Tralee parkrunners! If you do a bit of parkrun tourism, send us a story and a photo and we will post it here.
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East Coast Park parkrun, Singapore
31st December 2016 Well, the fastest runner this week might have been Brian Redmond, but he wasn't the First Tralee Finisher, not by a long shot! Paudie Dineen sent us these pics from East Coast Park parkrun in Singapore, where he finished his last parkrun on 2016 a full ten hours before Brian! That's an eight hour time difference and a 7:30 am start because of the heat! Despite the heat and humidity, Paudie, running with his daughter-in-law Joyce, was within a minute of his fastest time at his home parkrun! There's a really great description of SIngapore parkrun here, pointing out the great benefits of the free weekly run or walk. |
Derry parkrun
31st December, 2016 She's never at home! Our Event Director and Queen of the parkrun Selfies was gallivanting again, this time in Derry for their New Year's Eve parkrun, Siobhán had run there a couple of times before, but this time brought the rest of the gang. Derry parkrun is a lovely run along the banks of the River Foyle, crossing the beautiful of the Peace Bridge. |
Letterkenny parkrun
17th December, 2016 Despite being in recovery mode following her sister's birthday party, Siobhán was the fastest woman in Letterkenny with a PB today! That's following a similar result in Tralee last week. She will be back to Tralee for our Christmas Eve parkrun next week, she's the Run Director for the festivities. |
Griffeen parkrun, Lucan, Co. Dublin
10th December, 2016 Even Jason Gavin's fastest time ever (18:37, well done Jason!) wasn't enough for him to top the results table in Griffeen today, although he'd have been fastest finisher here in Tralee with that time! Griffeen's first finisher today was Emma Donlon who crossed the line just two seconds ahead of Jason - and it was half a minute slower than her best ever parkrun! |
Oranmore parkrun, Galway
26th November, 2016 Oranmore is one of Ireland's newest parkruns, they were doing their 17th today. They usually have well over 100 runners but the cold weather meant that numbers were down all over the country this weekend. One of the 76 runners in Oranmore today was our very own Event Director Siobhán Kearney, who was the second fastest female today in Oranmore! Siobhán had high praise indeed for the lovely course and friendly parkrunners and volunteers. Oranmore parkrun is a two-lap figure-of-eight course in the lovely grounds of Renville Castle, well worth a visit if you are in the Galway area. As the crow flies, it's the 14th closest parkrun to our own! |
Lees Road parkrun, Ennis and Limerick parkrun
12th November, 2016 Also out and about this weekend were the Walshe's, John and Pauline at Lees Road parkrun just north of Ennis, where John's impressive time of 20:18 was enough for a top five finish in the field of 60 runners. Even more impressive was Pauline's run, she was the second lady home and her time of 26:06 was her fastest ever parkrun! Well done Pauline! Meanwhile, not too far away in Limerick, Zach was also impressing everyone. There was just one faster junior runner today, but Zach's age-grade precentage of over 79% was the best of almost 80 parkrunners this morning! I wonder what will he do next weekend when there is a parkrun on Saturday and the first Tralee Junior parkrun on Sunday? |
Tollcoss parkrun, Glasgow
12th November, 2016 Tralee parkrun isn't the same without the Cahills, but Saturday's aren't the same without parkrun and the Cahills are often to be found doing a bit of parkrun tourism. Here's Aoife Cahill running at Tollcross parkrun, Glasgow, described by Sharon as "A very tough course with lots of hills , but a fabulous venue and very friendly locals. Well worth doing if in Glasgow." You can certainly see fom the photos that it's a lot hillier than Aoife's home parkrun! |
Clair parkrun
19th November, 2016 Claire Moriarty scoured the internet for her very own parkrun, and found it in Sussex in the south of England. Clair parkrun is in Hayward Heath, not too far from Brighton, and it was here that the Moriarty's spent their Saturday morning this week! Billy was less impressed than Claire, and in the end decided it was just too early (9 am) and too many laps - they do five and a half laps of their town park. Thanks Garry for the heads-up on your latest travels and the photos. You can read the Run Report from Clair parkrun here (our tourists didn't get a mention by name but we know they left their mark!) |
Ballincollig parkrun
19th November, 2016 Tony Higgins It was five degrees colder in Ballincollig than when I left Tralee at 7 AM to do Ballincollig's 23rd parkrun, meeting up with Run Director Suzi Quirke and her team which today included John Kissane, Event Director of the (hopefully) temporarily suspended Tramore Valley parkrun who was barcode scanning today - very cold job for someone with no gloves! There was a little ice on the course but that didn't deter the well over 200 runners and walkers. Ballincollig Park is another gem, much like our own park, and a visit there on a Saturday morning is highly recommended! |
Killarney
12th November, 2016 We might have been waxing lyrical about the beautiful Glengarriff parkrun (see below), but let's not forget our nearest neighbour Killarney parkrun which is set in the beautiful Killarney National park. Not surprisingly, lots of Tralee parkrunners pay a visit there, and this week it was the turn of one of our most-travelled tourists, Emer Lardner, to run this lovely scenic course. Go on, everyone should do it at least once, we'll still be here when you get back! It starts from the Old Schoolhouse near the main car park at Muckross House, and they are fortunate to have a lovely cafe just a short stroll from the finish! |
