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!

Tampere parkrun event #163

IMPORTANT AMNESTY ANNOUNCEMENT

Three (3) of today’s parkrun tokens are AWOL ~ all from participants who didn’t scan their personal barcodes today. We really need the tokens for next week’s parkrun. Accidents happen - but if it was you If it was you who mistakenly ran off with your token please contact us via email or on fb so we can arrange to get it back. Thank you!

A huge THANK YOU to the volunteer team for making today’s event possible - the RD, timekeepers, scanners and token distributer in particular. They gave up their run so the rest of us could compete today, for which we are all especially grateful. Thanks too to the other volunteers - tail walker, token sorters, first timer briefers, route checker, people who helped set up and pack down and report writers.

If you’d like to volunteer for a future week please contact us on fb or by email … the more people volunteer in a year the better as this gives more parkrunners the chance to run or walk the course more often.

Today was THE BIGGEST TURNOUT at Tampere parkrun since Covid struck -wow! ~ and it was truly marvellous to be one of the 105 participants walking or running the beautiful course today.

The weather was lovely ~ warm and sunny but not too hot and we were so happy that so many parkrunners from around the globe (U.K. mostly, but also Germany and Australia) - here in Tampere for the masters athletics championships 2022) swelled our numbers today. It was a JOY to meet so many of you!

WARM CONGRATULATIONS to David PROFFITT from Newport parkrun ( U.K.) who hit the huge milestone of 250 parkruns today and also to WILL PITT, Tampere’s very own SINI ASTREN and our (adopted) CRAIG CARLSON all three of whom earned their 25 runs stripes today. Don’t forget to order your well-deserved milestone shirt and wear it with pride!

A shout out to our newest 4 legged friend TARA who ran with us for the first time. Also to our young juniors SAMI and NORA both of who got PBs this week as did thirteen others. WELL DONE EVERYONE.

Thank you Jenny for sharing photos of the British contingent and well done on completing your second ever parkrun. If I’ve counted right there were SEVEN (7) people who participated in parkrun for the very first time (thank you for joining us, we really hope you liked it and will come back to run with us again) as well as a whole host of parkrun tourists who ran Tampere parkrun for the first time (and several visitors who ran with us for the second week in a row which is just brilliant)

Tampere parkrun is at 9:30 am again next Saturday

Hope to see you then (when I will be RD)

Lorna from Turku, Finland

Tampere parkrun #149

Thanks to every volunteer and participant for making today’s parkrun in sunny Tampere such a success. The winter weather could not have been better and as every the camaraderie between parkrunners was absolutely wonderful.

If you haven’t been to Tampere parkrun I really hope you would get to join us sometime. It’s the most beautiful ‘there and back’ 5k course, with the well-marked path hugging the shore line of Pyhäjärvi Lake. Everything looked exceptionally beautiful today and running conditions were fantastic … but if you ask me, it’s always lovely.

Today there were 29 participants, 4 of whom got a PB (personal best) : Leo, Sami. Nora and Tapio. Well done everyone, and especial congratulations to Sami, one of our Junior parkrunners, who completed his 10th parkrun.

There were 3 first timers today and really very encouraging is that several ’newbies’ have become returnees completing their third or fourth parkrun in Tampere!

Two dogs also joined us today. Woof woof!

We meet again next NEXT SATURDAY - same time, same place and next week is special in that it will be Tampere parkrun’s 150th event. yippee!

It would be great to get a very colourful group photo at the start! So, if possible wear something (eg woolly hat) in parkrun colours (purple, orange or green) to celebrate this fabulous milestone. And why not celebrate a (belated) Friends’ Day by bringing a friend along too?

If you’d like to volunteer next week we particularly need someone to give out the tokens, and others to scan and take times, please email us at tampere@parkrun.com (You can also sign up to volunteer at future events in advance!)

See you next Saturday

Lorna from Turku, one day we will have a parkrun of our own!

BARK RUN - it’s fun and it’s for everyone - woof woof!

Tampereparkrun #146

I got to participate in parkrun again this Saturday. I wasn’t the official tail walker (though there’s nothing wrong with my tail, it’s actually quite beautiful I think) but I was accompanied by my lovely friend and junior park runner (Lara, aged 8 3/4) and her mum. My owner was participating too, but she ran off with her friend at the start and we stayed at the back.

Today I got a bit confused as we turned around too early and then at the start/finish line they wanted me to turn round (no, no, no, no, no!) and do it all again. It turned out that the far end of the normal route was a bit too icy for those two legged runners, so the RD, Olli, had decided to do the shorter course (twice). He did mention this at the start -twice! - first in Finnish and then in English (for the tourists and first timers) but I was too busy looking to see which of my parkrun friends were there. I should pay better attention but luckily Lara and her mum kept me right.

I really like parkrun in Tampere as the whole route is by the big lake and today the weather was really nice … very cold, of course (it’s winter) and lots of snow, but sunny. The path was well gritted so not too icy, and none of the humans fell which is good!

I quite liked the running the short course twice as it meant I got to see everyone lots of times - and I was able to check how my owner Lorna was doing (not too badly!) and one of my favourite friends, Anna, was there too so I did skip over to greet her. There were no other dogs doing parkrun today (why not?) but I spied plenty others out their taking their humans for a walk. I wish they’d find out about parkrun as I am sure they’d like it as much as me ~ but it’s also nice being the only dog as everyone makes a fuss of me!

There wasn’t an official parkrun coffee today (people are doing their best not to catch covid, and all the volunteers wore masks today too) but my parkrun family did go to a cafe. Dogs aren’t allowed in … but they watched me through the window and I knew if I behaved well they’d give me a nice treat after … that went nicely according to plan too.

There were about 35 people participating (walking or running) the parkrun today and a lovely team of friendly volunteers, without them parkrun couldn’t happen. If you’d like to help next week (or a future week) please let us know (tampere@parkrun.com) or a leave a message on Facebook.

You can check the results here: https://www.parkrun.fi/tampere/results/146/

my owner laughingly said it was a seasonal best for (almost) everyone as this was the first parkrun of the year in Tampere (because of covid restrictions and ice)

Well done everyone ~ hope to see you all again soon.

Tinka aged 8 3/4