The skies opened up a deluge right before the start of parkrun #75 but luckily it stopped by the time we got going. It was an eventful morning that was headed up by Event Director, Cathryn Burby as our Run Director of the Day. Here she is introducing our guest speaker Mark, from the Renton Fire Authority. Though an emergency call impacted our time with the RFA there were many great take aways:

It's never wrong to call 911, the RFA and the 911 dispatcher are there to guide you and provide emergency support as needed.

It's important to know where you are. There are three main entry points for emergency crews along our trail.

1) The parking lot nearest the 1st marshal turnaround is at SE 7th Street and Maple Valley Highway. This lot is where the light is across from the Taco Time headquarters.
2) The parking lot we park at for the start of parkrun is at SE 5th Street and Maple Valley Highway.
3) The stub road that ends at the 2nd marshal turnaround underneath the 405 overpass is called Cedar River Trail.

When you call 911 describe where the emergency is in relation to those points and if a crew is being dispatched, if possible send someone to meet them at their arrival point and direct them to the emergency.

Do not move an injured person. If possible direct someone to watch for bike traffic and have them signal bike traffic to slowly pass or stop if necessary.

The RFA offers a two part training series, CPR and First Aid. Unfortunately it appears these classes are no longer free. I've included a link below for those interested in attending.

https://rentonrfa.com/cpr/

If you have a mobile phone, bring it to parkrun. Though it's tempting to leave your phone behind and run "naked" (without electronics), because our course is not a looping course there are long stretches where you may be the only person near an injured party and having a phone means access to 911 guidance and, if necessary, emergency assistance will arrive sooner.

It is especially important on our trail to keep to the trail. If you're participating with children, or those with disabilities or cognitive issues that impair their ability to stay the course please keep them within arms length. The dirt trails leading up into the forest can be attractive to the curious or confused but they may lead to homeless encampments and should not be explored.

We really appreciate the hard work the RFA does in our community and knowing these few details can keep us safe and help them more effectively help us.

On top of our RFA heros it was also parkrun superhero day and our photographer, Sonja Logan, captured all the cheer the costume aficionados brought to the event. Thank you Sonja! Even a barkrunner, BeBe got in on the action as you can see in this adorable photo above.

parkrun has many traditions and one of my favorites is the "Run Back". A run back is when an earlier finisher heads back on the trail to encoruage other runners or walkers. These are the people we ask not to go back through the finish cones a second time at the start of every parkrun. I saw lots of run backs on the course this Satruday and it was awesome! Maybe you have a friend or family member who never comes out to parkrun because they aren't a "runner". Lots of parkrunners aren't runners. Be sure to let them know walkers are welcome and offer to run or walk back and meet them wherever they are on the course. parkrun is not a race, it's a social celebration of every participants efforts, no matter their finish time.

We welcomed tourists Jake ELSMORE and Lucy HALFORD from Longrun Meadows parkrun in Sumerset, UK, The HAMILTONS from Newport Lakes parkrun, near Melbourne, Austraila and the SCHIACHS from Himmel parkrun in Arizona.

Our Volunteers were Amelia LOGAN, Cam KENNEDY, Cathryn BURBY, Colton WRIGHT, Devon BENNETT, Imogen LOGAN, Ken HOMAN, Kerstin PEPPER, Patrick WARD and Sonja LOGAN. Thank you HI-VIS heros so much for giving your time to make parkrun #75 great.

Congratulations to our first male finisher, Max JENSEN with a time of 20:31 and our first female finisher, Jennifer O'MEARA with a time of 25:42. Those celebrating personal best times are Brian HACH, Martin DOYTCHEV, Miroslav DOYTCHEV and Will TING, did you remember to ring the bell?

Among our first timers was local Crystal LOWY pictured above who I've heard through the grapevine will be joining me in Star Wars themed finery for next Saturday's "May the 4th" parkrun. Costumes are always welcome at Renton parkrun, no special event necessary.

See you this Saturday!

Cam Kennedy
Renton parkrun Event Director

This week we welcomed 32 participants, 11 volunteers (including a voluntourist), 5 first timers, a tourist and some bunnies to the Cedar River Trail.  We also welcomed the 30th US parkrun, Sippo Lake in Canton Ohio to the parkrun family.

Dean led us as Run Director again this week as he finished off his training in preparation for the Redmond, Perrigo Park Launch coming soon.  Anyone else feel like learning the Run Director ropes?  It's easy, there's a script to follow and you'll get plenty of support from Cathryn and I.

Linda MCCANDLESS was our first female finisher and set a new course record in the Women's 50-54 category with a time of 22:30.  Phil ANDERSON was our first male finisher, we're so glad you made it back!  Congratulations to Phil ANDERSON, Tyler PATTON, Drew HANFT, Matt MORGAN and Khang TO on their new PB's.

