Airlie Beach Parkrun

On Saturday, 75 motivated people ran, jogged, and walked the 5km oceanfront course, of whom 14 were first timers. It was another great week for personal bests, with 15 in total. Well done to Liam, Jayden, Dave, Zane, Shay, Lydia, Jackie, Lily, Bridget, Emily, Peter, Wendy, Shane, Barbara, and Sandi.

All participants celebrating milestones had travelled to Airlie Beach to celebrate them. Graeme Eldridge and Peter Close completed their 50th parkrun and Liam Jones celebrated his 100th parkrun.

The event was made possible by 15 generous volunteers: Nick Beecroft, Stuart Bishop, Kara Olver, Mick Drennan, Megan Drennan, Joshua (co-run director), Riana Wronski, Darlene Reid (photographer), Christopher Harvey (co-run director), Craig Boxer, Laura Oates, Jasmine, Lynne Oates, Dennis Mundle, and Caitlin James.

This coming Saturday is the next Whitsunday Running Club pacer event. Pacers will be jogging at a variety of speeds. Combined with cooler weather, it is expected there will be many new personal best times set on the day. The volunteer roster is already full for the event.

On June 4, Airlie Beach parkrun invites the community to come along to parkrun and then join them for a post parkrun picnic at Shingley Beach.

An Airlie Beach parkrun spokesperson said to bring along food from home or buy some counter food from My Rainbow Bakery.

“To make it a picnic event to remember everyone is encouraged to wear their favourite event T-shirt,” the spokesperson said.

Every Saturday Airlie Beach parkrun meets at 6:50am for a briefing at area D, Coral Sea Marina (adjacent to the top carpark). Parking is free in the lower carpark till 9:30am if a parkrun barcode is placed on the dashboard. Post parkrun coffee and chat is held at My Rainbow Bakery, Shingley Beach.

The best-kept secret about parkrun is that it’s not about running - it’s about bringing people together in public parks and open spaces across the world to have some fun in a friendly, social and supportive environment. You can walk or run the 5k course (pushing a pram or with one dog on a short lead if you want to!), lend a helping hand as a volunteer in a wide range of super-easy roles, or simply spectate and socialise on the sidelines.

There are no winners at parkrun and nobody comes last – the Tail walkers do. Regular participation is rewarded rather than performance, with ‘parkrun milestone shirts’ available to people to recognise their achievements in coming along.

Contributed with thanks to Airlie Beach parkrun

A sprint for the finish line

Liam and crew celebrating his 100th parkrun

The team of fantastic volunteers

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