Weekend Roundup - Saturday 15 August 2026

🏃 Parkrun

A brilliant Saturday morning for the group, with 29 of us out across 11 different parkruns, from Heaton Park to the shores of the Lake District and a brand new woodland outside York. Two big milestones, a hatful of personal bests and a couple of age category wins made it one of the best mornings we have had in a while. 💜

Ken Smith was our lone representative at Bolton, taking on the Leverhulme Park course and putting in a really solid morning's work on his own.

Stephen Crowe was back at his usual Clarence stomping ground, taking it at walking pace this week and enjoying a lovely parkwalk on very familiar ground.

Andrew and Alison Whitehead kept the touring going with a trip down into Cheshire for Congleton, adding another new pin to a map that must be getting fairly crowded by now. Both had fine mornings on the Astbury Mere course.

The biggest gathering of the week by a distance, with 18 of us at Heaton Park, and there was a very good reason for the turnout. Paul Cox reached his 100th parkrun, and the group came out in force to run it with him. 100 parkruns means 100 Saturday mornings of setting the alarm, turning up in all weathers and getting it done, so it was brilliant to see so many familiar faces there to mark the occasion. He capped it off by taking a course best at Heaton on the day, on his 58th visit to the park. 👏

There was a second milestone in the very same field, with Delphine Bugarel notching up her 50th parkrun, and Kate Myers came home right alongside her to share the moment. Two landmarks in one morning is not bad for a single parkrun.

Up at the front, Jamie Dobson was first of the group home and did it in style with a brand new personal best, and Aaron Stones was not far behind with a personal best of his own. Paula Crosland had a fine morning too, finishing top of her age category in a big field.

Mark Taylor, Laura Tomkins, Cheryl Stewardson, Dale Richards and Nick Coleman all put in strong runs, with good outings too from Josh Young, Martyn James, Paul Jenkinson and Anna Swailes, and another steady morning from Chris Grayshon at his home event. Michael Aiken had the best company of anyone, running the whole way round with his wife Laura and his son Owen, who came away with a personal best of his own, while Lucie Tighe once again had Grace alongside her out on the course.

Angela Pradena took the prize for the most scenic morning of the week, heading up to Keswick. The course runs along the old Keswick to Threlkeld railway line, following the River Greta through wooded gorge, over old railway bridges and under the Lakeland fells. Hard to think of a better place to spend a Saturday morning.

Hannah McCandless flew the flag on the Fylde coast at Lytham Hall, a lovely run through the parkland and woodland of a Georgian country estate.

Kath Biddle made the trip over to Anglesey and came away with the top spot in her age category on the boardwalks and woodland paths of the Nant y Pandy nature reserve. A fine morning's work.

Rachael Fiske was out on her own at Peel, getting stuck in and putting in a good, steady run.

Julie Smith headed over to the Yorkshire Dales for Skipton and represented us well on the edge of the moors.

Gerard Tucker was our man at Worsley Woods, taking on the trails and getting the weekend off to a good start.

Chris Chris travelled over to Yorkshire for one of the newest events on the calendar. York Community Woodland is a young Forestry England site out at Knapton, where hundreds of thousands of trees have been planted on former farmland, so it is a course that will be looking more and more like a proper wood every year. A great one to tick off early.

🏅 Races

A busy week beyond parkrun too, with a midweek outing in Ramsbottom and a trip up onto the moors on Sunday.

Tuesday 11 August

A lovely evening for this one. The Summer Mile is run in waves through the evening around Nuttall Park, with a children's fun run to get things going beforehand and plenty of families and supporters out along the route cheering everyone through. Lucie Tighe and Sarah Wilson were both out there and had a great night of it.

Sunday 16 August

The Piethorne 10k is a circular trail route out from Newhey, looping around Piethorne and Ogden reservoirs on the moors above Rochdale, ducking over and under the M62 and taking in around 900 feet of climbing along the way. Twists, turns, ups and downs, and big open moorland views for your trouble.

Lucie Tighe was out again, capping a full week of running after Tuesday's Summer Mile and Heaton with Grace on Saturday. Julie Smith made it a weekend double of her own, following Saturday's trip over to Skipton with a morning on the Pennine trails. Two brilliant efforts on a course that gives nothing away.

From a 100th parkrun at Heaton to an evening mile in Ramsbottom and a climb over the Rochdale moors, that is about as much variety as one week can hold. Brilliant stuff, everyone. 💜🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️