2019 started like no other year as I managed a very unusual New Years day volunteering triple
The day started off with a spot of timekeeping at Ipswich, followed by a quick visit to Kesgrave to get a few notes for a combined run report and finishing with another spot of timekeeping at Felixstowe.
Having returned to Christchurch Park I took a recording of my “Funnel manager routine” so that I didn’t have to constantly repeat myself and this certainly caused a spot of confusion
The start of the following month (according to Facebook) saw me hit a major junior parkrun milestone. I suspect the counting wasn’t that great as I think it was occasion number 207.
As Hilary was going to hit a major milestone in the year I was clearly in planning mode
Shortly afterwards and following a 17 month break, I discovered that parkrun guidance had changed again, and it was now permissible to have assistance when using a wheelchair
This was also my first time as Tail roller, however, at this stage I didn’t have my own customised hi-viz jacket.
We did brilliantly though as we managed my first ever “Age category record”
The trip along the prom clearly got me excited about participating in the 5km element again and a couple of weeks later this happened.
Once again I was on tail roller duties with Hilary, however, this time round I had my own hi-viz
This was going to be my first time going around Christchurch Park and trust me it was bloody hard work. Guess I have nobody but myself to blame.
The day before this roll though I had clearly been doing some planning and having conversations with various event teams as the following was announced
To make pushing easier and also to compliment my recently purchased cross country tyres I purchased a freewheel for my chair.
Having the freewheel lifted the two “castor” wheels off the floor making pushing easier and meant that parkruns on grass courses should be possible.
Early April and despite the horrible hill we went off to complete another one of my parkrun babies with a trip to Lowestoft and my first ever picture in a “some one elsie frame”
The following week was my first XC parkrun at another one of my babies
A week later it was time to get emotional following a return to Felixstowe
The end of April saw us touristing to Malling parkrun to meet up with Richard and Katherine Goulder. Katherine was at that stage the parkrun ambassador for the group known as “parkrun for people with MS”. Quite possibly the nicest people in any group on Facebook.
As you can tell, I took on tail rolling responsibilities. However, I only did so because I was with Richard who knew the course. I am a firm believer in the tail, or one of the tails, being familiar with the course. The post comment indicates that a lot of parkfaffing occurred after the event.
For only the second time since I had been involved, International Star Wars day was on a Saturday and therefore fancy dress was in order. Yoda had to be reused, and somebody also added a light sabre to the picture of me at Felixstowe parkrun.
That weekend also saw me hit parkrun event number 600!
And just to prove we aren’t as organised as we always appear on a Sunday morning, here is the junior team celebrating Christmas 2018 a little bit late
The start of June saw me complete my first day chair parkrun under my own steam.
Not surprisingly this was at Felixstowe, which is predominantly flat apart from the pier section.
August 2019 was a big parkrun month in the Marriott household starting with
And to top it all, after some clever planning, Hilary hit her 100th parkrun participation on her birthday
This was achieved at Severn Bridge parkrun, where we had gone for the weekend.
We also took the opportunity to meet up with Paul Burke, a fellow member of the “parkrun for people with MS” group. It was his first experience of parkrun but he loved it.
Amazing to think he is now doing half marathons and has knocked an hour of his parkrun time. This is my absolute PW at parkrun but it really doesn’t matter.
At the end of the month, we met up with Claudia from the group as her friend was taking part in a MS challenge and he came to Ipswich to complete the I element.
We sort of did the parkrun pilgrimage in early September
Given that the picture was taken at 7:00pm it obviously wasn’t a genuine pilgrimage but it would have been a bit daft to have missed out the opportunity of a picture.
By this stage parkrun was a much bigger thing than when I started and was even a question on an episode of The Chase
Having purchased a running buggy for Hilary, it was inevitable that Aria would soon be taking part in parkrun. The following picture was taken shortly after her debut at the tender age of 9 months.
Following a police incident at Christchurch park I was in danger of losing my 100% record for 2019 as the park was closed so I had to cancel Ipswich juniors. Fortunately we hot footed it to Kesgrave juniors instead
The final parkrun of the month saw us touring yet again, this time to Mole Valley to celebrate Katherine’s birthday and 100th parkrun
It will come as no surprise to learn that we were there for a long breakfast. The following day we attended Surbiton junior parkrun. No pictures taken due to it being the wettest junior event that we have ever been to!
It wasn’t long before the little one started her parkrun tourism journey
Although it was a return visit for me, this was the first gathering of the “parkrun for people with MS group.
The group had done a bit of a takeover so there was no way we were going to miss out on this.
Yet another example of parkfaffing!
The start of November saw another phenomenal milestone reached in Suffolk
Some Facebook posts are 100% accurate and yet they don’t really say anything
For all intents and purposes, this would be the start of the process to bring Rendlesham Forest parkrun to the world.
The start of December and although we weren’t aware of it, we were trendsetters.
It was my good friend Linda Crooks 400th parkrun so there could only really be one place to be
The tourism finished with a bit of Forestry England parkrun reconnaissance in Grampshire
In addition the young one reached the correct age to get himself a barcode
During 2019 I completed 19 parkruns and recorded 110 volunteer credits. These were done at 26 events including 14 new ones, and 19 time I both ran and volunteered. This took my run total to 71 and took my Volunteer number to 651 of which 44 times I did both. These were completed at 116 different events.