Steve Darby - 600 parkruns

What a special treat for us all at Barry Curtis parkrun on Saturday 6 August 2022. We were able to celebrate with Steve Darby doing his 600^th event. What a milestone, doing his first event at Woodhouse Moor in Leeds on 22 November 2008, bringing him here to our parkrun in Auckland today, 14 years later. We had balloons and cake, and lots of clapping and cheering to help Steve on his way.

Our milestone guru Grant has run with Steve for a number of years and has researched some stats for us. Over the 14 years, Steve has run at 226 different parkruns, coming first at 61 of these locations. His PB is 17.21 at Peter Pan parkrun in 2014. In fact in 2014, Steve completed 53 parkruns – every Saturday that year. Steve has also put his hand up to volunteer on 46 different occasions.

Grant acknowledged Steve as being a good stalwart of parkrun, always enthusiastic and encouraging of others and full of positivity in his recovery.

Steve told us that the first 500 were easy, but the last 100 have been more problematic, with a pandemic, and last September a terminal cancer diagnosis (but he assured us he is ok now). Being here today puts a smile on his face.

In an interview with Dave after his event, Steve talked of some of his parkrun memories and memorable events. The interview can be seen on our Barry Curtis parkrun facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/BarryCurtisparkrun/videos/1279327769565142/

What changes have you seen in parkrun over 14 years? “The make up has changed with a wider spread of people. It used to be very much a running event and competitive, but now everyone can turn up and feel included, how ever they want to take part. This has been a particular benefit for me during the last 12 months. This was the vision that founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt had for this event.”

Do you have a comment for your fans – the people in awe of what you have achieved? “If you go to the same parkrun every week you are missing out on something, but if you go to a different parkrun every week you are also missing out on something. There’s a nice balance – for me it settles at around 50% tourism, which gives you that collection of communities that you can always tap into. I don’t know of anything else where you can do that. That is one of the biggest benefits of parkrun – if you think it is all about times and what your 5k PB is, it's not, it's about travelling, and meeting and mingling with people from all age ranges.”

Thanks for being a good sport and putting up with both the lovely pink tutu and with Dave’s interviewing skills. Most importantly thanks for the inspiration and example you are to your parkrun family, becoming the first in New Zealand and just the 45^th person in the world to achieve the milestone. Congratulations Steve.

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 427
30th July 2022

What a lovely morning - a little cool, but fine which was so nice.  The track was pretty slushy after the week's rain, so lots of muddy shoes!  But as usual lots of smiling faces.

This week we welcomed visitors from Lower Hutt and Palmerston North, and we were also pleased to see Tristan, Vanessa and Gabbie back again after their travels catching up with family in England and Portugal.

This week 116 people joined us at Barry Curtis Park.  We celebrated two milestones - Hannah, one of our juniors on her 50th event and Laurie doing her 150th run.  Well done to you both.  This week we had 9 participants who were first timers to our parkrun, with 5 starting their parkrun journey - we look forward to seeing you again (we are quite confident we will see you again, as parkrun is very addictive!).  Despite the slushy ground conditions,  13 of our participants recorded new Personal Bests - of particular note juniors Olivia (Our 6th place getter), Bryce, Eleanor and Liam.  Great effort everyone.

The event was made possible by 15 volunteers:

Neil CHEYNE • Wayne HANDISIDES • Peter ROUT • Karen ROUT • Grant LINCOLN • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Craig SCIBA • David EVEREST • Ronald LOBJOIT • Lana LOBJOIT • Maria SHALLARD • Rebekah SHALLARD • Jordan LOBJOIT • Tania KOKKE

Thanks once again to our great team of volunteers.  What you might not know is there is quite a competitive thing going on with the volunteers who are waiting at the finish line - they all have a guess at the number of participants for the day.  It seems to be quite a sought after title - no physical reward, other than the knowledge that you were right!  This weeks recipients of the Sequel Cafe vouchers were Craig and Lana.

This week's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,188 participants have completed 41,302 parkruns covering a total distance of 206,510 km, including 6,098 new Personal Bests. A total of 316 individuals have volunteered 3,378 times

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 426
23rd July 2022

After a pretty wet week, the weather held for our event.  The ground was quite wet, with bit of a lake up on the flat area behind St Pauls Church.  However, as always all participants had a great time.

We had a number of international visitors which was great - from Durban, Sydney and Tasmania.  Welcome to you all and we are pleased you joined in with us.  Also a number of juniors were celebrated for their recent efforts with certificates from Grant our 'milestone guru'.  Jesse recently completed his 50th event, and Alex, Grace, Jessica, Sophia, Neomi and Mindy all have recently completed their 10th event.  Well done to you all.  We love that parkrun has so many families who come along together and enjoy the benefits of a Saturday morning run or walk.

