BOXING DAY
EVENT #439
Well that’s it. parkrun 2020 done and dusted. What a crazy crazy year it has been – like no other in recent memory. A year when our team of five million put our country in a far superior position than any other in the world.
Due to COVID, Lower Hutt parkrun was only allowed to run 30 events. Its 8th birthday in May went uncelebrated and it fell short of its 450th event which was scheduled to occur inOctober. Still, we must remind ourselves that so many other countries have not had a parkrun since March and have been making do with “non-parkruns”. That may not change any time soon. Let’s be grateful.
What happened at 2020’s final event?
10->50->100->250->500
Talk about timing their run. The following reached their milestones at the last event of the year. Given the year we’ve had, reaching any milestone in 2020 is more coveted than any other. As for today, I think we all looked out the window this morning and thought, I can’t wait another week - nothing will stop us now!
Many CONGRATULATIONS to these blokes:
Bruce McCARDLE 350
Peter MURMU 250
Brian THOMSON 250
Jim MAWER 150
Alan CARMAN 100
Don STEVENS 50
Chris BISHOP 50
and
ME 300!
I treated myself to a first visit to the Buzz Café where the coffee is perfect and the cheese scones delicious! I’ll be back before #350!
NEWBIES AND TOURISTS
The tourist and newbie numbers usually swell during the holiday season. Not so in 2020. To the brave three new parkrunners, welcome to the parkrun whanau. We hope to see you again: Luke EVANS, Jenny BURRIDGE and Tony PIETRAS – the weather isn’t always like this!
And we trust the six parkrun tourists from around the motu all enjoyed their visit to Lower Hutt. Two notable tourists that exemplify the genuine definition of a parkrun tourist areShamiso SISIMAYI who has run at over 50 parkrun eventsaround the world; and Jim MAWER over 30!
Safe travels to you all and we hope to see you again soon.
FIRST EQUAL?!!
At the time of writing, the whole field of 113 finished with the same time! 59:59 meaning 1st equal! I am sure this glitch would have been resolved by the time of publishing, so enjoy it while you can!
The finishing positions are accurate where the following flew around the course today:
1stBen MAI and Rosie HAY
2ndDaniel RUSS and Nikki EVERTON
3rdLuke CARMAN and Shamiso SISIMAYI
The timing glitch means we can’t officially say who ran PBs today.
VOLUNCHEERS!
It’s days like today where we are all truly grateful to our wonderful team of volunteers. Big cheers to our last volunteer crew of the year led by Run Director, Susan HAYNES. As the field of 113 sought shelter under the trees,Susan made a smart decision to keep the run briefing verybrief this morning!
Thank you to Carole WRIGHT, Margaret DONOVAN, Sharon CLARK, Paul GORDON, Martin O’SULLIVAN, Andrew JONES, Roy BLEWETT, Craig THOMPSON,Joce JONES, Julia GORDON, Liz NEILL and moi!
And a huge thanks to ALL of our volunteers in 2020 who, come rain, wind, frost or shine made sure the parkrun show did go on. Without the volunteers, parkrun just does not happen.
TO 2021
That just leaves us to ponder what is in store for us in the New Year. As long as we stay at AL1, Round the Bays of returns in February; the kids’ Weet Bix TRYathlon series and XRACE events are scheduled to go in March; the Olympics will try to start again in Tokyo; and we will hopefully have a new parkrun event to enjoy in Upper Hutt. So, still a lot to be excited about…
To all our parkrun whanau, do have a safe New Year’s celebrations. We hope to see you at one of the local New Year’s Day events in Porirua, Kapiti and Greytown. To those travelling, particularly on our roads, drive safely, don’t forget to pack your barcode!
And don’t get complacent - keep scanning!
Manuia le tausaga fou (Happy New Year!)
Nga mihi,
Vatau Sagaga
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