Collins first class again at excellent Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun

Many were expecting more of the recent sunshine and warm weather but it didn’t materialise as they stood shivering during the pre-run briefing.

Fortunately, the predicted rain held off for most of the runners to finish in the dry despite the threatening grey skies.

Of the 300 runners on Saturday, 40 were first timers and 49 recorded new personal bests.

Representatives of 16 different athletics clubs took part.

The team of volunteers again provided great support and encouragement for all the runners as they made their way to the finish.

Nikki Moxham (VW40-44) of Gosport Road Runners, continued her impressive running at the Lee-on-the-Solent event.

She was first lady over the line in 19min 42sec.

It was the 25th time she has been first lady out of 29 appearances at the parkrun.

Pete Collins (VM40-44) of Portsmouth Joggers, was first to finish on Saturday.

He recorded a time of 17.26 and it was his debut appearance at Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun.

Also, it was his second successive first-place parkrun finish.

He had crossed the line first at the Fareham event on Saturday, May 14 with 17.28 – a time he beat by two seconds at Lee-on-the-Solent on Saturday.

Tom Swift, from Fareham Crusaders, was the runner with the most parkruns under his belt.

He finished his 167th parkrun with a time of 20.01 in 11th position.

Jane Collins, of Portsmouth Joggers, finished her 108th parkrun with a time of 30.04.

Gosport Road Runners were well represented with 30 club members completing the 5k run.

Since the Lee-on-the-Solent parkrun started on July 4, 2015, a total of 3,113 different runners, including participants from 178 athletics clubs, have completed 13,486 runs.

There have been 3,373 new personal bests set during that time.

The female record is held by Jen Elkins with a time of 18.33.

The male record is held by Max Costley with a time of 16.03.

The age-grade record is held by Penny Forse – with an impressive grading of 92.89-per-cent (22.30) in 2015.

All runners are reminded it is important to listen to the run briefing before the events.

The details include safety announcements and also information about the course.

All parkruns are 5k and take place at 9am every Saturday morning. They are free to enter, just register on the website, print your barcode and take this to be scanned when you finish.