Torrens parkrun

Thank you to all of our fabulous volunteers on this wet, windy morning at Torrens! These intrepid souls braved the somewhat challenging conditions to bring you Torrens Parkrun 694.
We are always looking for volunteers so if you can help out over the next few weeks please get in contact via this page.
This week we are celebrating volunteer gig number 350 of the wonderful Judy Bayly who not only washes our volunteer vests every week but also does barcode scanning - with her magic sense of humour and style ❤️

Today's results are now up!

A small apology in advance: the results beyond about position 200 are a little glitchy. Today's rain and iPhone screens proved to be fundamentally incompatible, and our primary timing phone eventually decided it had had enough and retired from service.

We managed to recover the results using a second timing device, but there are some wrinkles in the times from around position 200 onwards. We've done our best to piece everything back together, but a few results may not be quite what they should be.

These things happen. We're all volunteers, we were all wet, and at some point the technology was simply less interested in helping than we were.

If you think you've been awarded a PB you didn't actually earn, or you think you did earn a PB that hasn't appeared in the results, please send us a photo/screenshot of your watch or phone showing your time and we'll happily correct it.

Otherwise, if your time is a little odd but broadly plausible, please bear with us. We'd rather not create 100 separate investigations into whether someone's 42:17 was actually 42:19. 😄

Thanks for your patience, and thanks to everyone who volunteered, timed, scanned, handed out tokens and generally kept the whole thing moving in the rain.

Warmer weather is coming, and hopefully rain-affected phone screens will soon be a distant memory.

TLDR: these android volunteers are the best but Torrens parkrun needs volunteers this week!!!

DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE EXTERMINATE

Last Saturday with the ‘2026 Robot Olympics’ in full operations-mode, Torrens parkrun event #693 was automated to perfection and had zero short-circuits!!!

A huge thank you to these android legends who made our event possible 🫵🤖🦾

For this week we need volunteers to make our event happen! Some roles are filled but we need marshals & tail walkers!!! Pls DM if you can help, FYI all of these roles can still walk the course and complete a parkrun 😉👌

Keep chipping away & have a great working week, see you at the weir for an 8am start this Saturday 😎

***RUN REPORT***
Torrens parkrun 693, 29 August 2026

Overseas Ojo here with another on-the-road report, but first this week’s local news. This week more than 370 people ran, walked and volunteered at Torrens, of whom 55 were first timers and tourists. The big milestone news which I posted earlier is that Torrens parkrun passed a total of 30,000 different participants since it began in December 2012. That’s a lot of people, and only achieved because of the effort of volunteers.

Speaking of which, big thanks go to the following 29 folk who made this week’s event possible: Mal MCMILLAN • Elizabeth SLATTERY • Merrilyn MCMILLAN • Rhys SANDERY • Robyn MEYER • James CORBETT • Makiko BACHE • Stuart THOMSON • Sachiko KAMIO • Aaron MITCHELL • Benjamin M BAYLY • Kerry OWENS • Dennis ABBOTT • Judy M BAYLY • Melissa DE ZWART • Francesco DE ZWART • Jason KIRBY • Marino KOMLUSAN • Maiko LIN • Margaret OUZMAN • Sarah LENNON • Michael THORPE • Justin WARNER • Coralie WARNER • Mary CURRIE • Connor GOONAN • Henrik WALLGREN • Brian RODEN • Alexander OBERY

Milestoners this week were:
Laura Searle 250
Louisa Mitchell 200
Nicholas Costanzo 50
Joshua Clarson 25
Matt Jessett 25
Sam Reuter 25
Aidan Mustillo 25

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Torrens parkrun Results Page.

Torrens parkrun started on 1st December 2012. Since then 30,042 participants have completed 195,120 parkruns covering a total distance of 975,600 km, including 26,124 new Personal Bests. A total of 1,452 individuals have volunteered 12,954 times.

So after last week’s slog on a steep forest trail in Skye, Scotland, this Saturday I was in Oxfordshire, via Wales. So let me take a quick sidebar about Wales. We were in North Wales for a couple of days on the way down from Scotland to southern England. As you know, I’m originally from Wales, and am very happy to acknowledge that at times it can be damp there. Well, this time it overreached. I have never seen rain like it. Monsoonal. And here’s the thing; there are parts of Wales that are documented as having a higher average rainfall than the Amazon rainforest. So don’t be surprised if you go to Wales and get wet. But it’s sooo worth it, for one of the oldest cultures on the planet, for the landscape, the language, the castles, and the puffins if you know where to look.

