People of parkrun brought to you by Vhi

Name: Connor Jennings

Age: 50

Occupation: Commercial Insurance Underwriter

Local parkrun: St Anne’s Park

Number of parkruns completed: 327

 

 

How did you get involved in parkrun?

I did my first parkrun  in 2012 when the first parkrun in the Republic of Ireland started in Malahide. It became a habit on a Saturday morning at 9.30am and then I switched my home parkrun to Raheny because I live beside St Anne’s Park, when the parkrun started there in September 2013.

 

 

What do you love about parkrun?

I love the fact that a lot of people can start their weekend positively with a 5km run, jog or walk. A lot of the early finishers do a cool down and run back down the avenue in St Anne’s encouraging those that are completing their parkruns.

 

 

Who do you participate with?

A lot of my club mates from Raheny Shamrock AC would do the parkrun every week so I usually run with a couple of them. I have a had a few niggles the past year so my times have been more modest in 2019-2020.

 

 

Any parkrun milestones / achievements you would like to share?

I did my 250^th parkrun in St Anne’s on the 5^th Birthday in 2018. The Lord Mayor was in attendance and he gave me a nice plaque to mark the milestone which is a very nice memento of the day.

 

 

How has parkrun impacted positively on your family outside of 9:30am on a Saturday?

One of the best things about parkrun is that people who I would otherwise would have never met have become good friends of mine. At St Anne’s the post-parkrun coffee in Olives after with a scone or cake is part of the Saturday morning ritual.

 

 

Do you have a health or fitness goal?

Just to stay fit and healthy and keep doing the parkruns for as long as I can. I would also hope to run a couple more Dublin Marathons before I hang up my running shoes.

 

 

Who is your dream parkrun running buddy?

If I was looking to have a few laughs and a bit of craic for the 2 laps of St Anne’s, it would have to be Caroline Farrelly & Mary Lynch.

 

 

What was your best parkrun experience?

The week before my 250^th parkrun in St Anne’s , September 2018. It was the day of the Dublin race series half marathon in the Phoenix Park so most of my clubmates were elsewhere. For the 1^st and only time I ran a sub 21 5K for my PB of 20.42. A real standout moment for myself.

 

 

What was the funniest parkrun moment?

One of the parkrun directors (I won’t mention their name!) is a real stickler for punctual timing and for people paying attention to the parkrun briefing. One Saturday they insisted on a punctual start at 9.30am which caught quite a few people and there were a few laughs afterwards about it!

 

 

What advice would you give to someone who’s never been to parkrun?

Get your runners laced up, get out the door and give it a go. After the first one you’ll keep coming back. I have been doing them for the last eight years. It’s a great way to start the weekend and you will get to meet loads of fellow parkrunners who love their Saturday fix.

 

 

One other parkun memory, if I may. In 2016, the Christmas parkrun fell on Christmas Eve. After the run we all went back to Olive’s for coffee as usual. Out of the blue , Sean Hession started singing ‘Santa Claus Is Coming To Town’ and after a few moments, everyone in Olives joined in singing. A standout memory for sure.