Danel HACH ran for the 10th time worldwide (5 at Renton; 7 in the USA), we're so sorry we missed your cape ceremony Danel, just let us know when you want to celebrate this awesome accomplishment and wear the #10 cape. And in the cool trivia of the day category, Madalyn MARLATT finished in 20th position on her 20th run at Renton and Tyler PATTON finished in 2nd position on his 2nd run at Renton.

Thank you to our fantastic crew of Volunteers, Ray ARRINGTON, Dean FABER, Nikol GIANOPOULOS, Carol JAMES, Kara JOHNSON, Jack JOHNSON, Leyla JOHNSON, Owen JOHNSON, Nick JOHNSON, Sierra NOLTEN and Gavin YOUNG.

Don't forget it's our Super Hero themed run and we're having special guests from the Renton Fire Authority this Saturday, 4/27/19 and a special start time of 8:30 to get to meet them and learn about emergency preparedness on the trail.

And finally I leave you with some more of the gorgeous photos Sierra took, thank you Sierra! See you next Saturday! Cam

Dean who's doing a great job learning the Run Director role, had the crowd smiling this beautiful rainy morning at Renton parkrun, #73.  Yes, it was a bit wet, yes it was a bit cold, but parkrun community spirit kept everyone warm at heart.

This week 40 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom nine were first timers. Welcome Philip Anderson, Kyle Charlson, Lorna Easthope, Roy Easthope, Linde Steigum Loees, Laura Murray, Tony Nymeyer, Simon Shaw, and Mark Stevenson, thank you for joining us!

Congratulations to the Kawaoka's, Elliot and Becca, our first male and female finishers and our six finishers who achieved personal best times, Nedra Asay, Dan Benoit, Elliot Kawaoka, Mark Nicolino, Gracelynn Ruelas and Gary Wright.

We also congratulate Leyla JOHNSON who participated for the 25th time in the USA (24 at Renton; 25 worldwide), Brian HACH who participated for the 10th time at Renton (12 in the USA; 15 worldwide) and John LEMIEUX who participated for the 10th time worldwide (all at Renton).

The photo above is some of today's volunteers at the parkrun "after party" at Luther's Table.  You don't have to be a volunteer to join us after the event for yummy treats and good company.  Volunteers are the life blood of parkrun. A big thank you to today's nine volunteers Ray Arrington, Todd Asay, Dean Faber, Nikol Gianopoulos, Ken Homan, Ryan McIrvin, Cam Kennedy, Cathie Knox-Browning, and Abby Ruelas.

Don't forget to mark you calendar for our two special themed parkruns coming up. Next Saturday, April 20, 2019 is our Bunny parkrun.

And, Saturday April 27, 2019 is our Super Hero themed parkrun.

And lastly a big thank you to every participant, it's such a pleasure to see how supportive and kind my fellow parkrunners are each weekend.

Cam Kennedy
Renton parkrun Co-Event Director

 
We had a very special, triple celebration at Renton parkrun on Saturday. Not only was it Paddy’s Day weekend, but we also celebrated two of our regular parkrunners reaching their 50 milestones. Many congratulations and much kudos to Nikol Gianopoulos (who completed 49 of her 50 runs here on the Cedar River Trail!) and Dean Faber, who splits his time between Renton and Okanagan parkruns (though we like to think he has a favorite….ahem!).

We also enjoyed Cam Kennedy’s ever positive presence, in her first day as our new Event Director – thank you for the amazing new sign, and the 50 capes, Cam!

A warm welcome to first timers, Mark Nicolino. Matt Morgan, Svetoslav and Alexander Bonev and Juliana Prestes (who joins us from Clermont parkrun, after relocating to WA).

Many congratulations to Ken, Katie, Brian, Lillian and Stacy, who all claimed PBs this week, and got to ring our bell in celebration!

Thanks also to our awesome crew of volunteers this week! Max handed out finish tokens (after being the first runner across the finish line!), Cathie fearlessly brought up the rear as tail walker, Tandi and her Mom marshaled our turnaround, Patrick faithfully scanned all our St Patrick’s barcodes, Ryan and Cam kept an eye on our times, Kerstin was RD and Cathryn was our talented photographer.

And finally, we look forward to welcoming Larry to parkrun in the near future – after quite a tumble from his bike on the trail (and being rescued by our fearless leader, ED Cathryn), he has decided that maybe parkrun is the way forward from now on. Very wise.

See you next week for our first SPRING parkrun of the year – we survived another Washington winter, hurray!