But yeah , we got really really wet. The absolute opposite of parkrunday at Torrens.

Anyway, so we’re now in west Oxfordshire, paying a substantial holiday rent to stay in a picture-perfect little English village with buildings that pre-date Shakespeare. I passed by a real estate window yesterday and there was a ‘small’ country house (seven bedrooms so, yeah, tiny really) for rent, for the sum of £10,000. That’s pounds sterling, not Ozzie dollars. So make that $20,000. A week. Crikey.

As the birthplace of parkrun, England has a lot of parkruns, so I was spoiled for choice, so I just went for the closest one with no hills. Step forward, Kilkenny Lane Country parkrun in the village of Carterton. This was another one where the tourists outnumbered the locals, this time because of the prized letter K this parkrun gives you if you’re doing the alphabeteer challenge.

The parking capacity looked meagre so I got there 40 mins early to be sure. It was raining. I went for a warm-up run, which was more like a wet-up run. Then the wet first timers welcome, then the wet main welcome, where there was no recognition of the distance some wet tourists had travelled. I was too wet to care.

Then off we went, 180 sopping participants along a grassy, stony, rutty path on a two-lap circular course in a narrow country park. The tricky thing about this course was watching where your feet land, to avoid rolling your ankle. The upside? I was concentrating so much on where my feet were landing, I did not notice how much wetter I was getting. Because the rain kept raining.

For each lap the course was a bit downhill then a bit uphill, through trees and meadow, and after the second lap a short final section to the finish, by which time I was properly soaked.

There was a lovely little surprise at the finish. A participant from Kent who wished to remain anonymous, had brought two large boxes of apples from their place. Apparently the person does it to raise awareness about the importance of saving British orchards from redevelopment. Impressively, the person has done this at well over 100 different parkruns, which translates to around 25,000 apples. What an extraordinary gesture. And yes, the apple was very good, and for a couple of minutes helped me forget how wet I was.

This is what I love about parkrun; it makes that kind of thing possible. And it left me with gratitude; gratitude for the apple, gratitude for the quiet anonymous campaign behind it that reinforced my appreciation for people who grow food, gratitude for parkrun, and gratitude for getting wet, even though, as we all know, it never rains at Torrens parkrun.

The big milestone news this week is that Torrens parkrun passed a total of 30,000 different participants since it began in December 2012. To be clear about this number, if you have been to Torrens more than once, you still only count as 1 in that 30,000, even if you’ve done 100s of parkruns at Torrens. So that’s 30,000 different people who have participated at Torrens parkrun. Imagine if they all showed up on the same Saturday!

And who was the actual 30,000th parkrunner to finish Torrens? That honour fell to Karin Schwindack, visiting from Mudgeeraba parkrun in Gold Coast, Queensland.

***RUN REPORT***
Torrens parkrun 692, 22 August 2026

With one sleep until parkrunday , it’s Overseas Ojo here, finally with access to wifi signal, with another overseas run report. But first the deets on Torrens 692, where more than 280 people ran, walked, or volunteered, of whom 51 were first timers and tourists.

The event was brought to you by 21 magnificent volunteers: Mal MCMILLAN • Speedy GONZALES • Merrilyn MCMILLAN • James CORBETT • Stuart THOMSON • Thomas CASSIDY • Aaron MITCHELL • Benjamin M BAYLY • Leanne ROSSER • Debbie PAUL • Alan BODDY • Judy M BAYLY • Melissa DE ZWART • Francesco DE ZWART • Mark Thomas WATERS • Marino KOMLUSAN • Justin WARNER • Mike HILL • Mary CURRIE • Charles O'BRIEN • Lewis VAUGHAN

Milestoners were:
Dennis Abbott (legend) 450
Drew Duval 300
Richard Silcock 200
Peter Gore 25
Jas Bhara 25

Today's full results and a complete event history can be found on the Torrens parkrun Results Page.

