This weekend, Gadebridge parkrun saw a record 503 person turnout for their “Parkrun for Ethan,” a touching tribute to Rachel Haffenden’s cherished nephew, and a beloved member of the Gadebridge parkrun community, Ethan King. Ethan, who tragically passed away from cancer just before his 16th birthday, was remembered in a heartfelt way. An emotional, inspiring, and heartwarming event. Ethan was known at parkrun for his boundless energy, often completing the course in incredibly fast times, and even when he was too unwell to run, he would volunteer. It was especially beautiful to see the event led by many junior parkrunners who had often run alongside Ethan.
We at GVH also had a strong connection to Ethan, not only through Rachel but because Ethan was central to our choice of Charity in 2023, Young Lives vs Cancer. A brave and inspirational young man, sadley taken much too soon. Hence, it seemed fitting that in his honour, we also had one of our largest turnouts this weekend at Gadebridge parkrun. A total of 45 GVH runners participated, many of them wearing Ethan’s favourite Watford Football shirts or bright yellow tops, contributing to the sea of yellow under the bright sun.
Sometimes, feeling helpless to ease anyones pain, putting your best into a run is the only thing within our power to do. And so GVH did that in style on Saturday. Matt Ashby was the first runner home in a super speedy 17:47, very close to his PB.
Then just a few places back we had Russ Jones, Tom Evans and Jack Boughton, all with Course PBs. Kirstie Hardiman and Megan McCreadie were our first and 2nd lady finishers both with PBs. New PBS too for Andrea Beattie and Phil Bowers. It was great too to see Angeline Cottrill back park running and Helen Heathcote Volunteering as a tail walker.
Beautiful Photos and hopefully a fitting tribute to Ethan from all our 66 runners.
Elsewhere, the Woollett family went down to Brighton where Guy, Max and Martha ran the Hove Parkrun. Guy and Max running it for the first time. Tom Perry ran at Wendover Woods, Sam Sparks ran at Peel, Liz Andrews ran at Grove Fields and Lewis &Vince Ellerby tackled Battersea parkrun for the first time.
Meanwhile Matt Chamberlain ran to a new PB at Cassiobury parkrun, Sue Crowther ran at Preston , Emma Cody ran at Houghton Hall and Rob Hawkes took a 6th place finish at Harrow. But the person that travelled the furthest for parkrun was once again Nick Joseph, who whilst still in New Zealand ran the Waitangi parkrun – hopefully much less smelly than last week. Well done to all parkrunners this weekend.
Away from parkrun, congratulations to everyone nearing taper time for upcoming Marathon and Half Marathons. Its time to acknowledge that you have put the training in, and wind down ready for the big event. Good luck to those running in the Brighton Marathon or at the Landmarks Half next weekend.
Happy Running everyone!