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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Crichton parkrun, Dumfries, Scotland
Emer Lardner With 16 different events under her belt, Emer will be one of the next Tralee entries on the Most Events List - hers include four different countries already! This week it was Crichton parkrun in Scotland, where she got a great parkrun welcome from Emma Eden, Event Director, and the rest of her team. And not just because she brought a small gift from Tralee parkrun to our Scottish friends. "Met Emma, their ED, and RD today. So friendly and welcoming. The atmosphere there was very similar to that which we have at Tralee parkrun, so friendly and inviting. And the run route also. A good variety of runners, walkers, children, buggies and dogs... really nice. No, I managed not to get lost!! Marshals at all the required spots thankfully 😃 a couple of undulations en route... The type which makes me appreciate Tralee Town Park!" And to top off a great morning Emer's sister Triona got a PB! |
Oughterard parkrun
Caroline & Anna Lynch Almost as rare a sight these days is that of Caroline Lynch, another uber-tourist - for Saturdays only! She and Anna did the lovely parkrun in the village of Oughterard, Gateway to Conneemara! At least we can be sure Caroline will be her for most Sundays, unles sof course a new junior parkrun starts up anywhere! (The next one is just two weeks away in Cobh, Co. Cork!) "Cliodhna (Event Director) and Melissa (Run Director) remember the crazy gang from Tralee who were here for their inaugural. Your beakers are in full use here Tony (or as they know you in there parts, "Sheila"!! - that's another story) We even found a thatched pub with my maiden name over the door for breakfast!" |
Bushy Dublin parkrun
Alan Mulgrew Last week we had one of Bushy's finest with us in Tralee, the amazing Pansy Power who did her 6th parkrun with us at the age of 83. This week, we returned the favour by lending them one of our parkrunners of the month, Alan Mulgrew. Yes, you'll probably have guessed that Alan can't actually walk on water, but since he doesn't quite have his wife's penchant for the running selfie, we had to do a bit of photoshopping on to a Bushy backdrop! We couldn't leave him out of this week's report though, as today he achieved his first sub-20 minute parkrun and a new overall parkrun PB! |
Listowel parkrun
Colm Nix The Town Park was full of Nix's during the night, with several spotted doing the Darkness Into Light 5k, but Colm sneaked off to Listowel for his 50th parkrun, and on top of that milestone, also had a personal best and his first sub-22 minute run, fourth finisher in 21:55. You can run, Colm, but you can't hide, we will get you when you come back to us! |
Read Siobhán's full report on proceedings here. |
Limerick parkrun
The Ambassadors! If you haven't been to Limerick yet, take a trip over the summer. It's not too far to do as a day trip, and you'll be rewarded with a lovely route in the grounds of the Universoity of Limerick, starting at the Boathouse. They share a birthday with us in Tralee, their parkrun started up on the fourth Saturday in January just like ours (they had a start date delayed by the heavy flooding a couple of years ago). This weekend it was the turn of our two Ambassadors, Siobhán Kearney and Majella Ahern. Siobhán is now the Event Support Ambassador for Limerick parkrun, so she was delighted to meet Event Director Deirdre, Run Director Carmela and some of the core team. |
Killarney parkrun
Bairbre, Bertie, Dan, Majella, Tom, James, Margaret (and Dermot Dineen) It was happy coincidence that had such a big group of Tralee parkrunners in Killarney this week. Another easy day trip and definitely one to do if you'd like to try a different parkrun. Who's that Dermot guy, you might ask? Well, Dermot is one of the most-travelled of Ireland's parkrunners, having completed 76 different parkruns in the Republic of Ireland - that's all of them of course! On top of the table is Des Husin who is the only one of the top four to have been at the inaugural event of Tramore Valley parkrun - the next three on the list (and many more) are waiting - not so patiently - for Tramore Valley to return to the list. And Dermot's connection with Tralee? Well, he did his 50th with us way back in November 2016. |
Castle Demesne parkrun (Macroom)
Tim O'Connell And here's another nearly-local parkrun that's an easy day trip - Castle Demesne in Macroom. This was Tim's eighth different venue now that he's caught a touch of the tourist bug as he closes in on his century (hopefully he'll do THAT one with us!) "I did Macroom parkrun last Saturday on the way to Cork. Tough course, got a great welcome from Shay O'Donovan and all the crew there. Another Munster parkrun done!" (Just in case anyone is planning on following in Tim's footsteps this weekend - don't! Castle Demesne is cancelled on May 12th as there is another event using the park.) |
