After a week of seemingly continuous rain, the Chesapeake and Ohio National Historic Park Tow Path was nothing but puddles, puddles, and more puddles for this week’s parkrun. Swamp-like, so to speak.  And looking a lot like the Preakness that took place later in the day, and the Kentucky Derby two weeks prior.  The rain gods were ‘sort of’ smiling on the Fletcher’s Cove parkrun as the rain became only a drizzle by our 9:00 a.m. start.

Hardcore is the only word to describe the 21 runners who braved the elements. Of the finishers, six have run more than 50 parkruns and one has run more than 100. Today’s top finisher was Robin Larner with a time of 20:30. Running in his 88^th parkrun, Jeff Neradka came in second at 24:45. The third finisher and top woman was Mary Lowe Mayhugh with a time of 26:45. You can see all the run results at http://www.parkrun.us/fletcherscove/results/latestresults/.

Special thanks go to the Kingsbury Center’s Innovation 5K. They had priority use of the Tow Path for their 8:00 a.m. run, but graciously agreed to share it with Fletcher’s Cove parkrun.  And in the spirit of kindred runners, we entered a team in their 5K – Team parkrun: Cindy Cohen, Susan Crammond, David Donahue, Andres Falconer and Henry Wigglesworth.  Cindy finished first in the Adult Women’s Division; Andres was 3^rd in the Adult Men’s Division.  And Henry graciously stepped in midway through the race, to course-correct the midpoint turn-around.  Final note: Not getting enough puddles, puddles, and more puddles – Cindy and Andres double ‘dipped’, running Fletcher’s Cove parkrun on short rest!

Thanks go to volunteers Tita Chico, David Donahue, Sylvia Lesic, Nico Foxley, Tomas Foxley, Jason Legum, and Manuel Rivera. Please sign up to volunteer in a future run. Your help will be greatly appreciated by your fellow runners!

As with other Saturdays, the Fletcher’s Cove parkrun does not really end when the last finisher crosses the line. It continues with fellowship at Black Coffee on MacArthur Boulevard.  Join us!

Finally, an important reminder:  We are now enforcing the parkrun policy – No Barcode, No Time, No Exceptions. It also means you will note get credit for your next parkrun milestone. So remember to bring it, wear it, wristband it, laminate it and have it with you every Saturday.

-  Joseph McKenzie, Run Director #117

A Fletcher’s Cove Record Breaking parkrun! Not for the number of runners, but for the extraordinary roster of volunteers – our largest ever cohort, so first big round of applause to the generous spirit of the 20 volunteers pitching in today:

Run Director - Dan OWEN; Timekeepers - Julia A FIGUEREDO and Alex FOXLEY; Barcode Scanners - Nancy EDSON and Lailah STRUBE; Finish Tokens - Håkan LONÆUS; Marshals - Melissa BODEAU, Jason LEGUM, Paul DURBIN, Jenese JACKSON, Zak OWEN and Bella OWEN; Tail Walker - Robin LARNER; Photographers - Michael BENDER and Alejandro MALDONADO; Volunteer Co-ordinator - David DONAHUE; Funnel Managers - Andres FALCONER and James Oscar LONAEUS; Finish Token Support – Henry WIGGLESWORTH.

Why so many volunteers? Because run #116 was a Mother’s Day 5k parkrun collaboration with DC’s Department of Parks and Recreation and the Mayor’s FitDC program and we expected a surge in numbers. Perhaps the rising tide of temperatures acted as a restraint – today’s run had us perspiring joyfully in anticipation of the long summer running Fletcher’s Cove ... 128 completed the Parkrun today and hearty congratulations to the many first timers and a very happy Mother’s Day to all.  Thanks to DPR and FitDC for the excellent partnership and to the November Project for the warm-up.

Pease sign up to volunteer in a future run. Your help will be greatly appreciated by your fellow runners!

You can see all the run results at http://www.parkrun.us/fletcherscove/results/latestresults/.

Today we played catch up with the parkrun law of the land – No Barcode, No time, No exception – so remember to bring it, wear it, wristband it, laminate it and have it with you every Saturday.

Keep Calm and Keep parkrunning!

-          Dan Owen, Run Director #116

Did you catch the subtlety of the headline (5K de Mayo?)!

The 115^th Fletcher’s Cove parkrun celebrated Tomas Foxley’s 13^th birthday as our flawless volunteer timekeeper for the day’s race. Tomas was born 05/05/05 (how cool is that!); his papa Alex was our other timekeeper for the day. Thanks, Tomas for starting your birthday celebrations with your parkrun family! He was joined by 76 runners for the CincoK de Mayo run.

The race posted 12 Personal Best times, and included 17 First Time runners (who we hope to see gain soon at Fletcher’s Cove or any of our other area parkrun locations).

Joe Schoenbauer was the overall first place finisher, and in his second parkrun, posted a Personal Best of 19:37. Congrats Joe!  He was closely followed by Robin Larner (19:53) and Andrew Shen (20:11).

In the Women’s Division, Chelsea Porter led the way with a time of 25:26.  And like Joe, she was closely followed by April Cisneros (25:41) and Katie Beach (25:48).

