The Special Ascension Day Event 2023  

Tampere parkrun #206

It is cold, it is windy, it is downright stormy when I arrive at the starting point of Tampere parkrun on Ascension Day. People are wearing beanies and gloves and it hurts to think of letting go of my hoodie and the thick woolly sweater I’m wearing. This is my second time ever attending Tampere parkrun. The first time was a few years ago, in August and in the bright, hot sunshine. Quite a contrast but still somehow very special to be here for this special event.

Tampere is hosting ice hockey games right now and you can see and feel it everywhere. This is also the case at the Parkrun. The run director, for example, is also sporting the Finnish colours, blue and white, on her cheeks. Some parkrun visitors have brought the face paint with them. Ice hockey fever together with the stormy weather creates an atmosphere not easily forgotten.

The run director hops on a park bench and gives us clear instructions and off we go. There are some first timers as well as parkrun tourists. They are from France, the UK and Australia. Not too many other people are around, just a few people walking their dogs. Plenty of possibilities to look around, feel the wind on the cheeks, hear the waves hitting the shoreline and observe the increasing greenness around us. 

The volunteers today need special attention. They are giving their time and effort on this cold and stormy morning and allowing the rest of us to have this unforgettable morning run on Ascension Day 2023. The volunteers are well-prepared, wearing basically winter attire. Later in the coffee shop they are the ones to choose hot drinks whereas I see some parkrunners to go for iced coffee and tea.

Thank you, Tampere team, for today!

Aallot loiskivat raivokkaasti rantaan ja taivas on synkkä ja uhkaava, kun Tampereella juostaan helatorstain erityinen parkrun. Tunnelma on kuitenkin erinomainen ja iloinen. Oman lisänsä päivään tuo jääkiekon mestaruuskisat, jotka ovat menossa Tampereella.

Muutamia ensikertalaisia samoin kuin muutamia juoksu-turisteja on mukana tällä helatorstain juoksulla. Kiitos kaikille, niin osallistujille kuin erityisesti vapaaehtoisille tästä mieleen jäävästä helatorstain aamusta!

-Reija, who was happy to attend this special parkrun and then her very first tram ride in Tampere!

Parkrun report #104 Tampere parkrun Saturday May 6th 2023

Tänään Tampereen sydänyhdistys ja Tampereen diabetesyhdistys toimivat vapaaehtoisina! Kiitos! Meitä osallistujia oli yhteensä 88 + vapaaehtoiset, wau! Tämän kevään osallistujaennätys. Saimme myös 12 omaa ennätysaikaa, onnea! Nähdään helatorstaina extraparkunissa klo 9.30!

Sincere thanks to the diabetes and heart associations of Tampere who turned out in great number at Tampere parkrun today, volunteering and walking or running our lovely 5k course! It was BRILLIANT!

November 14 is Diabetes Day, a global awareness day held annually. The date 14/11 was chosen as it's the birthday of Frederick Banting, who discovered insulin. The volunteers and participants today liked parkrun so much that they are thinking about take over again in mid November to celebrate this event! Watch our news for an update on this.

Today we celebrated - belatedly! - Heather’s 100th parkrun and Anna’s 25th parkruns. Fantastic running girls - keep up the good work.

Today 88 people (plus volunteers) participated in park run over 1/3 of whom were first timers. We really hope you had a fun time with us - and will come back soon - why not even next week? We’d love to see you … and you might even get a personal best time (PB)

There were actually 12 PBs this week too. Hurrah!

There are no winners or losers ever at parkrun but a huge shout out to junior runner MAËL HENRIC JM15-17 who was not only the first finisher today but crossed the line sub 16 minutes! Wow.

Lovely too were all those who joined us to WALK parkrun … which is just as beneficial health wise and an added bonus is you can choose to chat with a friend as you walk!

Parkrun is held every Saturday at 9:30am and in less than two weeks in Finland we will also have a special parkrun on Helatorstai (Ascension Thursday) …at the usual time of 9:30 and from the usual starting place! Come join us then too.