Listowel's Birthday Party
Micheal Reidy and LOTS of Tralee runners! It was great to see lots of Tralee parkrunners making the trip to Listowel to enjoy their First Anniversary, what a great atmosphere. Lots of Tralee faces and lots of runners who started parkrunning in Tralee and are now lucky to be able to call Listowel their home parkrun. It was clear from the start that Micheal Reidy was "in the zone" and not only did he get a new Listowel PB (his second week in a row) - he also went under 24 minutes for the first time and bettered his Tralee PB by over a minute! He wasn't impressed when I pointed out that at least thirty Tralee runners finished before him on Saturday, until I explained that was because we started half an hour before him in Banstead Woods! A new PB for Niamh Abeyta too! |
Avondale Inaugural parkrun
Bertie and Bairbre Hickey Some of you may remember Bertie, who used to be a regular at Tralee parkrun. Now he's caught the travelling bug - blame Bairbre for this - and this week he went to the inaugural Avondale Forest parkrun, where he got a well-deserved round of applause for doing his 50th parkrun. Hopefully we will see him back in Tralee before his next milestone! Bertie becomes the latest Tralee runner to appear on the "Most Events Table" as this was his 20th different venue. |
Banstead Woods (UK)
The TpOTs After the success of the Bushy Park trip earlier in the year, we were invited by our friends Don & Sue Esslemont to visit their beautiful parkrun, Banstead Woods in Surray. Wow! What a fantastic trip, and what an amazing welcome from Banstead Woods - you can read all about it here. Well done on a new parkrun PB for Darragh Lynch on a very tough forest trail! |
Listowel
Siobhan, Emer, Rachel, Sharon, Tony, Colm, Ryan, Anna, Majella, Nora, Margaret, Mohamed, Mary, Josie, Jemma, Micheál, Jason, Tara, Geraldine, Noel, a couple of John's... the list goes on! We really hate to miss Listowel's Anniversary, our timing was bad! What a beautiful morning in their Town Park for the three-laps-and-a-dogleg that we are so used to. Last week's great Run Report from Robbie Larkin had us all worried about The Hill. But it didn't seem to matter to some of us - Rachel absolutely LOVED Listowel parkrun and wants to defect! She was fourth finisher this morning and first lady home, topping the age-grade table today with the second fastest time ever recorded in Listowel by a girl in her age group! There was great running by the juniors today, with three of the Top Five in the 11-14 age category! (Listowel PBs too for Siobhan, Micheál, John x2 and Tony!) As always, we got a fantastic welcome from Run Director Maggie Large and Event Director TIm Segal, and a wondeful team of volunteers. Of course, if you arrive with a tray of these beauties and a box of Anna's equally delicious cookies, you'll be welcome anywhere! Siobhán summed up our morning nicely: "Tourism, sunshine, special cupcakes & a pb at Listowel parkrun today with some great parkrun friends... who could ask for more 😀☀️" (I'm not impressed with Siobhán's selfie, however, it's definitely not up to her usual standard. I'm only half the man I used to be!) |
Vandeleur
Bairbre & Bertie Hickey The Hickeys were closer to home this week, but still had to take an early morning ferry across the Shannon to visit the lovely Vandeleur parkrun. "A beautiful one lap course, well signposted so no chance of getting lost, and as usual for parkrun, a lovely group of people." |
Bushy Dublin parkrun
Caroline Lynch (and Pansy!) Apparently, Caroline has found the only parkrun in Ireland where they have more fun than Tralee! So much so that today's Run Director, Niall Coppinger, is joiining us in Berlin later in the year to give us a few tips! We are also looking forward to welcoming Pansy to Tralee parkrun later in the summer! "Gorgeous morning at Bushy Dublin parkrun with my Mom, Pansy (84 next month!) Niall Coppinger & team gave us a lovely welcome. They have just as much fun as we do in Tralee!" |
Bere Island
Garry, Claire & Billy Moriarty You can take the man out of Bere Island, but you can't take the Bere out of the man! It doesn't really count as tourism for Garry, of course, as he's still clinging to his Bere Island parkrun roots (not to worry, we're claiming Billy & Claire). But this weekend is worth a mention as Garry, looking very relaxed before the run, was another First Finisher on Saturday, his fourth time crossing the line first at his "home" parkrun! Billy's eighth place finish was just as impressive - in fact, a higher age-grade than his dad means Kerry 1 -Cork 0 on this occasion! |
Erris parkrun
