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Middleton Woods parkrun is here!

Rich Sadler

Event Director Josh gives us the lowdown on parkrun’s newest addition in Leeds……

 

After a lot of hard work and overcoming various obstacles Leeds’ newest parkrun is not far away. This new parkrun being Middleton Woods parkrun. It is going to be a new option for a Saturday morning and will feature a two lap course consisting of path and trail. It takes in some of the best features of a beautiful old park right in the middle of a major city. On both laps you will take in the old woods before running past the old, disused mine tracks, passing the bandstand, visitor centre and lake before heading back into the woods. 

 

The only challenge that remains is assembling a team of volunteers. I am confident that event number one will be fully covered, however I do need to build a team going forward. There is an idea in the parkrun world that if everyone who attends a parkrun were to volunteer at least three times a year then the parkrun would be fully covered for volunteers each week. This is a great idea however it isn’t always the case. Many parkrun’s have a group of core volunteers that will be there to assist each week. A parkrun team has four tiers in my eyes and they are as follows:

 

Event Director – this is my role. This means I am ultimately responsible for the event and it is down to me to make sure I have great people in place to take the event a success.

 

Run Directors – Each parkrun needs a team of four to six of these which means you can achieve an excellent rotation. This role comes with a lot of responsibility. If you are the RD on any given Saturday then that event is yours to manage. You will spend the week making sure you have a team in place ready for the Saturday and you may also have to make decisions on whether the event can go ahead. For example, as we’ve seen recently there has been a lot of poor weather which can make the event unsafe as well as many other things that may crop up on the day.

 

Core Team – This includes the run directors and is a role that still carries a lot of responsibility. As core team member you will know the majority of the roles and will be aiming to volunteer at least once a month (dependant on individual circumstances and the size of core team). These amazing volunteers will be experts on everything from timings to barcode scanners, tail walking, marshalling, finish tokens – the whole lot! Core team members will be happy to share their knowledge with others.

 

Occasional Volunteers – These volunteers are just as important to the events as any others – make no mistakes about it! These are the people that normally run but may want a rest one week, may be injured or just want to volunteer one week. As well as this, you might just want to come and volunteer once because you’re in the area – as long as you have a parkrun barcode then you’re good to go!

 

If you are interested in becoming part of the team at Middleton Woods, then please contact Josh via email at middletonwoodshelpers@parkrun.com  

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