Park Run

Many of you will be aware of Parkrun, the free 5k timed runs that take place every Saturday morning at 9.00am. Indeed, I know of many parents and pupils that take place on a regular basis. We try our very best at Caterham to get as many pupils out playing sport every weekend but when this is not possible, and your child does not have a match, I strongly encourage you to take them along to your local Parkrun. Details on local events and how to register can be found at www.parkrun.org.uk

One of our Sixth Form pupils, Oliver, started running the Parkrun at Riddlesdown in the summer. On 29 July he ran the 5k course in 26:13. He caught the running bug and after lots of hard work training, on 4 November last year he ran a new PB of 19.19 – a brilliant achievement! If he can do it, others can too. I have set up a new Parkrun PB challenge on the notice board and I would like to ask parents to email me at [email protected] with your child’s Parkrun PB. I will update the board regularly and the pupils with the fastest PB from each year group will win a prize at the end of the term.

Equally as impressive as Oliver’s achievements, I must also mention David and Ethan in the Fourth Year who I know are regular volunteers at the Riddlesdown run. All of the events rely on volunteers to operate and for two young teenage lads to get out there every Saturday morning, in all weathers, so that others can take part is a wonderful thing for them to do. If you have other examples of pupils volunteering at these events, I would love to hear about them.