Bairbre & Bertie Hickey and Mary O'Driscoll We keep telling them how much fun they're missing in Tralee, but still the Adventure continues, Bairbre is now the 12th most-travelled Irish parkrunner after a trip to Erris parkrun! "Bairbre ran with the Horses in Darndale last week, this week she ran with the cows in the beautiful Erris parkrun County Mayo Europe's most westerly parkrun." - Bertie Click here to get a real feel for Erris's lovely course. |
Castle Demesne
Ellen, Darragh and Emer Lynch, Majella Ahern There is always a welcome on the mat for Castle Demesne parkrunners Deirbre and Shay, and they were delighted to reciprocate this weekend when this rowdy bunch went to see them! "Yesterday morning Majella, Emer, Darragh & myself headed to the lovely Macroom, to attend Castle Demesne parkrun. We were delighted to meet Deirdre & Shay. We knew them well from their many trips to Tralee & they made us feel most welcome, as did the RD, the volunteers & all the parkrunners. Emer & Darragh didn't seem to notice the hills too much, but Majella & I did! So we took it easy & soaked up the beautiful nature. Although I thought Majella would get caught under the low arch, she managed to get through it incident free. In the leisure centre after, we were delighted to enjoy a cuppa & Deirdre had whipped up a tasty batch of fresh scones (gluten free included) that we hungrily enjoyed. We chatted, ate, drank & waved our good byes. We enjoyed a great morning with lovely people in a beautiful setting. Thanks to all in Castle Demesne." - Ellen Lynch |
Bushy Dublin parkrun
Angela Collins Our final report this week comes from closer to home. Angela's roots are still firmly in Tralee parkrun, although she is now part of the core team at Russborough parkrun. "With my away from home parkrun in Russborough house not going ahead as a result of the recent rain, this gave me a chance to visit Bushy Dublin parkrun. I was warmly welcomed by Niall Coppinger and all the volunteers. The route is a lovely 2 circuits of park out by the lake and back through the woods. I hope to be back in the near future." - Angela Collins (Watch out for that fella Niall Coppinger - he frequently accuses us of having too much fun at Tralee parkrun! But he will be an honourary Tralee parkrunner On Tour later in the year, we are glad to say!) |
Cannon Hill parkrun
The Walshe gang One parkrun in a weekend is never enough for the Walshe's, so their UK trip took in a junior one too. A tough hill to finish, John told us (and he was only watching!) "We went on the recommendation of our parkrun pal Lucy Marris to Graves junior parkrun in Sheffield this morning & it was great! Lucy is a regular volunteer there. Graves junior parkrun runs right through an animal farm. I thought the RD was joking when she told me to stand between the owl & the donkey! I had the pleasure of Betty the Donkey’s company while I was marshaling. We debated who had the better ears!!! 🤣 The kids were great at high fives, the atmosphere was infectious! We really enjoyed our morning. We were welcomed warmly by RD Minna, and her ED husband Sergei. All the volunteers were really friendly and Graves Park is just beautiful. We even saw a painting of Lily the Whippet who is a parkrun mascot here in Sheffield!! It was brilliant to see Lucy Marris again this morning having met her last week on the first day of our hols, we got to meet her on our last day before we head home tomorrow" - Caroline Lynch |
Graves junior parkrun
The Lynch's "We went on the recommendation of our parkrun pal Lucy Marris to Graves junior parkrun in Sheffield this morning & it was great! Lucy is a regular volunteer there. Graves junior parkrun runs right through an animal farm. I thought the RD was joking when she told me to stand between the owl & the donkey! I had the pleasure of Betty the Donkey’s company while I was marshaling. We debated who had the better ears!!! 🤣 The kids were great at high fives, the atmosphere was infectious! We really enjoyed our morning. We were welcomed warmly by RD Minna, and her ED husband Sergei. All the volunteers were really friendly and Graves Park is just beautiful. We even saw a painting of Lily the Whippet who is a parkrun mascot here in Sheffield!! It was brilliant to see Lucy Marris again this morning having met her last week on the first day of our hols, we got to meet her on our last day before we head home tomorrow" - Caroline Lynch |
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Whaley Bridge junior parkrun
The Lynch's Continuing their exploration of the junior parkrun world, this week they landed at Whaley parkrun, and had a WHALE of a time (sorry!) Caroline and Colm were volunteering, being just over the age limit for the event, but the four kids were all running! "We were very impressed this morning at Whaley Bridge juniors. They had their name printed on everything. Flags, high vis jackets, even storage bags!! Might steal that idea.. 😜 We got a great welcome from RD Anna & were minded very well by core team member Conor & his family, who showed us around & where to go for coffee afterwards! Their parkrun Ambassador, Eve, was there too & she had great knowledge of Irish parkruns having visited Malahide parkrun before. A really lovely junior parkrun morning!" |
