Lydiard parkrun

Lydiard parkrun A free, weekly, timed 5k walk/jog/run at 9am every Saturday at Lydiard Park in Swindon. Open to all ages and abilities. Organised entirely by volunteers. Join us!

Friendly and fun. Please register before your first visit - http://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/

5K your way end of month attendance
30/08/2026

5K your way end of month attendance

With Stephen HEAVENS back on course check duty after a prolonged injury lay-off we were pleased to hear that the course ...
29/08/2026

With Stephen HEAVENS back on course check duty after a prolonged injury lay-off we were pleased to hear that the course was wet, with some puddles. That's it for today's run report; there's nothing more to talk about - we finally have rain, but it did mean getting the cobwebs off the gazebo, having the logo facing our expectant public to remind them why they were here and with fun learning how to collapse it once finished.

The rain even helpfully filled up the dog bowls, no hose pipes to be seen here of course.

So, on our 747th event there were no overhead jumbo jets, Qatari, or decoy to be heard overhead, rather our participants arrived on 9 bicycles and the approx 175 vehicles as counted in our car parks, bringing 13 new parkrunners. I and many others walk or jog to the park, but that 175, although not a surprise is quite a number to accommodate don't you think?

Run Director Julian FARMER set 373 race/runners off on our way at 09:02 having been delayed from his promised on-time start by a wordy first timers brief from Greg WELLS, no doubt explaining to our 34 tourists from Marlborough, Kings Lynn, Bristol, Exmouth, Didcot, Plymouth, Lyneham, the Isle of Man and three generations from Greenfield Valley that we run/walk two laps and keep right with u11s on short hand-held leads or something like that. We were well served by 47 volunteers needing some last minute juggling with pacers Neil PALMER & Craig WYKEHAM-MARTIN duking it out for who should have the coveted 25 bib. A solution to another pacer-gate scandal ( the wrong Wayne will explain ) was found by Adela HARMAN, struggling to manage her 35 pace and handing over after the first lap to Izzy DORSMAN who picked up the baton swapping bibs and completing the requisite pace to the finish line. I like that, so two volunteer credits from a single task. Great work and initiative ladies.

It was Georgina HERBERT's 30 birthday pacing 30 as a celebration, whilst Lewis SWATRIDGE was our only finisher earning a milestone with his 50th run. Bravo Georgina and we're looking forward to announcing a new 65 pacer soon. Asking for a friend it seems

Congratulations Georgina who allowed a photo as a reminder of her efforts and a prompt to all of us for the delight of finally a muddy and not dusty parkrun.

Till next time indeed, Ralf

26/08/2026

Run report 746

On a cooler day, compared to recent Saturday’s anyway, there were 489 runners and walkers who took park in Lydiard’s 746th event. I was taking a more leisurely approach to the run and it really struck me that parkrun is so inclusive of all abilities. There has been some recent press about a parkrun, Weymouth, being suspended due to people being barged or tripped. Confusingly they keep to the left not the right as Richard always reminds us. We’re lucky with the course at Lydiard with no out and back to cause congestion and great organisation with pacers. Would be nice if the hill could be flattened a bit though.

We welcomed tourists from Bristol, Essex, Shropshire, Abingdon, Harwell and a VI runner from Plymouth, ably guided by Julian. There was a hen party from Dublin who choose Lydiard as a halfway point to guests from Essex. Dublin parkrun is doable in a day from Swindon with a very early start and still time to visit the Guinness brewery afterwards before coming home.

Also joining use was Lizzie Boyd-Jones who was completing her Alphabet challenge, a great achievement as she’s completed less than 50 runs. I’m struggling to complete the Namely challenge, only at 40% so far. For her Namely is more difficult as she has to find another Z parkrun. There are 11 parkruns starting with Z spread across Holland, Poland, South Africa and Australia. This got me thinking could we change Lydiard’s name to a ‘Z’, we could call it the ‘Z Shed’ parkrun as Z was the name of the Transport Shop at Swindon Railway Works. We’d certainly get a lot more tourists. Of course we could be the first parkrun to have the letter X and name ourselves after the Swindon band XTC, after all we do have a statue to them.

