Saturday the 26th August marked the final day of the Run Wales Celebration Relay, as Bryn the baton headed to the Welsh Capital to visit Cardiff parkrun. This was the end of a journey in which the baton had visited over 48 parkruns, completed 250 parkrun kilometres, met nearly 980 hi-viz heroes and over 40 social running groups, all while travelling nearly two and a half thousand kilometres across the beautiful country of Wales. It felt particularly significant to end with an event that has grown from being Wales’ first parkrun to one of the biggest in the UK, celebrating its fifteenth anniversary in February this year. For this final week, the baton was taken round the course in the custody of members of She Runs: Cardiff, who met Tom from Run Wales on the Saturday morning.
The Run Wales Social Running Celebration Relay aimed to provide all Run Wales registered groups with a tremendous opportunity to showcase their group, sharing information about their activities and encouraging more people to participate in social running outside of their regular weekly parkrun. We are continuing to encourage groups to support their local parkrun by offering to volunteer as well as run, jog or walk at the relay events.
There was a mix of emotions present upon waking up on Saturday morning. Maybe a sombre mood as the realisation dawned that this was the final weekend of the Run Wales Social Running Celebration Relay, yet also happiness at how far the relay had come and how much it has achieved in the last 12 plus months.
Approaching the start of the Taff trail-based course, conditions were set fair, with a pleasant temperature accompanied by slightly overcast skies ready to greet participants at the start line.
With the scale of an event like Cardiff parkrun, there is a noticeable buzz around the area as the baton made its way through the throng of eager and enthusiastic participants. Luckily the She Runs: Cardiff banner and flagpole was easily spotted and a warm welcome awaited attendees from the group.
It was memorable how friendly the group was upon arrival. Upon chatting we were made aware of some inspiring stories. Among these were Paul, who underwent significant surgery in the last year He was running his first Cardiff parkrun since his treatment, and it was so uplifting to see him come through the finishers funnel.
It was also good to meet runners taking part in the “CPR” event, run by Les Croupiers RC, where participants managed to complete events in separate distances over the same weekend including a 5k and a Half Marathon.
During the course of the run, the baton was passed between a few different members of She Runs: Cardiff.
She Runs: Cardiff has a regular presence at Cardiff parkrun with the opportunity to meet up for a photo after the run.
Many of their regular parkrun participants also volunteer as marshals on a regular basis and gain as much doing this as running in the event. They celebrate their participation within the group weekly with a round up of parkrun attendances.
She Runs: Cardiff was started almost 4 years ago by a group of 30 ladies who were keen to continue running together. They wanted to provide a safe space where women could run together at their own pace. They have a #partyattheback so no one gets left behind, in fact, it’s the most fun place to be.
It had only been around only 6 months when Covid hit and they went online. At this point, they opened the group to those outside Cardiff, offering support to anyone who needed encouragement to continue to run during the pandemic. Membership swelled to over 2000 ladies with members as far away as New Zealand, India and Gaborone.
Their twice weekly social runs moved online and became “virtual” runs with a round up post of everyone who ran on Wednesdays and Sundays. This has proved to be so popular, it has continued even though they have returned to in-person runs.
They run in two locations twice weekly in Cardiff and, more recently, have been offering both a shorter and longer evening trial run. During the winter months, these will be replaced by speed and hills sessions.
This week 690 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 104 were first timers. Representatives of 57 different clubs took part.
The event was made possible by 47 hi-viz heroes:
Dominic SHIELDS • Annie CONROY • Stephen OWEN • Desmond DAVIES • John GRIFFIN • Steve B LEWIS • Geoff WRIGHT • Julie LEWIS • Jenny MARTIN • Kevin Anthony JONES • Elio LEPORE • Norman JONES • John ROSS • Firouz MAL • Alan WILCOX • Andy BARTLETT • John GOODWIN • David CUNDY • Leanne ROSS • Lenny SAYERS • Gethin PARKER • Karen MINTO • Caroline BARRATT • Michael DRISCOLL • Mark JONES • Ann BLADEN • Alasdair STEWART • Eleanor SANDERS • Ian SANDERS • Carole PHILLIPS • Steffan WEBB • Phil SMITH • Gerard CAMPBELL • Jack SHORT • Mo MORGAN • Peter HEATH • Alexis ALDERS • Helen THOMAS • Rebecca SAYERS • Rebecca MELEN • Sam HINTON • Lesley FOSTER • Fiona BELL • Zoe ALDERS • James CARMEN • William Philip BOWEN • Abigail BOOTH
Today’s full results and a complete event history can be found on the Cardiff parkrun Results Page.
Cardiff parkrun started on 16th February 2008. Since then 38,622 participants have completed 330,728 parkruns covering a total distance of 1,653,640 km, including 50,017 new Personal Bests. A total of 2,322 individuals have volunteered 22,615 times.
Thankyou to all those who helped us put on the Run Wales Social Running Celebration Relay. While the relay itself is over, there’s lots going on behind the scenes at Run Wales with new members of the team and lots of exciting things planned, so watch this space!