This week 117 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 13 were first timers and 7 recorded new Personal Bests - great to see some of the 'Speed Freaks' amongst these PB's.  Great work.

The event was made possible by 17 volunteers:

David DOWLING • Brian KWOK • Grant LINCOLN • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Jim NEWBOULD • Ronald LOBJOIT • Lana LOBJOIT • Maria SHALLARD • Caitlin SHALLARD • Matthew SHALLARD • Keira SHALLARD • Andrew SHALLARD • Jordan LOBJOIT • Gurcharanjit Singh MALHI • Maninder MALHI • Tania KOKKE

As always we appreciate the efforts of our volunteers.  This weeks recipients of the Sequel Cafe vouchers were Gurcharanjit and Maninder.  You too could be in the running for a coffee reward - just write your name up on the board.  We thank John and his staff at Sequel Cafe for looking after us all so well with great coffee and food after our event - if you have not been down, why not come on Saturday, we can thoroughly recommend it.

This week's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,179 participants have completed 41,186 parkruns covering a total distance of 205,930 km, including 6,085 new Personal Bests. A total of 316 individuals have volunteered 3,363 times.

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 423
2nd July 2022

We are officially in the second half of the year, the shortest day is behind us and lots of our lovely parkrunners turned up to join us on another great parkrun Saturday.  We welcomed visitors today from Christchurch and Rotorua.  We also celebrated a milestone run for Karl, doing his 100th event this week.  Great work.

We also had a few birthdays today, which were well worth a balloon and a tutu - Happy Birthday to Shamiso, Catherine and Alfred.  Ray, our Run Director for the day, suggested that parkrun keeps us young, and that all three were turning 21!

This week 117 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 6 were joining us at Barry Curtis for the first time.  Welcome.  In the lovely conditions, 11 recorded new Personal Bests - congratulations to you all, particularly our juniors Green, Jordan, Pierre, Diana and Roy.

The event was made possible by 15 wonderful volunteers:

Peter ROUT • Karen ROUT • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Janice DEVERICK • Steve DEVERICK • David EVEREST • Ronald LOBJOIT • Lana LOBJOIT • Jono WILLIS • Anna WILLIS • Maria SHALLARD • Rebekah SHALLARD • Andrew SHALLARD • Jordan LOBJOIT

Our Sequel coffee vouchers went this week to Steve and Karen for their volunteer work handing out tokens and washing the vests.  Thanks to you all for stepping up to help our event run so smoothly.  In fact we got some compliments from our visitors that we were the most organised event they had attended, and that they really enjoyed our briefing with our balloons and tutus, celebrating with our parkrun family.  So nice to get that feedback.  See you all again next week.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,145 participants have completed 40,824 parkruns covering a total distance of 204,120 km, including 6,068 new Personal Bests. A total of 314 individuals have volunteered 3,315 times.

Thank you to guest report writer, Shay Gardiner for this week's run report.

Welcome to event 421 - Saturday 18^th June 2022

It was my first visit back to Barry Curtis parkrun this year and the weather was perfect for winter parkrunning cool but no rain.  149 people completed event 421.

Today Run Director Peter gave his briefing and then set us all off on our way. Thanks to parkrun Australia for the new volunteer vests and defib. Thankfully it wasn’t needed!  The first three runners over the line all recorded a PB. Congratulations to Robert Van Derusen first finisher today and Jack Paine second and Andre Mckay third. First female over the line was Shamiso Mawer in the time of 21:22.

Of the 149 runners today, 13 participants recorded a personal best time. Well done Robert Van Derusen, Jack Paine, Andre Mckay, Alex Kennedy, Green Matsumoto, John Salter, Eden Carson, Dargaville Martin, Stacey Upjohn, Kerrie Evans, Grace Kennedy, Simone Winter and Pavneet Grover.

Barry Curtis parkrun welcomed Connor Jamieson, Matt Hall-White, Karina Jacobsz, Josh Whyte, Matt Chessum, Sue Moncrieff-Driscoll and William Stewart for their first ever Parkrun. I hope that you enjoyed yourself and return to parkrun again soon!  No national or international visitors today, however Johann Pieter Jacobsz and Eden Gardiner participated at Barry Curtis for the first time.

Whilst not an official parkrun milestone Shamiso Mawer completed 350 parkruns today! Awesome achievement.