Lorna from Turku

First TWO important announcements

1. OUR next parkrun in Tampere will be our 200th run. Come ready to celebrate!

2. We are going to LACK volunteers for the rest of April!

... so please, please consider giving up your run/walk and offer your help as scanner, token distributor or the all-important time keeper if you can. We also always need someone to put out the u turn cone too. If you choose to do that particular task, and can get back to the start in time, you can still run or walk the course.!

Without these key volunteer spots (plus RD) being filled each week we cannot put on the parkrun, so if you can help in the next few weeks, please do. You can sign up by email OR leave a message on Facebook!

tampere@parkrun.com

Now for the run report ~ Tampere parkrun’s 199th event!

April Fools’ Day saw a very nice turn out - including the SUN that showed up- for our #199th parkrun.

It’s been very cold at night this week - and the arboretum part of the course was a bit icy this morning, so our lovely Run Director Olli took the sensible precaution of having us run the shorter course twice. Thanks for taking care of us by checking the course this morning!

The walking / running today was really nice.

What always blesses me the most - week after week - is the spirit of parkrun - it’s FUN and so nice to be with such an encouraging group of people.

Today I got great JOY in seeing my friends Anna and Antti spur one another on. It got them both a very nice - fast - finish time with a great PB for Anna. Well done!

There was some very fast finishers today - both the leading two with sub 20 minute times, but excitingly, a first timer, Verne, helped my friend Cristian break the 24 minute barrier with a new PB, and they in turn helped pace Mikael who also got a sub 25 minute PB. Just BRILLIANT!

parkrun is, of course, for walkers not only runners - and we were excited to welcome two new participants today one of whom was unregistered.

I was excited to meet Caitlin from South Africa at last. She’s run parkrun before but this was ran her first parkrun in Finland (and she helped sort the tokens in the cafe after). The whole pack of walkers seemed to be having loads of fun together at the back with Jyri bringing up the rear as our tail walker today.

parkrun is really for everyone … and I love how we help facilitate that. There’s such a spirit of encouragement and friendly ‘competitiveness’ too. Anna ran with her younger son who had a real spurt at the end, today, pipping Ishiri and Annti H (who earned a
PB for his efforts) WELL DONE JULIUS, You did great!

Last week Nina helped pushed Jansku round the course in his sporty wheelchair …in very tough slushy conditions, today it was slightly easier for Tuire (though always hard work) and Nina got to take on a new task of being the eyes for Sari who is visually impaired. Thank you!

Me? I just love to be at parkrun .. and today even stopped to take a few photos, because - you know - getting a good time isn’t everything!

Lorna, from Turku
See you all again when I’m next in Tampere - in May

I worked with the BEST team of volunteers ever today. Seriously we had so much FUN on the start/finish line that I feel just a tiny bit guilty getting a Volunteer credit today. I’m also very thankful for those who helped behind the scenes too (you know who you are).

We would really appreciate more people coming forward to volunteer in the next few weeks - If you could offer to help in some capacity, especially eg offering to put out the u turn sign (by bike, e-scooter (in summer) or by car, and if you get back to the start by 9:30 am you can still run!) and the all important time keepers, scanners etc on the start/ finish) or even setting up /packing up we would be very grateful. Please do contact us or sign up with the RD on the day for a future week

Volunteering is FUN - honest

Interestingly, the five start /finish line volunteers today were from five different nations (USA, Finland, UK (England) Sri Lanka and Spain (Catalonia) and additionally there were runners / volunteers from South Africa, Portugal and Brazil too today.

I love that Tampere parkrun is so international and I’m thankful too that the Finns at parkrun are so patient and forgive my very mediocre Finnish too.

I checked the course yesterday, and the route was near perfect winter running. This morning, however, there was a nasty cold headwind for the return leg, and the new snow made the course a bit trickier. It wasn’t icy though and so participants were able to run the whole normal course which was great! Not surprisingly, though, there were no PBs!

We had FIVE first timers today - hurrah! - as well as one participant who returned to Tampere for their all important second run. That’s so encouraging!

