THE HARLOW Parkrun continues to attract very healthy numbers. This was the 396th running of the weekly walk, run, wheel around the town park.

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/harlow/

This week, Zak, a park run tourist from Plymouth kindly offered to write a report.

“This week my wife and I decided to run Harlow Parkrun #397 as the both of us, and our friend, a local girl are taking part in a marathon this evening for Cancer Research UK. We are also doing a challenge #plodtheplanet where we are attempting to run or walk the circumference of the planet in 3 years between 4 of us. This equates to an average of 5.67 miles a day, every day for 3 years! We are around 680 miles in so far!

Harlow parkrun is a picturesque, 2 and a half lap loop of Harlow Park, taking in the beautiful trees and fitting in a few slopes- they aren’t hills! I found it relatively flat and mostly easy going underfoot, with a few potholes which were clearly marked out by cones to avoid a twisted ankle! With 226 runners, joggers, walkers and a wheelchair user which was amazing to see, it was busy, not too busy, and it was a great amount of people.

The RD was a very friendly chap with a sense of humour which is what you need first thing to set your weekend up nicely. After a safety brief, gave a shout out to birthdays, milestones and a surprising one to us which came as an embarrassment to our friend- we all fully support a bit of embarrassment!

The volunteers were fully supportive, non stop throughout the event as well as a lot of participants cheering and supporting others as we passed each other on various parts of the course!

Congratulations to Gerardo ESTRUCH GREGORI for being first male, my very own wife Chloe for being first female!

Thanks to Helen Darvill & Carol Lynch for ensuring all of us finished the route safety!

It is important to remember that Parkrun cannot happen without our hi-vis heroes who give up their own time to ensure these events are run safely and smoothly! There are many volunteer positions that mean you can still take part in the event. If anyone is down in Plymouth at any point, please come and visit my local park run at PlymValley