Glengarriff (again)
12th November, 2016 The Beara penisnula now hosts two of the most scenic parkruns, Glengarriff parkrun started up at the beginning of 2016. This week's visitors to West Cork were Siobhan Kearney, Frances Quinn and Maeve & Tony Higgins who, following the recommendation of Caroline last week, ran the beautiful figure-of-eight course around the Nature Reserve just outside the village. It's a course that has been described as "undulating", and we learned that you can never trust a Corkman when he says "a bit of an incline!" We were made very welcome by Run Director Damian Connolly and his team of volunteers - even though their runner numbers aren't huge they need a lot of volunteers to set up the somewhet complicated course and marshal the junctions. It's well worth a trip and you can go to the Glengarriff Park Hotel afterwards for coffee (there's a Tralee link there too as one of our parkrunners Colm Mac Carthy owns the hotel). Despite the "undulations", Maeve and Siobhán were the first and second ladies to finish today! |
Glengarriff
5th November, 2016 Anxious to learn everything she can about the inner workings of parkrun before she takes up the reins as Event Director of Tralee junior parkrun in just a few short weeks, Caroline Lynch and her husband Colm tried out another one today! Thanks for the selfie Caroline! Here's what Caroline had to say about it: "I did my 5th consecutive week of parkrun tourism this morning, in Glengarriff Nature Reserve with Colm. After doing Killarney, Marlay, Athlone, Bere Island and now Glengarriff since the start of October I'm finished my travels for another while! A very beautiful spot in Glengarriff but like a rollercoaster with all the ups & downs, with a sharp sheer hill on the last kilometre that was tough to walk never mind run!!! If you're planning on going to Glengarriff be prepared!!! Definitely worth doing but I wouldn't be aiming for a PB!! Thankfully I was able to off load the 4 kids with my sister in Kenmare, not a parkrun for a buggy! Looking forward to returning to familiar territory next Saturday in Tralee." Caroline |
parkrun Annual Conference and Athlone parkrun
22nd October 2016 Once a year there is a get-together for the core volunteers involved in running the 50-odd parkruns around the country, and this year's event was hosted in the centre of the country in Athlone Institute of Technology. Five travelled from Tralee in the early hours (Frances was up earliest of all the delegates, it appears!) and imagine our surprise when the unmissable form of Malachy Kelly turned up to run as well, he ws visiting the area for the weekend and his roots are up there! |
Malahide parkrun
15th October 2016 - James Stack James Stack was in Dublin this weekend and made a trip to Malahide, home of the first parkrun in the Republic. Here's what he had to say: "Hi Tony knocked out a pb in Malahide its a nice Parkrun lovely course and nicer people I got in a few shots with phone." |
Canning River parkrun, Western Australia
8th October 2016 - Johnny Conway It's lucky we implanted a secret satellite tracking device in Johnny's 50 Club T-shirt because he's certainly getting around! Still in Perth, this week he ran his 70th parkrun at Canning River parkrun, and with none of his family holding him back (just kidding!) he was able to take two and a half minutes off the time he ran there the same weekend last year! With all that rain he must have felt right at home. I wonder if he'll ever come back to us? |
Newcastle West parkrun
1st October 2016 - Sean Leahy The dynamic duo of Theresa Grimes and Margaret Wharton have already been to Newcastle West, this week the Tralee representative was Sean Leahy. This was Sean's second run in Newcastle West, and he took five minutes off his time of six months ago. Under 25 minutes was enough for him to be the third finisher today. |
Tramore parkrun
1st October 2016 - Emer Lardner Emer last features on this page when she ran a couple of times in Australia. Not quite so exotic this time, but still a nice location - she ran the seaside parkrun in Tramore with her husband Séamus and Emer's time was only seconds off her Tralee PB. Maybe it's the sea air? |
Bibra Lake parkrun
24th September, 2016 - Johnny Conway Johnny Conway is one of our most-travelled parkrunners, he's back in Australia for another couple. This week it was Bibra Lake parkrun, not too far from Perth, where he ran with his family. Bibra Lake has been going just a few weeks longer than hours, it's a loop of the picturesque Bibra Lake, flat and easy. Today was Johnny's third time running there, and he had a PB knocking well over a minute and a half of last year's best time! Watch this space for further news of Johnny's travels... There's lots of other parkruns to choose from in the Perth region and Johnny gets very grumpy on a Saturday if he doesn't have his parkrun!. |
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Nose Hill parkrun, Calgary, Canada
3rd September, 2016 - Máiréad Twomey We will claim Máiréad as a Tralee parkrunner, as she started her parkrun career with us, but she may change her allegiance now that parkrun has landed in Canada, with the inaugural Nose Hill parkrun today in Calgary, where Máiréad lives! But we know she'll be back. She ran today with her dog, Cuba, five legs between them (Cuba is the three-legged one, not Máiréad!) Cuba even got a mention on Nose Hill's first Run Report! |
Vandeleur parkrun, Kilrush, Co. Clare.