Torrens parkrun started on 1st December 2012. Since then 29,987 participants have completed 194,758 parkruns covering a total distance of 973,790 km, including 26,074 new Personal Bests. A total of 1,450 individuals have volunteered 12,924 times. Crikey!

Last Saturday I was on the Isle of Skye in northern Scotland. It’s as good as you’ve heard; probably even better. There’s only one parkrun on the island so my choice was made for me, and off I headed to Skinadin parkrun for the luxurious Scottish parkrun start time of 9:30am. On the map the course presents an out-and-back on a coastal path, so I was looking forward to a flat scenic run.

The event is easy to find, just off the Main road north west out of Broadford. Good parking and great car park marshals. The main welcome was one of the shortest I’ve heard, and absolutely no audit of where tourists were from. Geez, what’s a guy gotta do to get some attention round here?

And then we were away heading downhill on a stony path, which I expected would join to a coastal path. But no. After 200 metres we hit an incline, and into the forest. No view, just trees. And the incline kept inclining, all the way to halfway. Yes, you heard that right: all the way to halfway. And in places it was leg-burningly, soul-sappingly, steep. This was no picturesque coastal flattie. It was a gnarly, stony-scrambly, very hilly, forest trail.

It. Was. Brutal. I felt like I was in boot camp. At one point it was so steep, most runners were reduced to walking. Never ever have I been so grateful to see a turnaround flag.

For a brief moment on the way back there was a belter of a view, but in the main it was downhill forested trail, where full speed was risky because the path was loose underfoot.

With 300m to go, I thought I’d finish strong. Unfortunately, because I was oxygen-deprived, I had forgotten that because this was an out-and-back course, then if the first 200m was steeply downhill, the last 200m must be steeply uphill. So it was, and 100m into my big finish I came to an almost-grinding halt on the final 200m incline. My dignity was as absent as the oxygen in my lungs. I finally flopped across the finish line, and again embraced what I consider to be the best part of parkrun; stopping.

Once I’d recovered enough oxygen to remember how to use my phone, I checked what their website said about the course. It is described as a ‘gradual uphill gradient’. Once again, the Celtic art of understatement comes to the fore.

But to have the privilege of doing a parkrun in a place like Skye, outweighs any gripes about hills. Skye invokes awe, so hats off to the local parkrun organising group for adding this marvellous event to the heady Skye mix, who were so generous with their time given that each week the one-timer tourists substantially outnumber the locals.

Go to Skinadin parkrun; you’ll feel Skye-high.

A massive thank you to our wonderful volunteers who got the Torrens parkrun community away for their run or walk for the 692nd time yesterday! ❤️

The first photo is the sensible one: our fantastic volunteer crew looking relatively composed and ready to make parkrun happen.

The second photo is the reality.

MOSQUITOES. 🦟

There were a lot of them yesterday, and our volunteers somehow managed to marshal, time, scan, issue tokens, run direct, encourage, tell some hilarious jokes (according to me), and generally keep the whole operation moving while simultaneously attempting to slap the local insect population into submission. We’re not sure who won that battle; we’ll call it even.

Torrens parkrun simply wouldn’t happen every week without people giving up a little of their Saturday morning to help. So thank you to everyone who volunteered yesterday, and to everyone who has volunteered over the years. You’re the reason others get to turn up, run or walk, and then get on with their weekend.

We’re always looking for volunteers, whether you’re a regular, a first-timer, a runner who’s taking a week off, or someone who just wants to help out.

You can get in touch with us any time via Facebook, Messenger, or email at [email protected].

And don’t worry, volunteering doesn’t normally require combat with mosquitoes. Yesterday was a special event.

***RUN REPORT***

Torrens parkrun 691, 15th August 2026

Overseas Ojo here with an overseas report, but first your local news. Last Saturday more than 280 people ran, walked or volunteered at Torrens, of whom 45 were first timers including tourists from places I can’t name because I wasn’t there. If you were a tourist at Torrens last week, state your place in the comments.

