of 85 parkrun runners and walkers plus our hi-vis- orange volunteers enjoyed the morning sun!

It is great to see new faces each week and this week we welcomed Karl GORRINGE for his first-ever parkrun, and first-time visitors Sunday BARTLETT and Daniel SUNDERLAND (both from Owairaka, Auckland). We hope you all enjoyed your morning.

There were a few milestones celebrated today – Mana WHAREPOURI who completed her 100^th parkrun event and Steve THOROGOOD completing his 50th event. Congratulations to you both. We were so eager to celebrate milestones, we congratulated Chris WELLS for his 100^th parkrun (and of course his faithful four-legged companion Daisy) – however, we were just a week early! So, congratulations Chris in advance for next week.

Thanks to our orange hi-vis volunteers Dave BARKER (Run Director), Cameron APPERLEY, Wendy APPERLEY, Caleb ARROWSMITH, Mark BOYD, Lyrissa FONTAINE, Sally HOULISTON, Steve HOULISTON, Perry NEWBURN, Eric OPPERMAN, Kerry POWLESLAND, Sarah RENWICK, John RHODES and Michelle TOWNEND. It’s our volunteers who help keep our event happening, so why not give one of the roles a go – they are easy to learn!

The first finisher over the line was ‘unknown’ (AKA forgot their barcode!), therefore the first finisher officially recorded over the line was Andrew RUTHERDALE (visiting for the second time from Lower Hutt) in 18:13, followed by Jason PETUHA in 19:28 and Jason WAIN in 19:40.

Kathrin SILLER took the line honours for the ladies today in 24:40, with Maria McLEOD (25:31) and Sarah ANNEAR (25:47) rounding off the top three respectively.

Congratulations to those who achieved a PB time today – Matt WATERWORTH, Paul BRIZZLE, Sarah ANNEAR, Carissa HERBERT, Rachelle MURPHY (visiting for the second time from Rotorua), Dale ARROWSMITH, Alison MONTAPERTO-WELLS, Shane PALMER and Penelope BROWN. Incredibly, Alison achieved another PB for the 6^th consecutive week and Shane achieved another PB for the 5^th consecutive week! Congratulations to you both – I wonder if you can pull off another PB next week?

Have a great week everyone and for those who are participating in the HB marathon, only two weeks to go!

Sally Houliston

Another beautiful autumnal morning with a bit of chill, no wind, lots of gorgeous leaves covering the ground under the trees, and 60 people who jumped out of bed to get some fresh air and exercise. I know some people who live on the Sunshine Coast in Australia who really miss this brisk autumn season. Talking of Australia, it was great to welcome Camille Lowe’s brother, Rohan LOWE, from Darebin parkrun, Melbourne today. Rohan commented that someone greeted him as soon as he got out of the car this morning, and that he enjoyed our lovely venue and the experience of being at Anderson. Thanks Rohan, we loved having you.

We also welcomed Richard ANDERSEN from Hamilton Lake parkrun and Paige DONALD who popped over from Flaxmere. A warm welcome also to Alan WEST, Scott HURRELL and Joseph HAY for your first-ever parkrun; we look forward to seeing you next week.

New PBs went to Penelope BROWN, Matthew BONNETT and Sally HOULISTON (who got a new PB after 65 parkruns – well done, Sally).

Last week Keiron BATT completed 25 volunteering roles and we wanted to celebrate that today but, after flying in 2^nd place overall, he scarpered on his cute little e-bike and missed a photo opportunity. Next week.

Coming in just ahead of Keiron was Matt SUCKLING, with Alan WEST coming in 3^rd male. 1^st female in was Maria MCLEOD, with Jess SMITH 2^nd and Rachel O’SULLIVAN 3^rd.

Many of our regular parkrunners/walkers were participating in the Hawke’s Bay Marathon, Half and 10km events today, with others volunteering in various ways. Well done all of you.

