This Saturday the Ally Pally parkrun celebrates its 500th event. To mark the occasion, we’ve chatted to one of organising team, Tim Fletcher. He talks running, volunteering, nature and plenty more.
Huge congratulations on approaching your 500th Ally Pally parkrun, could you take us through each run one by one from the start? Just joking, but it would be great to hear about how the event has evolved over the course of 500 runs? The first Ally Pally parkrun took place on the 3 December 2011. There were 49 parkrunners, including Paul Sinton-Hewitt the founder of parkrun, and five volunteers. Many of those first finishers were visitors, but there are some who are still Ally Pally regulars. The following week there were six finishers, but parkrun was still relatively new then, and it was December!
Over the years we gradually grew until we were frequently getting well over 300 finishers, our record is 444. It’s hard to predict how many will turn up, the weather and other events can affect numbers, as do school holidays! Although one of our Run Directors insists that is never rains at parkrun. In total to date there have been 86,166 runs by 12,814 people. Our average turnout is around 230 this year.
Ally Pally parkrun number 493 gets underway. ♀️♂️♀️♂️
Which means of course that we are getting close to number 500 … #loveparkrun pic.twitter.com/ZGPjzXkiij— Ally Pally parkrun (@AlPal_parkrun) April 1, 2023
Do any runs stand out in particular ? Most people will have their own memorable events, perhaps their first ever parkrun, getting a Personal Best time, or recording a milestone such as 50, 100, or 250 runs, or volunteering credits. We are still waiting for our first Ally Pally parkrunner to get to the 500 run milestone. One event that comes is mind is the event-that-never-was : 2020 was a Leap Year and with 29 February falling on a Saturday this was a rare chance to run on that date. Sadly, we had torrential rain and the route was flooded and we had to call it off. We will try again in 2048…!
Events around particular times of the year can be good fun with assorted Father Christmases and Elves appearing in December, and we usually have a New Years Day run. We enjoy our anniversary events, which in recent times have seen us supporting the Bounds Green Food Bank, rather than us having loads of cakes. The first event after the lockdowns was pretty special as well. If you want a very fast 5k then we are probably not the event for you, but our course records of 15:42 (male) and 18:02 (female) are there to be taken on. Or just try and better your own performance if you feel like it.
Who takes part in the Ally Pally parkrun? We have a wide range of participants, from those under ten to those over 80. We have those who are going round in under 20 minutes, and those who go round in over 50 minutes. It’s important to remember that you don’t have to run the whole thing and we often have people walking round. We have a tail walker at the rear, so no one finishes last. And we don’t have a “winner” – we have first finishers. We have several families who take part, one of our regular families has three generations all going round, and one of our families have logged nearly 1500 runs. The vast majority of our parkrunners are local, but we do get around 30 or so first time visitors each week. Our top three postcodes for Ally Pally registrations are N8 7, N22 7, & N10 2.
What does it take to put on 500 runs and how much pride is there in reaching this landmark? Each parkrun is put on entirely by volunteers and we have a core team of two co-Event Directors with a number of Run Directors who are responsible for making sure each event runs smoothly and safely. We need around eight volunteers at the finish to ensure finishers get their right positions and times. We have marshals around the course at key corners and, if possible, at particularly muddy sections in bad weather. Some roles can be combined with a run, so we usually have around 20 people involved. It can take some time to get the roster filled and occasionally we have to send a begging email. For our 500th event though we had everyone in place by the Tuesday evening – some sort of a record! We are proud to have got to 500. To have something like this just apparently happen is no mean feat week in week out and everyone who has helped along the way should share in the achievement.
Well done everyone!
(Some of us still have another lap to go ) #loveparkrun pic.twitter.com/T4oGSmtexM— Ally Pally parkrun (@AlPal_parkrun) March 4, 2023
What is the best thing about parkrun and the benefits of taking part? Another question where everyone will have their own answer. For some it is a form of training, for others it’s a means to just keep fit, and others use it to get fit, or fitter, and of course there are the mental health benefits of getting out in nature and being with other people doing something together, in what we hope is a non-judgemental environment. The faster finishers may be taking it seriously, but for many of us it is a more social affair where the chat and the catching up are just as important. Needless to say if you want to come along, quietly go round and then depart that is OK.
What would you say to someone who wants to do parkrun, but never quite manages to find the time (guilty)? First things first – register at parkrun.com so that you have a barcode number. They ask for very little personal information. If you can’t print off the barcode we can read it off a phone now. Then the big step – come to the park for 8.50am on a Saturday to hear the First Timers Welcome. Alternatively, just come along sometime around 9am to have a look and see what is happening, and then join us the next week. It is all set up to be as simple as possible to join in – and is completely free. We are very happy for people to register and come along to volunteer without actually ever running. It can be a good way of getting into the parkrun habit whilst building up to that first run/walk.
What does the future hold for Ally Pally parkrun – is the next target 1000 runs? Our next target is probably event 501! But really, we just want to keep going and making the most of our wonderful park. Many of our visitors come for our location and the views, although they aren’t keen on the hills!
Sum up Ally Pally parkrun in three words? Free, Weekly, Timed is the parkrun slogan, but a straw poll also generated: Historic, Hilly, Habit; Fitness, Friendship, Fun; Community, Countryside, Coffee; Mud, Midges, Mayhem; and Splendid, Sweaty, Saturday! And our What3Words location is rather appropriately for Muswell Hill: kinks.songs.sang
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