Mitchell breaks 16-minute barrier at latest parkrun

The warmest day of this year for Lynn parkrun helped competitors and volunteers alike as 343 runners assembled in The Walks on Saturday morning.Among the sea of competitors, there were 11 new runners and 17 visitors from places as diverse as Dumfries, Barnet, Derby and Cambridge.The warmer temperature also seemed to help those taking part, with 36 runners recording personal best runs.Being not so cold as of late also proved a blessing for the 34 volunteers, who ensured that everything went very smoothly.The first to finish this week was Mitchel Bunn, who finished in an excellent time of 15:54.The first female to finish was JW10-14 Libby Sibthorp, in an equally impressive personal best time of 19:37.Having been pushing herself hard each week to achieve a sub-20-minute time, Libby certainly excelled herself this week. Wheelchair entrant Mark Howard also excelled himself this week with a PB time of 27:11. The event’s age-graded hero this week was once again Jane Ashby, who achieved an excellent 95.99% – one of a very few number of runners ever to achieve an age grading of over 90%.Congratulations to Lee Dowers his 50th and PB parkrun, Mark Baker on his 100th, James Anderson, Leo Munson and Linda Pepper all on their 150th and Jane Ashby on her fantastic 400th run.Those who wish to walk the course are also encouraged to take part with a national campaign underway with parkrun hoping to see the highest number of walkers ever at parkrun events in the UK on April 26 this year.Lynn parkrun is a free timed 5k run or walk which takes place at 9am in The Walks.