A lot of regular parkrunners were away this week as it’s the start of the school half term ‘skiing holiday’ so it was nice that we were able to put on parkrun today and 21 participants could walk/run the course. yippee!

Jansku got what I think might be his best ever finish, (token 5), thanks to the heroic efforts of Jyri who pushed his sporty wheelchair; and that freed Tuire to be our tailwalker too. It’s awesome that Tampere is so inclusive and those who can help Jansku to have a ‘thrilling run’.

We always go for coffee afterwards. It’s where we process the results too (if you don’t wish to join that’s ok too, but for me it’s a wonderful part of belonging to the Tampere parkrun family).

Thank you all for your contribution today!
See you again soon

Don’t forget: Tampere parkrun runs every Saturday at 9:30 am. We always start by Laukansilta Bridge, so why not invite a friend, colleague or neighbour to come down next time … they can walk, jog or run the course, dogs (1 per person) are allowed (short leash please) and babies and smaller kids in buggies are all welcome. If someone is in a wheelchair they too are warmly welcome (and they and the person pushing both get times).

You see parkrun really IS for everyone! It’s FREE and it’s so much FUN.

LORNA from Turku,
One day we really will have a parkrun of our own, but for now I’m happy to belong to Tampere’s parkrun family

Today was my 102nd parkrun but my very first as tail walker* in Tampere.

We had a blast at the back - dancing and bopping, cheering every park runner (and a few non parkrunners too - oops!) as they went by in their return leg and laughing and chatting as we covered the 5km. We even remembered to collect the u-turn sign and cone and bring those back to the start.

Thank you Heather and Anna for being such great company.

Today there were 25 participants including two first timers, Atte and Mikael, who ran their very first parkrun today. I really hope you enjoyed it and still think it was worth to get here! A warm welcome awaits you - and everyone - again next Saturday, same time (9:30am) and same place (by Laukonsilta bridge)!

Thanks to all the lovely volunteers who made this week’s parkrun happen. Johanna our lovely Run Director was wearing seven layers of woolly socks!

One of the best things about parkrun is that it’s as much a social event as a place to participate in a timed 5km walk or run every week. Here in Tampere we love our post parkrun coffee and today a large crowd of us gathered in Espresso House (in Ratina shopping centre). Join us next week if you can.

Julia will be our RD (run director next week) if you’d like to help as a volunteer let us know by email tampere@parkrun.com or through Facebook messenger!

Hope to see you soon!

Lorna from Turku
One day we will (I hope) have a parkrun of our own

*I’ve now tail-walked in four of the six parkruns in Finland

Hip Hip Hooray for Tampere parkrun and every volunteer and participant!

This week more than 30 people joined Santa!

We braved the cold for Tampere’s 186th parkrun : 25 of us walked/jogged/ran the course and there was a wonderful team of volunteers on the start/finish line - led by the wonderful Anna-Leena, who absolutely aced her first stint as Run Director(RD).

This week there were NO PBs

~ I think that’s because all of us out on the course were way too busy enjoying the beautiful morning! The sky was amazing as the sun rose, and everywhere looked incredibly beautiful in the snow. It may have been cold outside (minus 10 C) but most of us agreed this came close to the best winter running conditions ever and I know lots of us slowed down or even stopped to take photos en route!

I was so happy to run my 100th parkrun at Tampere parkrun, and it was every thing I had hoped it would be.

Thank you to my parkrun family.

You’ve been so inclusive, so friendly, so encouraging, so hospitable … running with you, volunteering with you, drinking coffee with you has enriched my life. I found you 4 1/2 years ago and it’s been one of the most positive experiences since i arrived in Finland long long ago!

This week I ran even more slowly than usual so I could enjoy every minute. It’s always fun to run with someone even though, as many of you know, I really struggle to run and chat at the same time and this week I was joined by a friend and we scooped up another for part of the route too.

There was a second milestone reached this week: One of our juniors reached his 10th run milestone too. Well done to Aapo (who ran at least 50% faster than me - and almost got a new PB too!) Brilliant running!