Thanks to our fabulous volunteers today, we couldn’t do it without you: CALEB ARROWSMITH (Run Director), Dale ARROWSMITH, Julie CUMMINS, Colin HOPKIRK, Steve HOULISTON, Ashlee MCGREGOR, Alison MONTAPERTO-WELLS, Faye NORTHE, Nneka OKONTA, John RHODES, Philip SHAMBROOK and Mark SMITH. We appreciate the encouragement from beginning to end. Love our 2-bouncer like blokes with their medium-size orange vests. Usually, it is the small people swimming in XXL vests. If you haven’t volunteered yet, please give it a go.

Today’s top three age-grade percentiles were recorded by Kieron Batt (73.81%), Maria McLeod (73.36%) and Matt Suckling (69.10%). Age-grade percentiles take your time and give an indication of how well the parkrunner has done relative to their age and gender against the world record, to produce a score (a percentage).

We were recently issued with our own AED (defibrillator) which is now part of the kit which RDs bring every week. It was recommended that the AED and first-aid kit be kept together in a bag which can easily be picked up and carried to where it is needed. Deanne ARROWSMITH came to the rescue with a grab-bag she had at home. As many people know, if Deanne undertakes anything it is done with an extra flair. That is why we have a bag with our name on. Thank you very much Deanne!

Did you know that this month, on Saturday 28^th May it will be Anderson parkrun’s 6^th anniversary? That’s in two weeks’ time. I looked up recommended colours for a 6^th anniversary celebration, and it seems as if colourstrology is a thing, but it is a bit confused. Bud green, purple, blue, gold and cream are all suggestions. Why don’t we go colourful? Wear outrageous colour! If anyone would like to contribute to an after-parkrun something to eat, please do and we’ll have a good old potluck morning tea.

Have a great week.

Julie Cummins

Mornings are getting cooler but numbers are creeping back up. A total of 88 runners and walkers were out on the course this morning. It is great to see familiar faces we haven’t seen in a while.

Several others helped to make parkrun happen. A big thank-you to: Mark SMITH (Run Director), Caleb ARROWSMITH, Jo BUCKINGHAM, Glenn CAMPBELL, Julie CUMMINS, Trish CUMMINS, Steve HOULISTON, Maria MCLEOD, Perry NEWBURN, Eric PHIMISTER, Megan PICKERING, John RHODES and Jessica SMITH. Special thanks to Megan PICKERING who volunteered as tail walker on just her 10^th parkrun, and to Jo BUCKINGHAM who was visiting from Whanganui. Thank you also to those who have already put their names on the future roster.

Congratulations to Sarah RENWICK who completed her 100^th parkrun today and thank you for providing the celebratory sweet treats. Tomas BRIDGEMAN did his 50^th parkrun last week at Flaxmere but he has shared his photo because he’s really one of us.

We had a visitor today who didn’t realise she was somewhat of a celebrity. Not only was she doing her 100^th parkrun but she got a resounding burst of applause when she said she was from Scotland. Elaine STRUTHERS from Pollok parkrun in Glasgow had no idea of Anderson parkrun’s special relationship with Scotland but she does now! Look out soon for a special feature on her home parkrun to add to our virtual parkrun tour of Scotland.

Also visiting from other parkruns were Julian, Emma and Imogen WALLER, Lousie WINCHESTER (whose last parkrun was 2½ years ago in Ludlow, UK), Rachel WATSON and Chris WATSON (Trentham Memorial), Fiona MACMASTER (Porirua), Daragh REYNOLDS (Queenstown), Isham REDFORD (who has done 48 parkruns at 26 different events) and Bernard RAMSAY (Auckland). Welcome to you all.

Five people did their first-ever parkrun today. Welcome to Lola WATSON, Xanthe WATSON, Ashley JAGGARD, Deborah PHILLIPS and Lorna PHILLIPS.

Congratulations to those who achieved PBs today: Wayne LAYTON, Kate CORMACK (for the 5^th week in a row), Shayne PALMER, Alison MONTAPERTO-WELLS (for the 5^th week in a row) and Penelope BROWN.

