As Chris Dent heads off to pastures new (Devon pastures, very nice!), 20 of us turned out to give him a 9.00am send off at this morning's parkrun at Frimley Lodge.
Even at nine, it was really warm with the temperature in the mid 20's, and the sun blazing down on the park. The shady parts of the course offered some relief, and with the course nice and firm underfoot, there were some good performances. It was good to see Pip Webster-Smith return after a long injury break, and she smashed her PB, getting under 25 minutes for the first time. Steven Handley's rapid improvement continues, and he set a new PB of 20.06! Steven's times a mere six months ago were around the 23 minute mark, so that's a huge improvement. Now for sub-20........... Well done too to Jon Payne with a top ten finish, and to Laura Hales who came within 5 seconds of her PB, finishing as 2nd lady. Pete Hansen has been finding it all too easy lately, so decided to do this one pushing a baby buggy with attached baby - which did slow him down a bit!
Chris duly completed his 92nd parkrun, after a goodbye speech by the parkrun organisers. We wish you all the best at the Barnstaple parkruns from now on Chris. We'll look out for your times.