27th August, 2016 - Margaret Wharton Last year she was our Operation Transformation Ambassador. Margaret's travels this year nearly qualify her to be an Ambassador again. This week it was the exotically-named Vandeleur parkrun in the picturesque surroundings of Vandeleur walled garden, Kilrush. |
Letterkenny parkrun
20th August, 2016 Well, our Event Director was sorry to miss our Rose parkrun, but at least she was "Missing In Action"! Not only was she running at her "home-from-home" parkrun in Letterkenny, but she did not miss the chance to volunteer as well and did the Results Processing for the run! (That might even explain her third-fastest female finishing position). She took the opportunity to train in one of the future Run Directors, her nephew Finn - they start them young in Donegal! |
Cabinteely parkrun
27th August, 2016 24 parkruns, 24 first finishes! No wonder we are so proud of Sharon and the Cahill family when they travel to spread the good word about Tralee parkrun. Sharon, Eoin, Aoife and Denis were welcomed to Cabinteely parkrun this week by Event Director Olwyn Dunne who tipped us off! Sharon was first lady home (as usual), Eoin second fastest junior! |
Crissy Field parkrun, San Francisco.
6th August, 2016 This is Crissy Field's second appearance on this page. After Ian and Deirdre made their pioneering trip a few weeks ago (scroll down to see them), it was the turn of recent Bracknell-to-Tralee defectors Niamh and Nathy Feely to run beside the lovely San Francisco bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island behind them. Unfortunately the famous SF fog was lingering over the bay when they were there. The whole "parkrun thing" hasn't really caught on yet in the U.S. - after four years there are still only a handful of parkruns as yet (that might all change with Corkman Rory Murphy's imminent transatlantic move!) Niamh and Nathy will be back in Tralee this week to run with the Roses! |
Leicester Victoria parkrun
13th August, 2016 The Conways are always on the move... This time back to his roots! Johnny is a long time Leicester City fan but unlike Gary Lineker he did not decide to run in his underwear! And with a time of 27:16, this was the fastest of Johnny's 63 parkruns, just 7 seconds faster than his home record. Obviously our "dog-leg" is slowing him down, but at least he has proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks! |
Marlay, Bere Island and Lees Road parkruns
6th August, 2016 The Lynch family continue their exploration of the parkrun world with a trip to Marlay park this morning. Marlay is Ireland's biggest parkrun, they had over 500 runners this morning and hold the Irish record of 780 parkrunners! Caroline is recruiting people to set up a Junior parkrun in Tralee (I wonder will the younger Lynch's be able for a 2k Junior parkrun at one of Dublin's events tomorrow?) If you are interested in getting involved you can contact Caroline on [email protected]. Meanwhile, it doesn't really count as parkrun tourism I suppose, given Garry's Bere Island roots, but the Moriarty family were also spotted this morning at one of Ireland's most picturesque parkruns, at the end of the Bere Island week-long Festival. Billy is edging ever closer to his 50th parkrun and is likely to reach that milestone before the month is out - let's hope he picks Tralee for his 50th to add to the celebrations we will be having during Rose week on August 20th! He could even be our next - and youngest - 50 Club member! That would surely overshadow even the presence of some of the Roses! And there was more! Frances Quinn was to be found in Ennis (Lees Road) today, just her second time running away from home. (When I say "running away from home", you know what I mean! She'll be back soon...) |
Limerick, 2nd July 2016
We are used to seeing Sharon Cahill's name on top of our Leaderboard in Tralee, but this week she went up to Limerick parkrun in the grounds of the Universirty of Limerick. Suffice it to say her time was half that of last week's Tralee representative (see below!) and she has set a new record for the Fastest Female and also the highest age-grade in Limerick! |
Sunday 5th June, 2016
Stirling Junior parkrun, Scotland. Well done to Anna, Jane & Ruth Lynch on completing the Junior parkrun on their holidays & wearing their Kerry jerseys with great pride!!! Anna will soon be doing her tenth parkrun here in Tralee and Ruth is already in the Junior 10 Club! There are just a couple of Junior parkruns in Ireland so far... but the numbers are growing! |
March 2016
Taking parkrun tourism to a whole new level ... Tralee parkrunner and regular volunteer Emer Lardner took part in Phillip Island parkrun, Australia on March 12th. Here she is pictured with the Run Director for the day. Way to go Emer... We're not jealous at all. Two weeks later she ran again at Mornington Peninsula. |