Malahide parkrun
Siobhán Kearney & Tony Higgins We were very sorry to be missing in action from Tralee parkrun this week, what a special one it was with Pat Sheehy doing his 100th. But we had a great trip to Dublin where we were both First-TImers. Thanks to John O'Leary, Run Director (and Corkman, always a good start!) for the welcome and stories about his parkrun. We met the inspirational Martin Smyth, closing in on 147 parkruns at over 80 years of age! Not only that, he did this week's parkrun in 32 minutes. Martin wasn't the only octogenarian running in Malahide this week, but he was certainly the fastest, with an age-grade of over 70%! Sadly, Siobhán was so dazzled by the beauty of Malahide that she failed to get a Selfie with Martin! We also had the opportunity to spend some time, before and after our parkrun, with some of the people who are shaping the future of parkrun, not just in Ireland, but all over the world. Of course we have met Matt Shields, Ireland's Country Manager, and his wife Ruth (who we think does all the work!) on many occasions, but this was our first opportunity to meet Neil Marshall, Ireland Administrator, who is in the process of taking over much of Matt's current role to allow Matt to concentrate on different aspects of parkrun's development. And what a pleasure to meet James Kemp, Global Operations Manager with parkrun. For Neil and James, this was their first visit to Ireland, but they have both promised to return and we have of course invited them to the South West! As for the parkrun, what a beauty. They have big numbers - more manageable now than in their early days when they were the only parkrun in Ireland - and this week their numbers were swelled by the graduation of several couch-to-5k groups, as well as many other tourists like ourselves. It was all rounded off beautifully by breakfast in the Avoca cafe (with a very welcome parkrunners discount). We have had several Tralee parkrunners in Malahide (scroll down to see Ann Lynch there last week!), and without exception they love it. A fitting parkrun to be the "home of Irish parkrun". Siobhán even met up with a couple of fellow Carndonagh natives who were taking in the parkrun on their way to the airport for their flight to Tenerife! |
Griffeen (Lucan, Co. Dublin)
Bairbre Hickey On her own this week... but of course you're never alone at parkrun! She only has good words to say about parkrun, wherever she goes. This week was no different and she told us she got an exceptionally warm welcome from Paul Corboy this week (white T-shirt). |
Bakewell parkrun, UK
The Lynch Mob! "Hi, Caroline here! We met Lucy Marris (Elisabeth's daughter) this morning at Bakewell parkrun, in Derbyshire. We are exhausted from talking!!! She's hoping to join us in Berlin in November & will come see us in Tralee. Good morning's work connecting parkruns!" (You can read about Elisabeth in our Bushy parkrun Report here.) |
Listowel
Tara Reidy (with Micheal in tow) St. Patrick's Day is the day when we traditionally send our VIps (Very Important parkrunners) to other parkruns to spread the good news about Tralee parkrun. And this year was no different. Tara didn't go too far, just to our friends in Listowel, so she wasn't jet-lagged. Obviously not, as she ran like the wind. She took over four minutes off her parkrun PB (Tralee) and an amazing seven minutes off her previous Listowel time set on New Year's Day. Tara was obviously on form, as she had another PB the following day at Tralee junior parkrun. |
Hasenheide parkrun, Berlin
Majella Ahern We had to send someone abroad too, of course, and who better to be our ambassador than the one-and-only Majella Ahern. Majella was also acting as our scout to help plan our forthcoming trip to Berlin in November (read all about that here). Not surprisingly, Majella features in their weekly Run Report - provided this week in English and German. Germany is a relatively recent addition to the parkrun atlas, but it's really taking off there! Majella loved Hasenheide parkrun (Majella loves EVERY parkrun!) - "You'll love the course, but not the hill". What a welcome she got from all the team. Luckily she was back in time to be Run Director this week. |
Brickfields
The Travelling Lynch's Brickfields parkrun in Drimnagh is one of Ireland's youngest parkruns, and their numbers for Event Number 10 were swelled to 54 by the arrival of a carload of Lynch's, always guaranteed to attract attention! They might be the first Tralee parkrunners to visit this lovely parkrun in Drimnagh. Kerry jerseys are always particularly welcome in this part of the world! |
