What a week! With parkrun breaking the news, even non parkrunners were pitching in to express their views on the heavily debated data debacle. On the plus side, everyone now knows about the inclusivity of this wonderful event which is sure to see attendance numbers increase. In terms of your weekly Vegan Runners’ parkrun report the aim has always been to celebrate VR parkrun achievements, including opportunities for everyone to get a mention in a non-contentious manner – so here goes – I hope you enjoy it!
On the 10th February 2024, facing a plethora of meteorological and terrestrial conditions (namely mud and puddles in the UK), 863 VRs managed to attend 349 different parkrun events. 805 gained a finish token and we had over 58 wonderful volunteers. Outside of the UK we had VRs repping our club at events in:
5 Germany
5 Australia
2 New Zealand
1 South Africa
1 Singapore
1 Netherlands
1 Italy
1 Ireland
Plenty of marvellous meetups took place as always – thank you to Su Z Anne for this week’s wonderful photo from the Northampton meetup celebrating Paul Jones’ 250th parkrun event – an amazing achievement and clearly celebrated in style! 
The most popular locations for VR get-togethers were held at:
25 University of Northampton parkrun
24 Victoria Dock parkrun
17 Pontefract parkrun
12 Springburn parkrun, Glasgow
11 Bartley Park parkrun
10 Eastbourne parkrun
9 Southsea parkrun
8 Southampton parkrun
8 Hillsborough parkrun
8 Gloucester City parkrun
7 Ashton Court parkrun
7 Preston Park parkrun, Brighton
7 Hunstanton Promenade parkrun
6 Bushy parkrun
6 Colwick parkrun
6 Valentines parkrun
6 Worcester parkrun
6 Alvaston parkrun
6 Tidworth parkrun
5 Arrow Valley parkrun
5 Whitstable parkrun
5 Princes parkrun, Liverpool
5 Medina I.O.W. parkrun
5 Pomphrey Hill parkrun
5 Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun
5 Rogiet parkrun
5 Marine Parade parkrun
5 Yarborough Leisure Centre parkrun
5 Five Arches parkrun
Our top five fastest ladies on this 2nd run of February 2024 were:
19:36 Clare Meraz
19:37 Naomi Sutton
19:49 Caroline McAleese
20:16 Hannah Shiels
20:42 Lesley Connors
And our top five fastest men:
16:45 Philip Nind
17:03 Rhys Goddard
17:27 Ciar Nixon
17:33 Christopher Pearson
17:36 Michael Slack
All achieving super impressive times – congratulations! 
Seventeen amazing VRs came first in their gender position at their parkrun, kudos & congrats to:
17:03 Rhys Goddard
17:37 Matt Edmonds
17:46 Pete Jnr Benedickter
17:49 Naeem Stevens
18:12 Harry Pannell
18:19 Joseph Brown
18:19 Scott Braunton
18:22 Dan Stent
18:23 Jake Stephens
19:18 Andrew Millis
19:36 Clare Meraz
19:37 Naomi Sutton
19:49 Caroline McAleese
19:59 Hester Hill
20:16 Hannah Shiels
20:45 Elly Maggs
21:24 Fiona Newman
The average time for all Vegan Runners to complete the course on this second event of February 2024 was 29:50. Plant power! 
Data is no longer easily available for VRs who were top age graded at their parkrun, neither are the marvellous milestones, so apologies for lack of mentions here. But I did notice a couple of special events alongside Paul Jones’ 250th:
David Baker completed his last and 25th parkrun since his MND diagnosis (having completed 152 parkruns in total) which he ran with his daughter Rachel Baker who was running her 25th parkrun and wife Alice (158). We wish you all the very, very best.
Roisin Damm completed her 100th parkrun in 28:52 at Westpark parkrun – congratulations! 
Lesley Ashton was first in her age category and Fiona Newman was first age graded – of course! 
Shoutouts and accolades to these Vegan Runners who finished their parkrun in a multiple of fifty position:
50 Chloé Holland
50 Sarah Laws
50 Judy Johnson
50 Barnaby Hicks
100 Jane London
100 Melanie Hayes
100 Tim Bradshaw
150 Eve Orange
150 Mirek Salmon
200 Matleena Elonheimo
350 Rosie Lester
650 Ella Hill
800 Caroline Roberts
On the noughty step this week we have twenty terribly troublesome transgressors:
21:00 Llyr Roberts
22:00 Stuart Robertson
23:00 Ben Vick
24:00 Katie Layley
25:00 Mike Rogers
25:00 Rowena Owen
26:00 Callum Harling
26:00 Nick Russon
27:00 Andrew Kaye
29:00 Andy Straw
30:00 Doug Porter
30:00 Matt Prichard
31:00 Holly Vincent
31:00 Koby Crumpler
32:00 Karen Arkwright
32:00 Elizabeth Billingham
33:00 Graeme Harris
35:00 Jane Wills
45:00 Lana Dzananovic
55:00 Michael Beadle
Collecting a repdigit finish token this week were 43 VRs! Whoops and cheers with sweetcorn ears to:
11 Benjamin Smith
11 Christopher Jones
11 Hannah Shiels
22 Alexander Cox
22 Carl Mowatt
22 Haydn Whitmore
22 James Edward Jepson
22 Kevin Newell
22 Nina Nickerson
33 Daniel Wilson
33 Sam Bagnall
44 Fiona Cownie
44 Greg Turner
44 Jacob Butler
44 Rachel Toone
44 Sharon Weinstein
55 Tom Preece
66 Jan Basha
66 Tom Rogers
77 Margaret Pritchard
77 Martin Mcloughlin
77 Michelle Steer
77 Paula Hirst
88 Gary Jarvis
88 Heath Harvey-List
88 Ian Thurston
88 Kev Meaney
88 Moira Cuthbert
99 Angelina Farruggia
99 Debbie Kessell
99 Jane Forbes
99 Jim Mcalwane
99 Lana Sarey El-Din
99 Lisa Knights
99 Shireen Kassam
111 Amy Finnigan
111 Caitlin Barry
111 Hayley Burn
222 Sandra Morgan
333 Alice Connor
333 Catherine Thompson
333 Rich Lehmann
666 Matthew Sweed
A-maize-ing repping for the animals. 
“Oh please, enough with the puns,” I hear you cry, “Bring back Mike’s reports!” Well, I’m back. I’ve beaten cancer for the 3rd time and whilst I won’t be running for a while yet I’ll continue repping, reporting, volunteering and running again as soon as I’m able. Thank you to Mike and Gary for stepping in. Well done to all of you getting out there participating in parkruns and promoting veganism. It’s sad to hear of negative reactions from non-vegans and of VRs feeling uncomfortable with wearing the Vegan Runners’ logo. I’ve experienced the “bacon butty” comment myself plus resentment from actual family members on occasion. I’ve since discovered that vegaphobia is a recognised condition and found it helpful to understand some of the reasons behind it. It’s also enabled me to feel even more confident about facing non-vegan attitudes. I hope the link is helpful for some of you, too. Have a great week!
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