Finsbury Parkrun

This week exactly 400 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 75 were first timers and 45 recorded new Personal Bests. Maybe the PBs were helped by the wind 💨 , which reportedly was assisting people up the long “almost” hill - we do actually plan the weather as part of each week’s set up so you are all welcome 😜.
The event was made possible by 19 volunteers, which this week included Helen BURCHETT who reached 25 volunteer credits! She is normally joined by her “helf...er” who has his own mini-HiVis! Helen and Daniel were barcode scanning today which means they link your position to your person barcode. If you ever don’t have your barcode or don’t want a time please do hand back your finish tokens! We had a number go missing today 🙁 and we need a complete set each week - at least 5 went missing. If you took them home accidentally please bring them back another week as we need them each week.
Today’s RD was Trudy who took solo reigns for the first time. Everything went well just some manipulation of the results needed when it went out of sync. If you do enter the funnel please do keep in order, move to the end and take a token even if you don’t plan to get scanned (e.g. you don’t have a barcode). This ensures smoother processing of results when we “do the parkrun magic” in the cafe🧚‍♀️👩‍💻.
Other fun in the cafe includes the sorting of tokens (including making new tokens😕)! Do come and join us afterwards for a chat/cake/coffee 😀🗣🍰☕️.
Representatives of 25 different clubs took part. Next week our most represented club London Heathside will be taking over so look out for colour-coordinated volunteers! We should also have some pacers for next week’s event so if it an elusive PB you are after hopefully they can assist! Don’t worry, we’ll sort the weather again - same time next week?
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Great to see so many new faces this morning parkrunners! Rebecca, who did a fantastic job of marshaling at the top of the hill, has written this week's run report. Thanks Rebecca!
Although this Saturday morning was much cloudier and chillier than last week, it didn’t stop the Finsbury Parkrunners showing up in their lycra-clad, buggy-pushing, dog-wielding masses to celebrate Parkrun’s 14th birthday. An incredible 394 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 62 were ...fresh-faced first timers and 75 recorded new Personal Bests. Not only did we have a great turn out on this special day, but we welcomed two new 50 club members: Gwyneth HARRISON-SHERMOEN and George GIBBS, and a new 100 club member: Jenny BERRISFORD. Congratulation also to first-time Run Director Libby, who did a super job.
In the last few weeks, a couple of were tumbles taken on the loose gravel in the rose garden, though this week this was counteracted with some cleverly placed cones and nobody fell over. A success indeed. Instead of tumbles, we had a few bikes, cars and vans on the course, but no accidents thankfully!
It was great to see two runners from the online running community, Run Mummy Run, whose smiles never left their faces the whole way around the route (particularly impressive in this photo which was taken at the top of The Hill)!
Also spotted on the course this week was the truly-tailed tail runner, Caz, leading the runners in style from the back. Caz brought along lots of friends from #backpackersrunning - see you again soon guys!
The volunteer team this week was coordinated by Katie, who has been doing the role for over a year now, and has only had 3 weeks off in that time! Special mention must also go to our regular marshal Bill who was running today, taking a well-earned break from volunteering. Amazingly, Bill has volunteered at least once a month since October 2016!
If volunteering seems like your cup of tea, do get in touch with the team at finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com! We always need more helping hands, whether as a marshal, a time-keeper, a finish tunnel organiser or any of the other jobs that are so crucial to making Parkrun work. You will undoubtedly be rewarded with a warm, fuzzy feeling, a good few “thank you, Marshal”s and a general sense of doing good in the world.
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We have a fair few spots to fill for this Saturday still - who can help us?
We need another 2 marshals before we can start the run and another 7 finish line volunteers to get you all timed/scanned!
Email Katie on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com if you can.

Happy 14th Birthday parkrun! We'll be celebrating with cake in the cafe after parkrun this week - come along and say hello. Did you know Finsbury parkrun was event number 24? We'll celebrate our 9th birthday on 27th October by inviting you all to wear your milestone t-shirts. Who knows we might even have some cake then as well? If you'd like to help out on the day or write a run report for either event, drop us a line on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com.

