More than 150 people ran, walked and pushed prams along the shoreline of Brisbane Water to mark the 150th Parkrun event, held at Woy Woy on Saturday, August 20.
Four years earlier on July 7, 2018, 287 people took part in the inaugural Woy Woy Parkrun event, joining the worldwide Parkrun community movement, which originated in London.
Co-Event Director at Woy Woy, Scott Wedesweiler, said the Woy Woy Parkrun was born out of locals running at the growing Mount Penang event.
Original event directors Naomi Rogers and Jesse Skelton were supported by volunteers Brad Rogers and Amy Lakes to set up the event.
They wanted to create the event to bring a second Parkrun to the southern end of the Central Coast, to create a Parkrun community on the peninsula.
Current volunteer Event and Race Director, Karen Duncan, said the Parkrun is not a race against other runners, but a 5km timed run.
“It can be whatever you want it to be, whether that’s for fun or as part of a training plan,” she said.
“It offers an opportunity for everyone, regardless of age, gender or ability, to come together on a regular basis to enjoy this beautiful park and get physically active into the bargain.”
Each week the Woy Woy Parkrun attracts well over 100 participants.
The free event is held every Saturday at 8am in all weather.
“Taking part is easy – just register before your first ever Parkrun,” Duncan said.
“The great thing is that you only ever need to do this once.”
For the event to take place, Parkrun relies on a group of volunteers.
The Event and Race Director does much of the background organising prior to the day, with as many as eleven volunteers ensuring the event operates safely and smoothly.
Duncan is just one of 392 volunteers and became a Co-Event Director at Woy Woy Parkrun in 2021.
“As Race Director, seeing all the volunteers in their orange vests on the day is a great feeling of how inclusive and encouraging everyone is, to do something for each other.”
The free run is also made possible due to sponsors such as Medibank, which sponsored the establishment of the Woy Woy event, The Athlete’s Foot and Polar, and supporters such as Eukanuba, Contra, IPRO Hydrate and Blue Frog.
Events regularly have participants from the junior age group of 10 years old to the over eighties age group.
“We want to encourage people to run, jog or walk together, irrespective of their ability,” Duncan said.
For those who have performances in mind for the Woy Woy Parkrun, the female record is held by Therese Auton running 18:05 in 2022; the male record holder is Aidan Hobbs in a time of 14:45 in 2022; and the age graded record which accounts for age and gender, allowing athletes to compare results, is held by Thomas Diamond clocking 15:06, with a grade of 89.4 per cent, on Christmas day 2021.
People can join in Parkrun events across the globe, which all count towards their individual Parkrun participation record.
At Woy Woy Parkrun there are people who have made over 250 Parkrun appearances.
Duncan said her own Parkrun journey started at the Fingal Bay Parkrun in 2016 before she moved to the Central Coast.
All are invited to join the Parkrun community every Saturday at 8am at Lions Park Woy Woy.
During the time it has been operating, the Woy Woy event has seen 4,359 participants complete 20,192 Parkruns covering a total distance of 100,960 km along the shores of Brisbane Water.
Source:
Media release, Aug 26
Woy Woy Parkrun
