Coventry parkrun has started 2011 at a blistering pace, and I don't mean the winners times. I am talking about the amazing number of parkrunners that we are getting each week.
Coventry parkrun started the year with 99 parkrunners on New Years Day, a pretty incredible start given the "night before" many would have had.
We then came incredibly close to our record attendance (of 162) with 160 people on 8th January.
We followed that up with a new record attendance of 178 on 15th January and then smashed it again this last weekend with 195 parkrunners.
In breaking the record the last two weeks on the trot, and adding 33 to our record in the process, it feels as though there will be no stopping the growth for some time to come. I wonder how many weeks in a row we can manage to break the record - a few more I suspect.
One of the more encouraging stats is that each of those last 3 weeks has seen 28, 29 and 28 new parkrunners respectively. This in itself is impressive. If you turn this around and think that 167 of this weeks runners had run Coventry parkrun previously, then its plain to see that we are retaining a hell of a lot of runners too.
It can only be a matter of weeks (if not this coming weekend) that we will break the 200 parkrunners mark. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we reach 250 by the time spring sets in. There's nothing like a sunny morning or two to bring out a few more runners.
All in all I think its safe to say that the future for Coventry parkrun looks pretty good at the moment. Long may this growth continue!
Great news for Cov parkrun, and it's echoed at parkruns up and down the country. I'm sure it's partly down to first-time marathoners starting to train for spring, plus the post-Christmas slimmers and New Year's resolutionists!
ReplyDeleteI went to Leeds last weekend. They haven't quite picked up to pre-Christmas levels yet, but around 250 a week is excellent.
Brueton is also doing really well and at my 'home' parkrun, Cannon Hill, we're having to give some thought to how we can best cope with the increasing numbers!
That's one reason I went to Leeds (a spying mission!) and I'll be at Coventry on 5th Feb to have another look at their 'best practise'. as well as to help celebrate their 1st birthday!
Well done this week on your 'low 18:40'! PB next week?
I suspect the attendance will rocket that week.
Hi Road Kill,
ReplyDeletesorry for the slow response, I have been really slack with updating my blog over that last few weeks.
I saw you enjoying Coventry parkrun today. Unfortunately illness kept me from running today, but I enjoyed cheering from the sidelines.
Ian