Calamvale #116

What a great turn-out this morning. Loads of fun out on the course and smiles all round. Thanks to Darcy for run director and processing the results after the little hiccup with the scanner this morning. Thanks for your patience here. And a big thank you to our other volunteers today, Marya, Mike, Karen, Peter, Gary, Sara and Carolyn. Also a big thank you to Anne our volunteer photographer for your selection of photos today. Please enjoy and have a fun weekend.

Parkrun #115 11/2/17

Calamvale parkrun

Calamvale #113

What a magic day to enjoy parkrun with so many other wonderful people. Well done Ron and Matt on achieving your 100th run in such fine form. Thanks again for all the beautiful smiles you will see in the photos - great effort everyone on another warm and muggy morning. Many thanks to all the volunteers this week, Mike, Nicole, Sara, Anne, Andrew, Jodi and Simon. And thanks Colin for last week's volunteering - a belated mention.

Timeline Photos

Congratulations to parkrun favourites Corey and Jas on the successful completion of their nuptials earlier today! The bride looked stunning and the groom cut a dashing figure. From all at Calamvale best wishes and love. We look forward to welcoming back Mr & Mrs Mansinger on their return from an OS honeymoon. And while Calamvale parkrun is all about no pressure - we can't wait for our first parkrun baby in the not to distant future.

Photos from Calamvale parkrun's post

Very pleased to receive a gong at Jim Chalmers MP - Member for Rankin's Local Legends Awards earlier in the week recognising Calamvale parkrun, our event team and community. Great to have Duncan Pegg MP - Member for Stretton on hand also honouring many great contributors to our area. Calamvale knocks the "community" out of the parkrun again!

Patrick

Calamvale Park Run

Sensational video of our little parkrun from one of our local mates. Some great images from above and below. Thanks Pawel!

Tring parkrun

and they say we're mad at Calamvale....

Calamvale #112

Oh wow- what a cracker for a morning run, and with so many wonderful smiles out on the course. Hot and muggy but everyone did so well. Please enjoy your photos. Thanks again to all the volunteers, Peter, Jas, Joyce, Kathy, Rachel, Sharon and Simon.

Timeline Photos

We thought "FREE, WEEKLY, TIMED, 5KM" had it covered but received this wonderful unsolicited and unedited peice from a runner below - we thought worth a share. Never ceases to amaze the positive effect our volunteers and community event has! Calamvale District Park- Formby Street- If you look at it on google maps, it is like any other park. BBQ sheds, dog park, single court basketball, an impressive looking jungle gym for the kids and an awesome flying fox! Visiting the park at 7 am you will see the usual hustle and bustle. Packed car park, parents coming in to set up the shed for their child’s birthday party, people grinding their way through boot camps, and a group of elderly men taking over the basketball court not to play basketball but to meet for their weekend meditation sessions. However, one thing that stands out is the group of people standing in the middle of the park. Very close to what is now called the “Garry Lee” toilet block, people converge to the shed, in their colourful tops, quirky colour tights and flashy shoes. While this seems like an ordinary day, you can feel the anticipation in the air. This is no ordinary day. It’s parkrun day! 7 am strikes- Go! If you didn’t know about park run let me try describing what it would look like. Colourful birds in different shapes and sizes flying between the trees. At first it’s the quickest flying birds that go past. Darting past you so quick you wouldn’t know what passed you! Then come the rest of the few 100’s. Chirping away, feet shuffling across the ground like a fluttering wing of a bird, some breathing heavy, some putting on their best fake smiles for the camera. 1 km over… just another 4 to struggle through! If you ever had a drone capture the run, I am sure you would see a lot of colour around the park. A bright colourful snake harmlessly wriggling its way through every nook and corner of the park. In rain or oppressive heat, this colourful event is on every Saturday at 7 am. There are quite a few events like it around the country now, some getting 200-300 eager runners keen to push themselves in this free weekly event. “It’s you against the clock”. I have often heard of people describe parkrun as a flash mob. I think this is the real flash mob. There is no choreographing, no group practices, and no surprises. The world is invited. Everybody converges to one shed. You have a race director who goes through the formalities and motions and just like that, you have a few excited and a few reluctant runners are sharing their weekend run together. The spirit at Calamvale parkrun is what captivates me the most and how even for a non/new-runner it is a welcoming and encouraging place. You get to rub shoulders with fame… you know the ones who have participated in world championships or with people who have run so many marathons that you can’t help but marvel at their relentless energy. You are always guaranteed of meeting people from various backgrounds. Ranging from ‘I was pestered by a friend /I am starting to run’ to why am I running to I want to get fit I want to beat my PB!’ You will see resident parkrun dogs dragging (maybe helping) their owners go through the course and dedicated parents pushing their way through with prams. You of course even get the more serious ones who are cooling down while you are only half way through! However, it’s the unifying factor of running that gets everyone together. You see the fast ones encouraging the eager ones to the finishing line. No one is better, everyone is equal. The awesome volunteers- Marshals, tail runners and the photographer make it happen. Encouraging you to smile, encouraging you every bit of the way to get to that finishing line. The peculiar nature of the course (Almost like a figure 8) means that 5 km is sometimes just a distance for the mind (My GPS will often say I have another 10 meters to run!). Ever since I was convinced to go to parkrun I have seen people come to challenge… they come to test themselves not to compete against each other. At parkrun or Park fun, more often than not you will find a stranger urging you to go that extra bit, pushing you to do that little bit more. Once you get past that finishing line you take your time to catch your breath (or struggle to breathe), scan your barcode and socialize with your running buddies who you barely saw during the run. And after all the pleasantries are exchanged, in the most non-competitive way, you then start planning to beat them next weekend .

Calamvale parkrun #110 - 14 Jan 17

A sweltering morning. Well done everyone.