The event was made possible by 25 volunteers:��Mal MCMILLAN • Elizabeth SLATTERY • Merrilyn MCMILLAN • James CORBETT • Stuart THOMSON • Liam FITZPATRICK • Thomas CASSIDY • Ashleigh GIBSON • Aaron MITCHELL • Benjamin M BAYLY • April SWEET • Emily J BAYLY • Tracey M BAYLY • Alan BODDY • Judy M BAYLY • Mark Thomas WATERS • Marino KOMLUSAN • Glenn SMITH • Chris JORDAN • Peter SHEA • Christina VAUGHAN • Jerry G*I • Lucas MOSS • Ian SMITH • James GROSSER

Congrats to the following milestoners:

Adam Rosser 400
Chris Jordan 350
Aimee Beeching 150
Angus Naughton 100
Kate Westphalen 25

Last Saturday’s full results and a complete event history can be found on the Torrens parkrun Results Page.

Torrens parkrun started on 1st December 2012. Since then 29,936 participants have completed 194,482 parkruns covering a total distance of 972,410 km, including 26,049 new Personal Bests. A total of 1,448 individuals have volunteered 12,902 times. Wow!

So I , Ojo, was in Glasgow, Scotland last Saturday. From our Airbnb there were a few parkrun options but I went with the closest, Ruchill. It was a leg-stretching 2.5km uphill run to get to this parkrun, nestled at the top of a hill in Ruchill park. At least I thought it was the top of the hill. It wasn’t. The top of the hill was further up, and part of a three-lap course that’s shaped like a whale. Which is why they informally call the course ‘the whale’. They should formalise it, because The Whale parkrun is a much better name. By the way, I thought Ruchill was pronounced ‘roo-chll’. No, it’s ‘ruckle’, like buckle. Just as well I didn’t ask for directions.

At the main briefing, where the lack of a PA system was not helped by chatty regulars at the back, there was absolutely no shout out for tourists, even though I’d mentioned it to the Run Director at the end of the first timers welcome. No opportunity for me to claim line honours for the furthest travelled. I’m asking for a refund.

The RD gave very sensible advice about the 3-lap course; if you’re a first-timer take it easy on the first lap so you know what you’re dealing with. I didn’t. Off we went, straight uphill for about 400m, which felt like 4km, but worth it for the expansive view of Glasgow from the top. As usual I ran like a puppy for the first hill, and then realised my mistake and suffered the rest of the course.

After that initial climb it was a short sharp drop, then a stretch with a slight incline, then a short sharp rise, and this marked the completion of the body of the whale. Then back past the start in the opposite direction, a sharp left turn and another straight gradually rising, and a sharp steep right turn to head back towards the start. That was one lap. I was Done After One but I had to press on because it’s parkrun, right? I figured that now I knew the course layout, it would be easier. Nope. I’d had no time to recover from the hills when here I was on the main climb again. This course is like Escher’s staircase. Even though there were downhill bits there was no benefit from them; everything felt uphill to my legs.

On completion of the second lap, I called for a priest.

The last lap was just the body of the whale and no tail, which I think the priest had organised for me.

I’m told that Ruchill parkrun is not the hilliest parkrun in Glasgow, being out-hilled by Drumchapel parkrun and Queen’s parkrun, but it was definitely hilly enough for me. On reflection I shouldn’t have run the 2.5k up the hill to get there, but I was running late (pun intended).

Shout out to the great volunteers who were generous with their time and encouragement, a reminder that the parkrun phenomenon is anchored on voluntary effort by local people.

Visit Glasgow; they have many parkrun choices and you’ll be sure to have a whale of a time.

Volunteers needed for Torrens parkrun this Saturday!

This Saturday, 22 August, will be the 692nd running of the mighty Torrens parkrun.

Every week, a great bunch of volunteers give up a little bit of their Saturday morning to make parkrun happen. Without volunteers, there simply isn’t an event, so we’d love to fill a few spots for this week:

⏱️ Timekeeper – timing everyone as they cross the finish line
📍 Marshal – The Zoo Bridge (upper position)
📍 Marshal – The Zoo Bridge (lower position)

All of these roles are easy, fun and a great way to see a different side of parkrun. You still get to be part of the morning, cheer everyone on and generally enjoy the atmosphere that is 8am on a Saturday.

If you can help this Saturday, please let us know. And if this week doesn’t work but you’re available to volunteer another week, we’d love to hear from you too.

You can reply here, send us a Messenger message, or email [email protected].

Thanks to everyone who volunteers. You’re the reason 691 events have happened, and counting.