Huge thanks to Santa for helping serve the glögi etc to everyone after the event, and to the many elves who helped carry and set up everything as well as making the wonderful reel on Instagram. I’ve loved watching that!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas from the bottom of my heart
Lorna

Please note THERE IS NO PARKRUN in Tampere on Christmas Eve!

The next Tampere parkrun is on New Year’s Eve Saturday 31 December at the usual time (9:30am) and the usual place (Laukonsilta Bridge near Ratina Stadium)

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!

Fabulous, Fun, (super) Friendly and Free : Tampere parkrun #170

My head was a bit in the clouds today and I forgot to invite participants to the post run coffee - today in blazing sunshine at the outside cafe by the harbour. A few of us regulars made our way there after the event but sincere apologies to tourists and first timers - I’ll try better next time but take my word for it the coffee and homemade donuts were really delicious!

Today’s parkrun saw a very fast sprint finish battle* as well as a very leisurely stroll across the line by the parkrun walkers - a great reminder of how parkrun really is for everyone.

Our ED (event director) put out the u turn sign and cone before the start and so was able to participate in the event itself today- volunteering to assist pushing Jansku so his mum could run solo for a change … and someone else also volunteered last minute to run with a visually-impaired participant. That’s the spirit of Tampere parkrun and I love it!

I worked with three new volunteers (and a couple of veteran volunteers too) today which was a JOY … Everything went very well with the timing, token distribution and scanning (thanks also to parkrun stalwarts, Cristian and Leena, who helped instruct them and also install the app etc.) Great team work!,

Really HUGE THANKS to two early finishers, the quick- thinking parkrun tourists Rob and Gemma (here on holiday), who, with me, helped to guide participants around a very impromptu detour near the finish line MID-event (a huge truck with crane unexpectedpedly arrived to load huge concrete slabs left over from last week’s music festival). Everything worked fine but I must say the workman did looks bit sheepish!

You can check the full results here latest results
- but at a quick glance there were ten first timers and six PBs today (including Kim who was our fast first finisher today) which is just fabulous.

parkrun is held every Saturday at 9:30am in Finland.

We are always looking for volunteers especially people to act as timekeepers, distribute the tokens or scan. If you can help in the next few weeks please do let us know. We would really appreciate your help.

You can see an event's future volunteer roster via their specific future roster page. To get in touch with the event directly, just send an email to tampere@parkrun.com Or leave a message on fb!

Tampere parkrun event #164 July 16th 2022

It was a real privilege to be the RD today at Tampere parkrun, and work alongside the best team ever! Special thanks to Heather who not only looked after the RD kit last week but also came into the city yesterday and provided a picnic in the park when she handed over the key to me. You are a STAR!

We had the perfect number of participants today - 37.

(We are still missing parkrun token 38 (and two others) - if you find it in your pocket or bag do please hand /post it in) … but having 37 today meant I didn’t need to do any adjusting when processing the results -yay!)

Today I got to be the pre-event course checker and combined that with putting out the u turn cone and sign by bike . I got soaked but luckily the rain eased for much of the parkrun itself though most of us volunteers had umbrellas too.

There were several first timers today (7) a couple for whom this was their first parkrun ever. I hope you enjoyed it and will come back and run with us again.

Always encouraging are the second time returnees. It’s the first opportunity to improve one’s time as Anna Leppänen and Henri Kipinä did today. Well done! Congratulations to the others who got PBs today too (9 in total)

We meet again same time (9:30) and same place - a new RD and another team of wonderful volunteers.

It was great to volunteer today ~ we would be gladly have some new volunteers come forward to ensure we can put on parkrun over the next few weeks.

So … If you can help volunteer next week or another Saturday in July or August please get in touch … we really need YOUR HELP

Drop us a message on FB or send an email to tampere@parkrun.com

Thanks

Lorna from Turku

One day we will have a parkrun of our own, but for now I’m glad to call Tampere parkrun ‘home’ and to travel up as often as I can.

A huge thank you to the wonderful Tampere parkrunners who’ve hosted me on Friday nights so that I can come up by public transport and participate as often as I have done. You are very much appreciated!