Malahide
Ann Lynch No tourists last week (everyone stayed at home as Tralee was one of only five parkruns that survived Storm Brian). But this week there was a good few Tralee runners out and about! Thanks to Ann Lynch for sending us this photo from Malahide parkrun where she introduced her husband to the joys of parkrun! Malahide is the "home" of parkrun in Ireland - they recently celebrated their fifth anniversary and are on parkrun No. 278! Malahide is one of the busiest of Ireland's parkruns, they've had over 500 runners on several occasions. |
Castletown parkrun
Siobhan Kearney, Caroline Lynch and a band of dedicated followers! We almost felt at home in Castletown, there were so many Tralee parkrunners in the field! Five of us including our two Event Directors, Siobhan and Caroline, travelled to Celbridge to take part in training to be Guide Runners for Visually Impaired runners, and we were joined by Bairbre and Bertie Hickey as Bairbre continues her quest to conquer all Ireland's parkruns! An added bonus was the chance meeting with Garry and Claire, as well as Karl Johnson who recently ran his 50th with us in Tralee but is now living in Kildare and regularly runs in Castletown. You can read Siobhán's great report on our trip on Castletown's News page. |
Mountlucas
Geraldine & Micheal Reidy I think it's safe to say Ger and Micheal were "blown away" by Mountlucas parkrun! With 160 parkruns between them, they were the most experienced of today's runners at Mountlucas Wind Farm. Not unexpectedly, it's fairly exposed! "Just after a lovely and cold run at Mountlucas parkrun. It's a one loop course (all flat) on soft gravel around a wind farm. It's a lovely run but there was such a cold wind this morning it was hard to keep going. Got a lovely welcome from today's run director (she got a tipoff that we were coming). Would definitely return." Geraldine |
Castlehaven
Assorted TPOTs and CDPOTs (Castle Demesne!) We were joined in West Cork by Deirdre and Shay (who by now are almost honrorary Tralee parkrunners), and enjoyed Ireland's toughest parkrun! It's also one of the most beautiful, set on the Wild Atlantic Way overlooking Castlehaven bay. What a gem, and what a welcome! You can read a full report on Castlehaven's News page. |
Oranmore
The Lynch gang With 27 different events under her belt, Caroline Lynch is our next representative on the Most Events List, after Bairbre (she has some catching up to do!). But although the Lynch gang had visited beautiful Renville Park in Oranmore on a Sunday for the junior parkrun, this was her first time doing the 5k event. They met up with our old pals Rob Partridge (today's Event Director) and Bradley Rowles, who helped us out on our inaugural run, and enjoyed the delicious treats in the nearby Poppyseed Cafe. They'll be beck tomorrow to meet some Oranmore regulars who are volunteering at our junior parkrun! |
Killarney
Doreen Moore, Maeve Higgins & Colm Nix By coincidence, there were several Tralee parkrunners among the fifty or so runners at Killarney parkrun this week, where they got the chance to meet Alan's new Mascot! Sumo's is just one of the friendly faces you will meet when you do this beautiful parkrun on the lake shore! Doreen always lets us know when she's out and about! "Hi, after celebrating Tralee parkruns 3rd birthday last week I was off to Killarney this morning for my 2nd parkrun there and to celebrate another birthday - the ?? Birthday of my friend and Killarney parkrunner Catherine O’ Leary. I wasn’t the only TPOT in Killarney this morning, and I must keep a better look out in future as after reviewing the results I realised I only spotted some of my fellow TPOTS, apologies to those I didn’t get to chat to - it won’t happen again! It was a lovely bright morning, the sun was out and the rain stayed away. Here are two pics with some of today’s volunteers and the birthday girl. Happy birthday Catherine and thanks for post run hospitality, chats and goodies." Doreen Moore |
Newcastle West parkrun
Sinéad Healy Who would leave Tralee on the day of our Third Birthday Party? Well, suffice it to say they needed a good excuse! Especially Sinéad, who not only missed our great reverse run, but also the presentation of her Award for Most First Finishes in 2017! But she took a short break from her Short Break to visit Denis and the gang in NCW. She might have missed her award, but she didn't miss her First Finish. What's more, she wasn't just the First Lady home today, she was the overall First Finisher in Newcastle West's lovely park, |
"Hi all... Your friends from Newcastle West said to say Hi ! 👋 .. heard you all had a great morning in Tralee.. I m getting good at the selfies! Siobhan.. watch out !!"
