Saturday 27 January 2024 - Owen's 200th parkrun

                                   Owen and some of his many supporters

Wythenshawe parkrun #556 was notable in that it was Owen's 200th parkrun. Congratulations to him, and to all the people who have taken the trouble to accompany Owen around various courses since he started running in 2017. 154 of those runs have been at Wythenshawe, so he quite rightly chose this, his 'home' run, for his 200th outing.

Cary had generously produced a magnificent cake in celebration of the occasion.

There were two cakes, as the previous week Cary had completed his 250th parkrun, also his 200th at Wythenshawe, amongst the mayhem of a record 609 finishers on that occasion.

Tris had an easier job as Run Director this week, with just 273 finishers spreading out nicely in the starting field. (Full results are here.)

By the time I reached Oliver Cromwell's statue, most of the 273 were strung out ahead of me.

Owen was supported today by Martha and Annie.

They stuck with him to the finish, where numerous others who had already finished peeled off to avoid confusion with the results.

Here are the supporters - mainly Barbers - but I should mention Graham Horsman, who often steps in at the last minute to accompany Owen. His efforts may go unnoticed, but they are greatly valued.

We adjourned to the tea room to sort the barcode tokens, ready for next week, with Owen still hanging on to the balloon provided by Annie, another unsung hero.