24/08/2025
Mark Williamson is a parkrunner from the U.K. domiciled at the Forest of Dean parkrun, Mark is an avid and active tourist. He is well versed in the parkruniverse and has contributed a goodly number of Run Reports for us.
Pegasus parkrun Run Report #445 - with Cancer Society North Canterbury
Greetings from Pontefract in England, where your foreign correspondent has completed the Full Ponty Challenge
For all you newbies or uninitiated there are three main sources of parkmate fun.
On laptop or pc look for the parkrun Chrome extension, on android or iphone, install the 5K app and/or Running Achievements App to take your hobby, pastime/cult identity down a host of rabbit holes and to a completely new level of enjoyment !!!
As winter tails off into spring in the southern hemisphere and summer fades to north in the top half of the globe we are still united by parkrun. The seasons change but our shared joy stays the same.
Before writing about today, let me give you some details about how far the joy has spread at Pegasus,
Since inception 3649 parkmates have registered just at Pegasus. Imagine if all turned up next weekend? How many do you know? Can you bring any back?
Just in the last year, there have been 944 of them signed up but how many have made it to the start? Can we encourage a few more?
In the last month there have been 46 of whom 16 signed up in the last week. Let's see how many newbies we had this week in a few sentences' time.
In that same time-frame we have had 413 volunteers, 156 in the last year, 31 this month and 16 last week. This is in line with the global trends. Does anyone want to change that picture?
Over to you.
Now to this morning. It was the day we supported the Cancer Society and a heartfelt thanks to everyone who did. Statistics vary at between one in four, to one in two, so let's call it one in three, will be affected by cancer in our lifetime. So no matter what way you cut it, this one affects all of us or someone we know. It was great to see the many and varied bursts of yellow, from t-shirts and tops to flowers and "Bidgie"!
There are some cracking photos on FB from Annie and Robyn. Do take a look.
A pleasant frosty morning saw 136 parkmates line up for the start of Event #445 but only 132 had some form of barcode! T-shirts, tattoos, plastic or wristband, watch face or screenshot, all are acceptable. Please bring one so we can record your efforts. You can even register on the day!
Joachim SURREY, Jordan MILLER, Kay EVANS, Teresa SPEKSNIJDER, Kylie MARTIN, Jamayla BROWN, Shannon and Tegan SMART took their first ever parkrun steps today. Were they part of the 17 who registered at Pegasus last week, the 42 registered this month, the 409 this year, the 3650 who have registered at Pegasus since the inception or were they registered elsewhere? Who knows, but what we do know is they are not part of the 4.5million registered at pr who are yet to run and now join around two million finishers on 1 run but will they join the 900,000+ on two by next week?
Imagine all of our registered parkmates turning up on a Saturday morning! Wow, that would be a challenge. Here's one for you. Can you find a lapsed parkmate and bring them back to pr?
Experienced parkrunners Blair CURRIE, Ben JOHNSON, Kasey MACKINNON, Christine SHENTON, Aaron ANDERSON and Lucas MARTIN joined us for the first time today and are now part of the 5000 people who have crossed the line at Pegasus! Those 5000 finishers have been supported by 413 volunteers from whom we have seen 120 this year and 16 this week we say thanks to. Geoff McMILLAN • Laurie McARTHUR • Jackie HANCOCK • Bidgie JEFFERIES • Trudy DIGGS • Maddy DOUGLAS • Henry GRAY • Brett BAILEY • Karyn TEMPLER • Robert TEMPLER • Maxine BENNETT • Linda WILLIAMS • Anne HUGHES • Claire GALILEE • Robyn YOUNG and ME!
Surprisingly there were no milestones, not even an arbitrary one but there could be one next week. On the other hand a shiny new PB was bagged by 15 parkthletes: Anne Marie MORTON , Liam SCHUMACHER, Liana CROFTS, Linda BRUCE, Lisa WOODWARD, Brendan SANDREY, Hannah MILLER, Isaac POTTS, Lucy PAGE, Mark YAGMICH, Nicky CAMPBELL, Phil GURNEY, Samuel WOODWARD, Willem YOUNG and Simon POTTS. Well done all
No course records today, however Willem Young's PB lifted him to number 79 in the fastest 100 in our history.
On the virtual podiums this week were:
Juniors:George YAGMICH (17), Lewis MITCHELL (26) and Joachim SURREY (51)
S/VW: Hannah OLDROYD (1), Angela DOIG (4) and Brooke FORTUNE (7)
S/VM: Willem YOUNG (2), Aaron (First Timer) ANDERSON (3) and Michael MURRAY (5)
Age Grade: Hannah OLDROYD, Tonnie OERLEMANS and Angela DOIG.
This week's most experienced parkmates were, funnily enough, Hannah OLDROYD on 580 finishes and Geoff McMILLAN on 407
I'm also sending best wishes to all at Pegasus who know Andy Mears, who is now putting in appearances at Forest of Dean. Got to love a Global Family.
Catch you all again soon. Have a great week and enjoy your next parkrun!
