Event #30
It seems everyone was surprised when they woke up to see that it had snowed overnight. Nobody expected that - not even the weather forecasts from the day before. Erie County was even given a level 1 road alert.
A dusting of snow covered the course.
Our Run Director, Martyn Drabik-Hamshare, arrived to Osborn MetroPark early to make sure that the course was safe. The crushed gravel was covered by a light dusting of snow, with no ice or slippery sections. The sunny conditions actually made for a beautiful morning! Once Martyn confirmed that there were enough volunteers willing to travel, and then gave the go ahead.
RD Martyn approves the event following a safety check!
Martyn was fully expecting a small turnout, but surprisingly we had 12 finishers turn up, including 3 people starting their parkrun journey! That's 7 consecutive events of double figure finishes, even in the depths of winter! Incredible!
Our parkrunners and volunteers pose for a photo next to the start.
3, 2, 1, GO!
Read below for some cool stats and photos. Full results can be found here.
First Timers & Tourists & First Time Volunteers
As mentioned above, we had three first-timers today. Zach Hoffman, Tanya Dvorsky (with barkrunners, Siggy), and Roberta Gangl each joined us this morning, and recorded impressive sub-35 minute runs, even with the snowy conditions.
Zach finished his first parkrun in second place.
Tanya and Siggy cross the finish line.
Roberta reaches the turnaround point.
We welcome each of you to the world of parkrun. You are each valuable members of our community. We hope that you join us again soon!
There were no tourists today, and no new volunteers.
Milestones & Celebrations
There were no official parkrun milestones this week, with only one parkrunner (Randy Simpson) reaching an unofficial milestone (multiple of 5). Randy completed his 10th parkrun, alongside Carol Simpson who moves closer to the first official milestone.
Randy crosses the parkrun finish line for the 10th time.
No volunteers reached milestones either, though Morgan Drabik-Hamshare is now one volunteer away from the first official volunteer milestone (25), which should be reached next week!
Finishes
10 - Randy Simpson
Well done, Randy on moving closer to your first official parkrun milestone!
PBs & Age Category Records
Despite the conditions, we did have one person that recorded a PB today (54:38). Jonathan Merckens was one of two parkwalkers today, improving his previous time by about two and half minutes. Well done, Jonathan!
The parkwalker role is available to anyone to help promote the idea of walking at parkrun.
There were no age category records today.
Other Featured Photos
Doug with a third placed finish at his third parkrun.
Beth and Brian both complete their 17th parkrun.
Volunteers
We had a total of 8 volunteers helping out today. Martyn Drabik-Hamshare (29) was Run Director; Julie Dively (8) was Marshal; Liz Satterfield (2) was Timekeeper; June Copper (6) handed out Finish Tokens; Morgan Drabik-Hamshare (24) was Barcode Scanner; Amanda Bowe (14) and Riker were Tail Walkers; while Jonathan Merckens (3) and Heather Merckens (3) were parkwalkers. Thanks to each of you for allowing our parkrun to happen! See how to Get Involved for future events!
Note: Numbers in parentheses indicate number of times volunteered at Osborn MetroPark parkrun.
Amanda and Riker complete the course as Tail Walkers.
Our #HiVizHeroes for this week. Thank you all so much!
Post Event
Several of our parkrunners and volunteers met up for coffee and delicious food at Vine & Olive on 250. Feel free to join us there after each event. Every coffee, tea, and bowl of chilli is well-earned, especially after spending over an hour in the cold!
Next Week
This Saturday is our event #31. Morgan will be volunteering for the 25th time, reaching her first volunteer milestone.
Come meet us at Osborn MetroPark, near the Frost Center, to join in on the fun. Please arrive around 845am for a 9am start, and make sure you invite anyone that you know that might be interested; friends, family-members, colleagues, neighbors, etc. Runners, joggers, walkers, and dog-walkers are all welcome at every one of our events. If you are a first-timer, look out for the First Timers prompt board to learn how parkrun/parkwalk works. We hope to see you there!
There are several roles still available for each of our next three weeks. Please check out the volunteer roster for future weeks to see where we could use some help! If you are interested, please get in contact with us via our email address (osbornmetropark@parkrun.com), or using our Facebook page.
~Martyn