You can see all the results at http://www.parkrun.us/fletcherscove/results/latestresults/.

Shout outs and milestones:

** Lola Orlove Rodriguez (31:43) was first in the under10, Junior Women’s age group, earning her parkrun milestone t-shirt in her 10^th parkrun.

** Jyothi Aisha Ramiah Petit (27:04) was first in the Junior Women’s, age 15-17 age group.   It was a Personal Best, and she also earned a parkrun milestone t-shirt in her 10^th parkrun.

** Jaycob McMahon, of the YMCA of Canberra (capital city of Australia) Runners Club, ran his 135th parkrun, only 15 away from 150!

** Kirsty Lonergan is nearing her 100^th parkrun – just 6 to go

** And I (Sylvia), just earned my Volunteer Club milestone t-shirt, representing 25 parkrun volunteer occasions.

Looking ahead to next Saturday, May 12^th, Fletcher’s Cove parkrun is hosting the DC Park and Rec’s FitDC program, with a special Mother’s Day Weekend Run.  We anticipate upwards of 200+ runners.  So come out and support parkrun and Fit DC!  And we will need some additional volunteer support, as well!

IMPORTANT: Starting on May 12^th, we will begin enforcing the parkrun policy – NO BARCODE, NO RESULTS. Be sure to print out your barcode, and bring to the run. TIP:  Laminate your barcode or consider purchasing a wrist band or key fob with your parkrun barcode imbedded on it.  AND, here’s the real rub - with no barcode, you will not get run credit to your next parkrun milestone level!!

Thanks to this week's volunteers:  Alex FOXLEY  •  Amie PENDLETON-KNOLL  •  Andres FALCONER  •  Dan OWEN  •  David DONAHUE  •  Emma IMPAVIDO  •  Håkan LONÆUS  •  Linda RAHAL  •  Robert MARTIN  •  Tomas FOXLEY

Pease sign up to volunteer in a future run. Your help will be greatly appreciated by your fellow runners!

-          Sylvia Lesic, Run Report Writer #114, Volunteer Co-Coordinator

Today’s run showed that our 81 parkrunners are flexible and persistent! The group included 13 first time parkrunners. Today’s run shared the C&O Canal Towpath with other races, including a walk/run in the same direction as our regular course. A game day decision was made by the novice Run Director to reverse the route and head towards Georgetown. Much to the surprise of our flexible and persistent parkrunners, they met up with another group of racers that started in Georgetown at the Alexandria Aqueduct, with their turn around amidst our reverse course. Added to the flexible, persistent attributes of these 81 runners, their very accommodating nature should be included.

Today’s route provided for a great number of Personal Bests, so the down hill and tailwind in both directions (?) was an added plus to the alternate route!

The American University Running Club swept the first four positions for the run today: Casiano Koprowski 18:54, Daniel Ritter 19:00, Joseph Cosgrave 19:37 and John Guarino 20:11. They were a part of 9 members of their club that participated in Fletcher’s Cove parkrun #114.

Clare Wigglesworth roared in around the puddles as the first female at 21:19. Oh, did I forget to mention yesterday’s April showers not only brought spring flowers, but many puddles throughout the course.

Eric London posted a 24:30 for his milestone 50^th parkrun! Way to go Eric, and congratulations!

As always a big thank you to our volunteers: Sarah Appleton, Mari Bailey, Hugh Lonergan, Hakan Lonaeus, Tim Ramsey, Erin Ryan, Henry Wigglesworth and today’s Marshal Matt Hansen (who the novice run director sent with a cone and her GPS watch to find the turn-around).

- Sylvia Lesic, Novice Run Director, #114; Volunteer Co-coordinator

What a beautiful sunny Winter day to enjoy the C&O Canal Towpath, a National Park and a parkrun! This week we had 40 runners, (1 PB set by Katie Beach) and with 11 runners joining us for the first time. Also we were happy to welcome some local tourists from College park parkrun, welcome!

We had a great crew of volunteers that made this week's event happen! Kevin Camp handed out finish tokens; Jason Legum and Carter Beach were keepers of all the times; Alice Bender scanned your barcode; Andres Falconer served heroically as our turnaround marshal not loosing a single runner; and Alex Foxley was the tail walker and all round equipment/event setup guy. Thank you, everyone!

The first female finishers were:

1. Zoe Cachion - 24:47

2. Sylvie Mortimer - 26:06

3. Katie Beach - 26:35 (New PB)

The first male finishers were:

1. Steve Reilly - 22:00

2. Andrew Foose - 22:05

3. Paul Cachion - 22:30

Did you know?

Over 2,000 people have now registered at Fletcher's Cove parkrun as their home parkrun, of which we have collectively now run over 25 Million meters along the C&O Canal Towpath together since starting in January 2016! Here's to the next 25 Million (wonder if that will be a future parkrun milestone t-shirt?)

Fletcher's Cove parkrun is a community event run entirely by volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering (it's fun and you get to wear a fluorescent yellow vest!), check out the future roster and send an email to fletcherscovehelpers@parkrun.com.

See you next parkrunday, (Don't forget to sport your festive running attire at Fletcher's on Dec 23rd for a Christmassy parkrun!)

Happy running!

Ian R