parkrun Finland turned 5 on October 8th and because Tampere parkrun was the inaugural parkrun - and sole parkrun for the first year* - we got to celebrate big time as there were some delicious milestones to celebrate (as well as delicious cake (sponsored by our very own ED, Johanna, (Navigatori) and coffee etc sponsored by Tampere parkrun co-founder Ulla (Outloud)). Thank you so much.

Unsung heroes - now sung! Olli, who reached the marvellous milestone of having volunteered 100 times.

Thank you so much!

Nina, 100th parkrun

Thanks for all you do for parkrun and for training me up to be an RD! Lara, aged 9, not only her 25th parkrun but she managed to ace a PB for the course in a time I could only dream of (31:35!)

Congratulations to you all!First Timers and PBs Congrats also to Jari who also ran a PB yesterday. Really encouraging too was that we had two new (local) first timers one of whom ran a parkrun for the very first time. I hope you enjoyed it and we see you again! And it was lovely to have a parkrun tourist from Liverpool, England too. It was a joy to RD at the event and I had the extra pleasure of giving out buffs (Thank you Tampere city) to those who have volunteered over the years. Without your help we couldn’t put on parkrun week after week.

If you’d like to volunteer your help next week (or a future week) we need ~ timekeepers and scanners (you use your own phone and it’s easy to do!), someone to hand out finish tokens. the RD is always at hand to show you what to do.

Each week we also need tail walker(s) and there’s a brand new light blue vest for two parkwalkers to encourage walkers to the event … because parkrun really is for everyone.

This week is was a huge huge JOY to me to welcome Maija-Liisa Ström back to parkrun! Maija was our oldest participant yesterday (in the 85-89 year old category) and this was the 93rd time she’s walked the course which is just brilliant (shes also volunteered more than 25 times too) Well done Maija! It was lovely to see you wear the blue vest and the tail walkers told me that they loved chatting with you as you all walked the course.

Our other official parkwalker yesterday was Nicole, who also celebrated her own birthday. A nice serendipity was that the number on her finishing token matched her new age. Cool!So that’s it for another week.

Such a pity the weather was wet and blustery but you can’t have everything! See you next week - same time, same place.

Lorna from Turku,

One day we will have a parkrun of our own!