GREENOCK Parkrunner Marks 100th Parkrun And 70th Birthday
ONE of Greenock’s parkrunners had a double celebration this week — Neil Thomson turned 70 during the week, and timed it well to complete his 100th parkrun as part of the festivities.
Neil has done 78 parkruns at Greenock, with the other 22 taking place at Linwood, Pollok, Inverness, Bideford and Leamington.
Neil’s running club, the Kilmacolm Unoffical Running Club, were out in force with banners and ballons as well as 100 cupcakes to help Neil celebrate.
Eight-four people ran, jogged and walked the five-kilometre Esplanade course, of whom five were first-timers.
Six runners achieved new personal best (PB) times. Ryan McKellar and Gordon McIntyre both earned PBs on their second parkrun and Pat McCarn got his first PB on his third run. Malcolm McLean edged closer to 19 minutes with his time improvement and Jonathan Trotter made it under 24 minutes for the first time. Best improvement of the day went to Paula Vosper who took almost six minutes off her previous best.
The starting brief was translated into British Sign Language this week for the first time, thanks to Eleanor Connelly.
Organisers have also had someone contact them to act as a visual guide for any parkrunners who may need assistance. Those interested in this should get in touch on greenockoffice@parkrun.com.