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Naas parkrun
Daniel Pierse Dan had a good excuse too - although he did admit to being tempted to miss his godson;s birthday party to stay in Tralee! Sense prevailed, thankfully, and he took a time-out to visit Naas parkrun instead. "I'm disappointed I missed out on the birthday celebrations with ye this weekend but my Godson's 7th birthday was this afternoon and took precedence. Nonetheless, I sought out the nearest parkrun in Naas. It was an excellent course, about 2 and a half laps of the ambulance track in the Naas Racecourse. Over 163 people took part and there was a great buzz about the place. At the finish, I was greeted with great enthusiasm by the local volunteers, who read my parkrun tshirt and saw I was a TPOT! In the first picture, I got a snap with this mornings Run Director Ann-Marie Feely. In the second picture, my aunt Linda who lives locally was my 'bring a friend to parkrun' this morning. Pictured alongside to her left is Declan Hynes, who is a core team member in Castletown parkrun. He told me about their parkrun near Celbridge and it is definitely on the cards for the future! Looking forward to parkrun next weekend in Tralee." |
Oranmore parkrun
Malachy Kelly Just like he did last week in London, Malachy "The Juggler" Kelly wowed his fellow runners with his amazing combination of skill and speed! "Oranmore makes number 4! My goal was to juggle my way around 10 different parkruns this year... I’m off to a such a good start, I may have to make the target bigger! Just doing a bit of recon in case #TPOT decides to go tribal in Oranmore 😉 There’s a fecking hill I tells ye, and they even have a graveyard at the top of it.. talk about filling a person with confidence! Oh, and I tested the poppyseed Café afterwards.. mmm, pancakes.. big, fluffy, pancakes 🥞 🤤" |
Oranmore junior parkrun
Ruairi & Conor Walshe While their big brother was making waves in London, Ruairi and Conor were flying their own flag for Tralee with a visit to the beautiful Oranmore junior parkrun, just outside Galway. They met up with Rob Partridge, Run Director and also Event Director of Knocknacarra parkrun (look out, we're coming there soon!) as well as many other things in the parkrun world! Rob was at our inaugural event in 2015 and we just might entice him back for our third birthday next week! |
Carlow Town parkrun
Bairbre Hickey We have resigned oursleves that the best we can hope for 2018 is that we will see only our favourite tourist once every couple of weeks! This week she visited Carlow Town parkrun, on the shores of the Barrow, for her 70th parkrun. It's an out and back course along the Barrow Track finishing with a short lap of the Town Park. |
Claremorris parkrun
Maeve & Tony Higgins (and Caroline O'Brien) There's an Australian connection here too, believe it or not. Caroline (who has run with us in Tralee!) was home to her native Claremorris from Melbourne, ane we uesd that as an excuse to do Claremorris parkrun. As if any excuse is needed - it's a beautiful course in Clare park on the outskirts of town, reclaimed from an old dump! Well worth the trip! Imagine my consternation when I realised as the briefing was about to start that I had forgotten my barcode! Luckily Caroline's house was close by, and my (much faster) wife had time to run back for it and have it waiting for me at the finish line! |
Yes, I know it was 2018, but the news from the New Year's Day Double is on the 2017 page here! |