Good morning parkrunners! Our Saturday stats were:
▪️18 volunteers ▫️355 runners ▪️68 first timers... ▫️65 PBs
Our two milestone runners, on 50 apiece, were Lorraine RUDLING and Valentin VALEANU - well done both!
One very important first timer was Trudy, who was Run Director for the first time and did a fantastic job. We still have space for one or two more new Run Directors to train, or for more people on our Pre Event Set-Up aka Head Marshal roster (if you've ever marshalled, they're the person who briefed you). If you're interested, email us on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com
A little news on the course - we've had a few slips and trips on loose gravel at the corner to turn into the gardens, so you might notice that we've moved the marshal to the other side (see photo below). We know you love a PB, but please be careful on that corner.
In other volunteering news - would you be interested in becoming a run report writer? Run report writers: - Take a few photos at the event (of milestone runners, tourists, or anyone else who's happy to be included) - Write it up it a short run report, just like this). - Send it to the event directors for uploading We can send you the stats and this is one of those special volunteer jobs where you can get a run credit *and* a volunteer credit. If you'd like to write a run report in future weeks, drop us an email on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com.
The Finsbury parkrun survey is still open - if you have any suggestions for improvements or positive stories about your participation in parkrun head over here to tell us about them: https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSfuFwt saFlEuuIxe9…/viewform
The defibrilator, generously provided through the fundraising efforts of parkrunner Neil Cole, now has a prominent home in a cabinet in the cafe. We hope you'll never need to use it, but we'd like you to all know where it is, just in case.
We are expecting a normal run next week, but this time it's Libby's debut appearance as Run Director. We'd love a nice full roster of volunteers, so drop us a line on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com if you can help out.
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A post about posts, and some other things! We are reassured that the final festival fencing will be down by Saturday morning so we'll be on, almost as usual 🎉 There is a Race For Life in the park after us so there is no parking available 🛑 We'll be on the usual route but please remember to follow our yellow signs and marshals, not any pink signs or arrows and to keep and eye out for event traffic in the park 🚨 The roster is almost full - space for one more scanner if anyone i...s keen - let us know on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com if you'd like to help out 🤗 This will be our first run with our new parkrun posts, generously funded by Haringey Council. 🙏 If you're joining us for the first time, meet by the cafe at 8.50am. Looking forward to it! And don't forget your barcode...
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CANCELLED TOMORROW! A final reminder that we are cancelled tomorrow due to a festival in the park. See you on 29th! And if you'd like to volunteer, drop us an email on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com 👍

Who's coming to Finsbury parkrun this week? Hopefully no one! A reminder that we are cancelled on 22nd September due to a festival in the park - please enjoy a lie in or some parkrun tourism on us. We'll be back on 29th September.

So we didn’t manage to put that many people off with our talk of “non PB week” and “maybe no buggies” due to the Sink the Pink event in the North side of the park. Maybe the same people from last week just turned up anyway? We did have exactly the same number of parkrunners and volunteers - has that ever happened you ask? We haven’t had time to check yet. What we can say is next week won’t be 402 runners and 21 volunteers again, as WE ARE CANCELLED ON 22 SEPTEMBER due to anot...her event in the park.
This week’s detour came courtesy of RD and course measurer Mark. A huge thanks to him and his team of volunteers this week, who helped put on a fabulous run in spite of the detour. He was being shadowed by trainee RD Libby who will be taking the reins soon- hopefully for her on a regular course! But what an excellent course detour: we were able to find a use for our numerous yellow flags and the additional cones we’d added to our kit recently also came in handy. With a few marshals relocated to top it off, we hope you found your way around ok. When we have to detour then we normally ensure the course is long, rather than short as we don’t want people to have “false” PBs! This did mean starting in the gardens- hopefully everyone enjoyed the temporary change.
Mark was out earlier in the week keeping an eye on the setup of the event, and also was the brains behind the video of the detour posted yesterday to acclimatise you all to the change. Who noticed that the detour meant there was less elevation for the hill!? Big kudos to Mark for ensuring we had a suitable alternative route for today’s parkrun.
Mark/Libby’s team of volunteers numbered 19 today. We need about 18 each week so please do get in touch if you can help- we can’t run without the kind assistance of a team of volunteers.
Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to Diane Archer who stepped down as Co-Event Director recently as she is off to set up parkrun in Thailand (well she’s moving there for work, but we think secretly she’s going there to build a parkrun empire). Diane took over the reins last year after Jinaka stood down as Event Director. Being sole Event Director is a big responsibility to take on and she was joined shortly after by Lorna, sharing the responsibilities between them. We wish her the best in her new life in Thailand. Lorna has been joined by Andrew to continue the sharing of Event Director duties. Diane was famous for her cakes and so Lorna and Andrew have big cake shoes to fill.
See everyone in 2 weeks where in a similar pink theme we’ll be running past Race for Life which is happening later in the Park on 29 September.
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Warning. No parking in the park tomorrow. You'll have to run!

