parkrun on the 4^th was a pretty special one for me.  I had been looking forward to the New Year and the inevitable bounce in numbers that the New Year brings.  parkrun has never really been a question of numbers for me, more a question of creating a welcoming atmosphere for people to enjoy themselves.  However, the lure of getting an attendance in 3 figures each week was pretty strong.  We had 91 runners today as well.  Given the bad weather, not a bad figure.  100+ here we come.

I have been conversing on Facebook and Twitter for a while now with the McGaw family who are heavily involved with parkrun in New South Wales in Australia.  They are in Sussex visiting relatives and have decided to tour round 3 Sussex parkruns.  They have already visited Hove and Preston Park before coming down to Clair.  It was brilliant to swap running tops with David and to meet the whole family.

I bought a cake from the Real Patisserie and decorated it with the relevant flags.

It is really interesting to see that the parkrun experience over the other side of the world is the same as it is in the UK and it is fantastic to meet such like-minded people trying to achieve the same as us.  It was a real eye opener to talk about the increasing obesity problem in Australia and worries that they have over here.  Given that they are such a great sporting nation with the outdoor lifestyle that we perceive, it is hard to imagine that this is such an issue over there as well.