Kevin HARVEY was back in his first-place position in a time of 19:30. He was followed closely by Erwin BLOKKER (19:37) and Daragh REYNOLDS (20.05).

The three speediest females were: Nikita WAIN (21:27), Michelle MUKHTAR (22:59) and Louise WINCHESTER (24:03).

This week Anderson parkrun received a gift of a piece of equipment we hope we will never use – a defibrilator. In the next few days we’ll share an instructional video (made especially for parkruns) of how to use it if the need ever arises. The more people who view the video the better. We have already proven how we work as a team in a (relatively) minor emergency and I am confident that the same will happen in a severe emergency.

Happy running and walking. See you all next Saturday.

Trish Cummins

What a beautiful Easter Saturday morning for parkrun and it was an eventful one at that! We have certainly turned on the fantastic weather and we had a great turn-out, with many new faces – either totally new to parkrun or enjoying some parkrun tourism being a long weekend!

An extra big shout-out goes to Caleb ARROWSMITH, who carried out his first-ever Run Director volunteer role. Well done Caleb, it will be easier next time I’m sure!

A special congratulations to Trish CUMMINS, our Event Director, who today completed the 150 volunteer and 150 run milestone! Congratulations Trish – a wonderful effort and thank you for everything that you do for Anderson parkrun! You are truly appreciated.

Welcome to first-timers Carig VULAWALU, Paul BRIZZLE and Ashlee MCGREGOR. There were more first-timers who did not yet have a barcode, so hopefully now when they return they will be able use their barcode officially for their first time!

The long weekend saw a number of visitors to Anderson parkrun today, including Hasan WAHAB (Palmerston North), Anthony BLYTHEN (Lower Hutt), Joseph RAPLEY (UK but most recently Barry Curtis, Auckland), Merv HORSFORD (Western Springs, Auckland), Gemma GOULD (Blenheim), Deborah BLYTHEN (Lower Hutt), Stephen BRANDON (Whanganui), Dianne CHESTER (Melbourne but most recently Hagley), Fiona HORSFORD (Owairaka, Auckland), Dirk CRAFFORD (Flaxmere) and Varys BRANDON (Whanganui). We hope you enjoyed your morning with us.

The conditions today made for some good times with the leading three men in under 20 minutes, those being Paul HEWITSON (17:44), Kevin HARVEY (19:39) and Giles PEARSON (19:49). Paul recorded a PB as well as Anderson parkrun’s new age-grade record of 88.91% running in the VM 55-59 age category. Congratulations Paul.

There were some different names at the top for the leading women. Congratulations to Anna WILLIAMS (in a PB time of 18:29), Michelle MUKHTAR (23:19) and Jo RANDALL (24:36).

The glorious morning must have helped as there were many new personal best times set in addtion to those mentioned above: Robbie CARGILL, Richard FROST, Reid CUMMING, Jo CUMMING, Wayne LAYTON, Kate CORMACK, Jannette SWANEPOEL, Dale ARROWSMITH, Shane PALMER and Alison MONTAPERTO-WELLS.

Grateful thanks to our volunteers today who give their time each Saturday. Today’s volunteer shout-outs go to Caleb ARROWSMITH, Deanne ARROWSMITH, Megan BIGG, Mark BOYD, Glenn CAMPBELL, Trish CUMMINS, Sally HOULISTON, Steve HOULISTON, Katie LINDSAY, Perry NEWBURN, Faye NORTHE, Eric PHIMISTER, Kerry POWLESLAND and Kirsty ROBBEN. Also big thanks to our first-time volunteers Mark, Katie and Kirsty; we appreciate your support.

On a final note, many thanks to everyone who assisted with the unfortunate incident that unfolded during the event. We are pleased to report that everyone is okay! It was great to see how everyone responded to support each other in our parkrun community. We all rock!!

Sally Houliston