 A very big thank you to our fabulous Hi-Vis Hereos our volunteers this week. Led by Run Director Peter Rout.  Volunteers were Colin Wichman, Richard Bowers, Andrew Shallard, David Everest, Sarah Kennedy, Selina Chan, Fishy Lyn Fischer, Maria Shallard, Rosalie Freeman, Ronald Lobjoit, Lana Lobjoit, Jordan Lobjoit, Tania Kokke, Caitlin Shallard, Ray Freeman and Shay Gardiner.

Parkrun wouldn’t happen each and every week without our volunteers so please give them a wave and say thanks as you encounter volunteers and consider volunteering yourself from time to time.

 In the 421 events, 4,114 participants have completed 40,448 parkruns!

 Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 419
4th June 2022

Another great day to get together with our fellow parkrunners.  This week 142 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 7 were first timers, including 5 doing their first ever event - we hope to see you again soon.  We welcomed a visitor from Lower Hutt - so nice that you joined us this week.

We also celebrated milestones for Sarah on event 50 and one of our juniors Mia doing her 100th event this week.  Congratulations to you both.

A slightly cooler day produced 22 recorded new Personal Bests.  Well done to you all, especially juniors James, Charlotte, Grace, Avril, Liam, Raven & Sophia.  It is great to see people challenging themselves in this way.

But rest assured, you don't have to be a speedster to come to parkrun - we welcome all - runners, joggers, shufflers, walkers, prams, children, dogs (on a lead).  Everyone has a different motivation for coming to parkrun - for some it is to improve their health, for some it is to track their fitness progress, for some it is to catchup with family and friends, for some it is to make new friends, and for some it is the coffee afterwards.  And you don't even have to do the 5 km - some people come purely to volunteer and cheer on the others!

The event was made possible by 15 volunteers:

Alastair HALL • Brian KWOK • Grant LINCOLN • Rosalie FREEMAN • David EVEREST • Tristan NICHOLLS • Vanessa FERNANDES • Ronald LOBJOIT • Sharon LEE • Lana LOBJOIT • Maria SHALLARD • Jordan LOBJOIT • Hannah SHALLARD • Cheekian LAW • Tania KOKKE

Thank you so much to our wonderful volunteers.  This weeks coffee voucher recipients were Alistair and Cheekian.  If you can help us out on a Saturday morning, please let us know.  You do get a 'warm glow' from giving back!  If you don't believe me, have a chat to someone who has volunteered!

A reminder too about our defibrillator, kindly supplied by parkrun HQ in Australia.  We bring this along each week, but it could be you that has to act if you see someone unresponsive out in the park.  Watch the video that has been provided so that you are prepared:  https://youtu.be/n_Q5G9ntPjM

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,110 participants have completed 40,322 parkruns covering a total distance of 201,610 km, including 6,027 new Personal Bests. A total of 310 individuals have volunteered 3,250 times.

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 417
21st May 2022

A wintery day - colder than we are used to and definitely wetter than we are used to.  However we were fortunate that the gap between showers lasted for us to get our event through in the relative dry! The weather was reflected in the lower numbers of people joining us, with 111 people running, jogging and walking the course this week.  We were joined by 6 first timers, of whom 5 were doing their first event, and 2 taking out first and second place, Dylan and Daniel at 18:40 and 18:46 respectively.  Welcome to you all.

We celebrated with Colin undertaking his 100th event - well done on this milestone.  And we had 7 recorded new PB's, way to go all of you, especially Sophia one of our newer juniors doing her 5th event in her personal best time.

The event was made possible by 14 volunteers:

Helen KNIGHT • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Jim NEWBOULD • Tristan NICHOLLS • Ronald LOBJOIT • Chanpen KANABOOT • Jono WILLIS • Caitlin SHALLARD • Keira SHALLARD • Andrew SHALLARD • Emily WILLIS • Jerome KLOEG • Tony MEEHAN

Thank you to all of this week's volunteers, not always easy on a cold day like this Saturday, but we so appreciate your time and commitment.  Our Sequel Cafe coffee vouchers this week went to Tony and Ronald - enjoy!  Remember you too can experience the warm glow that volunteering gives you - put your name down on the board on a Saturday morning, or check out the board online, and send us an email.  Tristan will be only too happy to pop your name on the roster.  And who knows, you might be next to win a a coffee voucher!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY - Barry Curtis parkrun is turning 9 and we will celebrate next Saturday morning (28th May) with a shared morning tea.  We would appreciate participants bringing along a plate of finger food to share.  It is great to see how this event has grown from its very humble beginnings with 36 participants on that first Saturday morning on 23 May 2013 -  Barry Curtis parkrun was the third event to commence in New Zealand, after Lower Hutt and Cornwall Park.

