12/09/2026
π¦π ππ³ π¬πππ₯π¦ π’π π₯πππππ‘π π£ππ₯ππ₯π¨π‘! ππ¦
Today we celebrated our 17th birthday with event 721. Seventeen years old and still going strong. Although technically weβd have held rather more than 721 events if the pesky River Thames hadnβt spent several winters trying to turn us into Reading parkswim. π
We had some proper Reading parkrun legends with us too. Christopher Kelly, Jeremy Cooke and Gina Hopkins were all there for event 1 way back in 2009. Mark Saunders, who was the timekeeper at that very first event, was also back doing the same role today, just with slightly more advanced technology!
And then there were the dinosaurs. π¦ *Two participants running in dinosaur costumes and a cuddly dinosaur accompanying our Tail Walker. Because apparently turning 17 means youβre old enough to know better, but not old enough to stop dressing up as a T Rex.
There was also cake. π° And tubs of Heroes. π«But both were completely extinct by the end of the morning.
We also have a hotel keycard that was handed in today. If you think it might be yours, do let us know.
And, before we all head back to the Jurassic period, you can check out todayβs results hereπ
https://www.parkrun.org.uk/reading/results/721
Thanks to everyone who has been part of the last 17 years. Whether youβve run, walked, volunteered, tailwalked, marshalled, baked, eaten cake or simply turned up on a Saturday morning, youβve helped make Reading parkrun the totally rawr-some thing it is.
17 years down. Still evolving. π¦
π³