Behind the scenes we are keeping an eye on the Sink The Pink event setup in the North of the park (just before the bottom of the hill in the photo). We should be able to marshal a detour, but... we would like ample marshals to cover this detour around the event- can you help us out?
Additionally, running around the event also means it isn’t a week for PBs!! We also advise against running with a buggy - but do see our comments below this post about this.
Who is joining us on Saturday for #parkrun for either running or #volunteering ?

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Thursday's here and we hope you're all planning an awesome weekend. Could you make it even better for you and 400 of your closest friends by volunteering at parkrun? We need another 5 marshals before we can start the run and another 4 finish line volunteers to get you all timed. It's our co-Event Director Diane's last Finsbury parkrun before she moves to Thailand, so we'd love to have a full roster for her final run! Email finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com or comment below if you can help out.

CANCELLATION NOTICE – 22 September
Due to another event in the park, we are cancelled on 22 September. Check out our neighbours Ally Pally, Highbury Fields, Hampstead Heath, Pymmes and Hackney Marshes for the closest alternative parkruns - but make sure you check they aren't also cancelled too!
As well as checking here, another great way to be directly informed of cancellations is by signing up to our volunteer appeals emails - we will email everyone on the list to warn of cancellations. Opt in for these emails by logging in to your parkrun account.

Happy parkrun day to everyone, especially the 402 runners who joined us this morning - nice to see numbers creeping up again after the summer.
Extra congratulations to Chloe Bean joined the 50 club, the 69 first timers including tourists from Edinburgh, Stockton-on-Tees and Canada and the 63 scoring Personal Bests!
Anyone planning to run on 22nd September - please check before travelling as we may have to cancel due to a festival in the park.
... As mentioned in the pre-run brief, we have been asked a couple of times over the last year for quotes from parkrunners about running and volunteering to use in press releases/grant applications. We've set up a short survey to gather these. There is also a space for you to make any suggestions for how we can improve (sorry, we can't flatten the hill!). The four-question survey can be found here: https://goo.gl/forms/K21jP4SJbLwvMDBI3 and is as anonymous as you'd like it to be.
We've had two parkrunners have moderately serious falls recently. We have a well-stocked first aid kit at the finish so please come and see us if you need it. Massive thanks to the medically-trained runners who have stepped in to offer assistance. Defibrillators are available at the cafe and in Manor House station (behind the gates) should we ever need them.
Your RD next week will be Mark - if you'd like to join his Hi-Vis team drop us an email on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com or comment below. We'll be running around the Sink The Pink event in the park so please listen out for instructions - glitter and heels optional!
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September is here, but the weather was still holding out for parkrun yesterday! ☀️🌞
Lots to celebrate yesterday, including some farewells as explained in the pre-pre-run briefing by Diane. A huge thank you to yesterday's RD Alison who was undertaking her last RD role before she heads off on her adventure to India and then Thailand. Before doing so she took the reins for Finsbury parkrun for a final time, and presided over 338 runners and 24 volunteers who turned up to run/wal...k/cheer/help - thank you to all who attended including a few tourists.
Alison has 113 parkruns under her belt since 2011 - 111 of them at Finsbury park. Between 2012 and now she has undertaken an amazing 84 volunteering tasks - 20 of which were being Run Director. She will be greatly missed and we cannot thank her enough for her service to Finsbury parkrun over years. During her times as RD she has come across and dealt with a number of issues, including making an impromptu funnel (of twigs!) when the equipment was locked away, always dealing with them in a calm and thoughtful way. Thanks Alison, and best of luck!
We also had a family celebration from the Berrisford's/Sweet's as Gregory BERRISFORD SWEET and his dad Alexander SWEET celebrated their 50th runs together with mum (Jenny BERRISFORD) and brother/son also marshalling & cheering everyone on near the gardens. Thank you for the biscuits/chocolates/cake which you brought to celebrate your milestones. Gregory is now 11 and so his is able to run on his own - allowing his mum to volunteer or participate separately if she wishes! Thanks for adhering to the U11 rules, and we look forward to welcoming you all in whatever capacity you join us in future weeks - running/walking/volunteering.
Following the run today there was cake aplenty, mainly from the various celebrations mentioned above - we did try and take a photo but we were all too hungry before we thought to snap away - oops! We do however reiterate that volunteers always get first dibs on any cakes which have been made - so if you want to join in our GpBO (Great parkrun Bake Off) judging of 'the crumb' in any forthcoming week please do email Katie on finsburyhelpers@parkrun.com. You will then be able to, in the words of Alison, be "hot like us" in HiVis!
Looking forward to seeing everyone next week - there are a few smaller events in the park over the coming weeks so we will update you on social media if there are any changes!
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