Our friends at parkrun HQ in Australia have recently sent us a defibrillator. Hopefully we never have to use it. However, please watch the following video that shows you the procedure to follow if someone at Barry Curtis parkrun were to have a cardiac event.

https://youtu.be/n_Q5G9ntPjM

Our event directors, Maria and Ray, attended an online parkrun meeting last week, which highlighted a few points in relation to the AED.  If YOU come across a person who has collapsed and is not responsive, YOU need to do these 3 things -

• call 111 for an ambulance - tell them to come to Chapel Road St Pauls church carpark, or Stancombe Road Barry Curtis Park carpark
• commence CPR
• send someone to get the AED from the run director

We all hope that we don't ever need to use the AED, but let's be prepared.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,089 participants have completed 40,030 parkruns covering a total distance of 200,150 km, including 5,974 new Personal Bests. A total of 309 individuals have volunteered 3,219 times

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 415
7th May 2022

Another gorgeous day in Aotearoa and at Barry Curtis Park.  It is always so great to see the happy smiling faces of those who come out to parkrun, the growing friendships, the family catchups, and of course the chance for a walk, run or 'shog' (Ray told us this is a cross between a shuffle and a jog) around the park.  And we also love to see those who come to spectate and/or give their time as a volunteer.  Everyone is always welcome.

This week 158 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 11 were first timers, including 8 doing their first ever parkrun.  Welcome to this very addictive pastime.  We also welcomed visitors from Hamilton and Scotland - so nice to have you join us.

We also had quite a few celebrations today with balloons for: David doing his 50th event, a special double act with father and daughter Jono and Emily doing their 100th and 50th events respectively , Mark also on his 100th event, and Selena on 200.  What a great achievement by you all.  Also of note Cheryl doing her 300th event at Barry Curtis this week.  And of course this week parkrun NZ celebrates 10 years of existence in our country with the first event starting in Lower Hutt.  And look how it has grown, from that one event to now 37 events around New Zealand.

The track was obviously fast this week as we had 30 recorded new Personal Bests.  Out the front were Robert and Oliver coming in at first and second with PB's of 16:37 and 17:28.  And coming in at fourth place one of our juniors Timothy with a cracking 17:34.  I can see our course record going in the near future - watch this space.  Also of note were PB's by a number of juniors Benjamin, Jessica, Jesse, Olujimi, Grace, Sofia, Jonty, Roy, Emily (great effort on your 50th event), Hannah and Sophie.  Way to go!

The event was made possible by 14 fabulous volunteers:

Helen KNIGHT • Gerard BOURDILLON • David DOWLING • Darren HILL • Carl HARDLEY-ROUT • Peter ROUT • Karen ROUT • Grant LINCOLN • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Maria SHALLARD • Caitlin SHALLARD • Andrew SHALLARD • Catherine HUNTER

Our Sequel Cafe coffee vouchers this week went to Ray and Maria, who are our event coordinators.  Tristan told us, that now he is more involved in the organisation he sees how much these two do behind the scenes for our event.  Thank you Ray and Maria and enjoy your coffee.  You two can be in the running for a coffee voucher - put your name down for a volunteer role in the coming weeks - check out the board on Saturday or look for the roster on our website and send an email.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,065 participants have completed 39,781 parkruns covering a total distance of 198,905 km, including 5,954 new Personal Bests. A total of 307 individuals have volunteered 3,190 times.

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 412
16th April 2022

Another beautiful day in Aotearoa, specifically at Barry Curtis Park.  This time of the year is so lovely, on a warm autumn day the intense heat of the sun has dissipated and you can enjoy the outdoors in comfort.  We had a great group of people join us this week, a number of our regulars away for the Easter holiday, but of course a number of visitors joining us for their Easter holiday, with one from Melbourne.  Welcome to our little corner of paradise!

While no milestones today, we did however have another reason to celebrate - Rubin, one of our regulars turned 18 today, - Congratulations, no longer a junior, and you looked great in that pink tutu!

This week 161 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 30 were first timers, including 21 doing their first ever parkrun.  Welcome to our parkrun family, we look forward to seeing you again.  Note must be made of two of these first timers, Ronan and Jack who came in at first and second place, a very smart 16.43 and 16:58 respectively.  You two certainly gave some of our faster parkrunners a good challenge this week.  In the superb conditions, 19 recorded new Personal Bests - Way to go! - especially juniors Timothy, Alex, James, Grace, Jessica, Kyle, Neomi, Janessa, Ashley and Roy. It is great to see our parkrunners growing in their own personal challenge each week.

