A whopping 8 WRC members headed down to Shipley Park to try out the course there. If you fancy a bit more of a challenge to your parkrun, Shipley is a good course – it’s mainly trail, undulating slightly with a few twists and turns, the main event is a 5% climb 400m section that must be navigated twice in the last 2.5km. The course actually changed at the beginning of 2018, so only Sarah Chamberlain knew where she was going! This can’t have been the only reason, however, for her incredible performance… Sarah knocked 1 minute 5 seconds off her course PB, romping home in 28:29! Aidan Rountree (31:15) pipped Mum, Tanya Rountree (31:20), by just 5 seconds, whilst Rachel Hathaway (32:07) and Jo Butt (32:40) ran strongly on a tough course. Rachel and Jo also secured their 10 club vest points each here for an away 5km. Wirksworth were prominent at the front of the race too. John Potter (20:26), Mark Crawshaw (20:52) and Stacy Newton (20:54) were in the top 5, the first time that Wirksworth has achieved this at a parkrun.
Chris Gillott ran very well indeed at Bakewell; his 20:16 was just 2 seconds off his course PB. Chris will be back to tick this off and start eyeing up the Bakewell sub-20 that we know he’s got in him.