Hardy Runners Brave Dreich Day on Wormwood Scrubs
Its time to dust off the trail shoes as parkrun course becomes slippery
It was raining gently but steadily this morning, as the parkrunners gathered on the Scrubs just before 9am. The rain intensified but that didn’t put anyone off – we’re all hardy all-weather runners, after all! Winter is approaching, the clocks have gone back and the course is beginning to get a bit slippery, especially down the back straight. I realised that I hadn’t worn my trail shoes for some time, as there were cobwebs on the inside of them when I put them on this morning! We had 77 runners today, including a fair number of regulars from the Fulham Palace parkrun in Bishop’s Park, which was closed due to the fireworks there this evening.
Run director Rob Ferguson briefed the runners on the course, before handing over to our timekeeper this week, Ben LeRougetel, who counted us down. The course wasn’t too bad, although the pot holes at the top are an ever-present hazard. Luckily the rain wasn't too bad - you don't really notice it when you're running! This sparked a bit of a rain-themed conversation in the club house afterwards, with Frankie Lynch, from Scotland, telling us about the Scottish word dreich, which is used to describe a particular type of rainy day, which is dreary and gloomy, with soft and very wet rain. The etymology, I've just found out, is Middle English, of Scandinavian origin. They have a lot of rain there, too.
The first runner to cross the line on this dreich day was Thomas Bayley, of Exeter tri club, in 18:00. He was followed by Milan Misak, of Serpentine RC, in 18:07, and Paul Rowley, of Sale Harriers Manchester, in 18:46. First woman to cross the line was Anna Lawson, of Inperial College Cross Country & AC, in 21:43, followed by Andrea Broughton, of Thames Valley Harriers, in 24:42, and Kay Guccione, of Sheffield Tri, in 25:00.
The three highest age grades were recorded by:
Lara Rogers (JW10) – 74.32% for the time 25:15 (33rd overall);
Peter Hutchinson (VM55-59) – 74.13% for the time 21:27 (15th overall); and
Thomas Bayley (SM18-19) – 74.07% for the time 18:00 (first overall).
We also had 7 new PBs today: congratulations to James Hooker, Sam Denny, Lara Rogers, Bill Rogers, Benjamin Rawsthorne, Michael Law and Damalie Mukyala.
Many thanks to the volunteers: Graeme BOXALL, Marion BRYDSON, Fraser BRYDSON, Melina DUER, Robert FERGUSON, Craig GUNN, Peter JORDAN, Ben LE ROUGETEL, Nick MICHAEL, Gill TAMPLIN
As you know, we rely on volunteers, so if you’d like to get involved in volunteering at the Wormwood Scrubs parkrun, please email wormwoodscrubshelpers@parkrun.com. There are lots of volunteering opportunities in the coming weeks!
Don’t forget that you can also donate to the Scrubs parkrun via the following link: link.
Happy running and see you next week,
Andrea
November 12, 2017
