parkrun – 07/02/2026

9 February 2026 - By Steven Alder

We’re now in the second month of the year and our first February parkrun has been completed. This week our runners were at Andover, Colchester Castle, Maldon Prom, Billericay, Great Notley, Barclay, Harwich, Markshall Estate and Greenwich Peninsula.

Markshall Estate were closed last week, so it was lovely to see that it’s back open after testing a new route. Well done to Scott Townsend (27:36), DJ (28:17), Ann Johnson (35:22) and Kerry Townsend (35:39). Also thank you to Andrew Read, Angela Read and Monty for volunteering at Markshall this weekend. Andrew will be RD next week for the special Valentine’s Day parkrun!

Colchester Castle had a nice crowd over the weekend, although Karen wasn’t keen on the hill, citing it was a “little hilly” of a course. Well done to Dawn Shilling (32:35), Beth Shippey (37:58), Karen Flowers (37:59, attending this location for the first time) and Patrick Hinchliffe (38:18).

Kevin Harper revisited Andover for the third time, completing the course in 25:43. Bill Smythe went off to Great Notley, where he came in 37th place in 23:57, for his 59th visit to that location. Over at Barclay we saw Giles Sowerby do his 55th different parkrun location and completing it in 34:53.

In London saw Geoffrey Reddin completing his 230th location at Greenwich Peninsula in 25:33. Staying in Essex was Adam Hocken in 24:44 and at Billericay was Shane Ketteridge (34:22) with Lisa Leader (34:23). This was both of their first visit to the parkrun in Billericay, completing the multiple laps around Lake Meadows.

Maldon Prom was our popular location this week, seeing Andy Lager (22:48), Leo Cole (23:21), Banksy (24:30), Vicki Riley (25:31), Steve Hookings (25:32), Chris Beazeley (26:20), Nichola Beazeley (28:05), Chrissy Israel-Jones (31:05), Ian Cuthbert (31:06) and Lysia Jiggins (34:51). All of them have attended Maldon Prom before.

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parkrun Challenge – Groundhog Day

This is quite the challenge where you need to be exact and time it well. To do this challenge, you have to attend the same location two events in a row AND get the same time. Sounds easier than it is, as your watch might not be in total synch with the timekeepers.