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!