The event was made possible by 13 volunteers, and a BIG THANKYOU to them all:

Gerard BOURDILLON • Shamiso MAWER • Neil CHEYNE • Wayne HANDISIDES • Cheryl HILL • Rosalie FREEMAN • Jim MAWER • Tristan NICHOLLS • Vanessa FERNANDES • Ronald LOBJOIT • Lana LOBJOIT • Andrew SHALLARD • Jan LAUDER

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Last weeks event on 9 April was a great Saturday for Barry Curtis parkrun, as with vaccine pass requirements lifted across all NZ parkruns, we were able to welcome EVERYONE back to our park.  It was so lovely to see all those familiar faces again and to see everyone enjoying the catchup.  And our numbers jumped substantially to 159, as these parkrunners brought some new friends with them.  We had 24 first timers to Barry Curtis, including 20 starting their parkrun addiction with us.  Welcome, Welcome, Welcome - Haere mai, Haere mai, Haere mai.

We celebrated 200 parkruns with Ellie - congratulations on this great milestone Ellie.  And also a special birthday celebration for David, turning 40 - a bit of a setup by his family!   And we had 13 personal bests, of note, juniors: Caleb (who came in first at a crisp 17:09), Thomas, James & Ruby.

Last weeks 12 volunteers were:

Ben BUERSCHGENS • Hayes FREEMAN • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Sulaiman HARTLEY • Cheryl HILL • Brian KWOK • Jim MAWER • Shamiso MAWER • Tristan NICHOLLS • Andrew SHALLARD • Chris WHITELEY

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 4,032 participants have completed 39,326 parkruns covering a total distance of 196,630 km, including 5,880 new Personal Bests. A total of 306 individuals have volunteered 3,152 times.

Barry Curtis parkrun
Event number 410
2nd April 2022

So great to be back.  Another beautiful morning and another group of happy looking people, enjoying catching up with fellow parkrunners, and enjoying our lovely Barry Curtis parkrun.  This week, we had 94 people join us, and last week (26 March), first week back since middle of January we had 82.  We look forward to next week when EVERYONE can join us as we will not have to operate under vaccine pass rules.  Remember to spread the word that "WE ARE BACK!.

This week we celebrated a milestone run for Gareth on his 200th parkrun.  Great effort Gareth.  And last week we celebrated with Keegan on his 150th run - one of our juniors showing great commitment to their health and fitness.

This week 94 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 4 were first timers and 11 recorded new Personal Bests - special mention goes to juniors Timothy, James and Janessa, and our first finisher Robert with a cracking 16:54.  Well done to you all.

Last week we had 82 parkrunners join us at short notice, including 10 first timers, 2 brand new to parkrun and 8 new to Barry Curtis parkrun.  It was just so great to welcome old and new to our event after such a long time.  We managed 2 events in January this year, but then you had to go back to 14 August 2021 to prior events!  Personal bests were achieved by 6 participants, of note juniors Benjamin and Libby.  Way to go!

We are so appreciative of the volunteers over the past two weeks, who stepped up, particularly at short notice last week.  Our volunteers this week were:

Laurie SHEDDEN • Doug MANNING • Shamiso SISIMAYI • Chris WHITELEY • Cheryl HILL • Karen ROUT • Ray FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Jim MAWER • Jim NEWBOULD • Tristan NICHOLLS • Ronald LOBJOIT • Ben BUERSCHGENS

And our Sequel Cafe vouchers went to Cheryl and Ben - thank you both for volunteering.  Sequel Cafe on Bishop Dunn Place, were very pleased to see us all back - why not come down and join us for a great coffee, a treat and a chat.

And last weeks volunteers were:

Ray FREEMAN • Jim MAWER • Tristan NICHOLLS • Chris WHITELEY • Hayes FREEMAN • Rosalie FREEMAN • Vanessa FERNANDES • Isabel BUERSCHGENS • Ronald LOBJOIT • Shamiso SISIMAYI

If you too would like to help us out, please put your name on the board on Saturday for one of the upcoming weeks, or send us an email - barrycurtis@parkrun.com

AND we look forward to seeing you all again next week, lets spread the word that Barry Curtis parkrun is BACK!  We want to see everyone back together again.  Just bring your smile, and of course your athlete barcode.

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Barry Curtis parkrun Results Page.

Barry Curtis parkrun started on 25th May 2013. Since then 3,978 participants have completed 39,006 parkruns covering a total distance of 195,030 km, including 5,848 new Personal Bests. A total of 306 individuals have volunteered 3,127 times.