53 weeks ago, on January 15th 2022, a number of local parkruns had to cancel due to icy conditions, and Harry Stokes, Newport & District Running Club junior, ran his 50th parkrun at Shrewsbury, having planned to run the milestone at Telford. Fast forward to the weekend of 21st January 2023, and the weather seems to have similar plans as Harry prepares to run his 100th parkrun.

It all started on Friday afternoon. Local parkruns were already cancelling due to the icy conditions. Isabel Trail, The Wammy, Beacon and Hanley were amongst the many local parkruns to declare their courses unsafe on Friday night, and the list grew by the hour. The Stokes family were planning on a trip to Telford for Harry’s 100th parkrun milestone, and for the time being, that one remained on, subject to a course check on Saturday.

Come Saturday morning, the inevitable happened. Severn Valley declared they were on very early, but Telford was amongst a slew of parkruns to cancel on the morning due to conditions caused by temperatures which had reached -7 celsius overnight. The Stokes family decided to set out towards Severn Valley, but heard at the last minute that Shrewsbury was on, having passed a course check, so they diverted their journey to the county town instead.

Thankfully, no more curveballs were thrown, and Harry was able to run his 100th parkrun accompanied by his dad, Oliver, and his grandad, John. As it was a pacer week, Oliver and Harry kept the 28-minute pacer in sight, and managed to finish just quicker than the 28-minute mark. They also noted the hoola-hooping marshal by the swimming baths – an unusual sight!

Harry Stokes (centre) with grandad John (left) and dad Oliver (right)

Harry’s 100 parkruns are accompanied by 173 runs at junior parkrun, and include a lot of parkrun tourism, with runs at events as far away as Aberystwyth, Ferry Meadows, Jubilee, Minehead and Upton Court, to name but a few. Entry to the “100 club” entitles runners to a black milestone t-shirt and a badge next to their name on the parkrun website. The next milestone is 250 runs, so enjoy the next 150, Harry!