63 people got a PB and there were 92 first timers to Lydiard of whom 23 were first time parkrunners. First male home was Rory Gilling on his 2nd parkrun in a time of 16:47, first lady home was Lucy Morrison in a time of 20:59. Best age grading was Jessica Stueber, Highworth RC, with 81.50%, all great achievements.

Milestones were,
50 - Nathan Brooks
200 - Janice Dodge
300 - Ajmer Somal

17 people completed their 3rd event which show’s they haven’t been put off, yet.

The event was made possible by 43 volunteers giving up their time to ensure the event ran smoothly and safely.

Mark

p.s. if somebody calls you a Zammy be offended (a little bit of Wiltshire trivia for you).

Think you can do better than this sheepdog? We still need a funnel manager or two for tomorrow, as well as some help so...
21/08/2026

Think you can do better than this sheepdog? We still need a funnel manager or two for tomorrow, as well as some help sorting the tokens and taking the bibs home to be washed. If you can help, either message [email protected] or come find me at the VC "desk" tomorrow morning.

Thank you!

(Credit to The Westmorland Gazette for the photo)

Lydiard parkrun 15/08/2026 #745Most Saturdays many of us will wake up and count the number of aches and pains before de...
17/08/2026

Lydiard parkrun 15/08/2026 #745

Most Saturdays many of us will wake up and count the number of aches and pains before deciding whether we should bother with parkrun this week, maybe a week off will help?

Today was a reminder of why we should take every opportunity that life gives us. Emma, today’s RD, spoke wonderfully about one of our own who was taken far too early from us. Keiron Skillett, a parkrun regular at both Lydiard and Seven Fields lost his battle with cancer at a desperately young age. I knew Keiron through our running club Swindon Striders, he was a thoroughly decent family man, much liked by everyone who came into touch with him, he was an excellent runner to boot. Many people within our running community will miss him badly. I should mention that 5K Your Way are with us at Lydiard the last Saturday of each month giving people living with Cancer (whether a sufferer or family member) much needed support, please reach out to them if you need to https://www.moveagainstcancer.org/5k-your-way/

Rest well Keiron.

So, 433 of us made the wise decision to get to parkrun and take part this week. 49 volunteers were also on hand to make sure everything went superbly, thank you to each and everyone of you for volunteering.

We were joined by tourists from Spain, Norway (Oslo), Birmingham, Cardiff, Cheshire, Hastings, Ilford, Maidstone, Marlborough, Norwich, Pewsey and Stroud, welcome to you all, hopefully you enjoyed the wonderful Lydiard Park and will return very soon.

We were also joined by 14 people undertaking their very first parkrun and the all-important 16 of you who returned for parkrun number 2, welcome on board and we hope to see you very soon.

Today’s milestones were achieved by

Andrew Lister and Sam Read (25 runs)

William Dyer, Hazel Neal, Matthew Rudd and Richard Wakefield (50 runs)

Stephen Dempsey and Asher-Jude Sandwell (100 runs)

Mike Dunn (200 runs and 20 volunteers)

Andy Townsend (450 runs)



Many congratulations to you all.

Two mainstays of our parkrun core team brought/dragged their grown-up kids, Charlotte and Mylo Brooker, to Lydiard to celebrate their 18th birthdays today. Yes, you’ve guessed it right, they’re twins. They celebrated their birthdays by providing much appreciated (by us for sure) cake. Happy birthday to you both, I hope you both had a great day.

As with recent weeks, due to the ongoing dry conditions, we started in a dust storm, with the weather predictably very hot and humid. Despite this, 33 participants achieved PB’s, well done to you all, that’s no mean feat in these conditions.

First finisher was a Michael Passmore in a time of 17:21 with Nicola Archer first female in a time of 20:54, well done to you both!

So, with more than a hint of sadness at our loss but with a huge amount of happiness and positivity that parkrun brings us, we head into a new week and all that comes with it, but we’re also closer towards our next parkrun.

Stay safe, be kind and be grateful.

Julian Farmer

Report Writer

Ps. I’ve failed to get a Government style emergency text message sent out to you all alerting you to fact that I’m RD the week after next. There will be an attempt at a prompt 9am start, please no complaints if I succeed

11/08/2026

On yet another scorching Saturday, we were warned by RD Emma about the cracks that had opened up in the rock-hard ground which left one runner in need of first aid, even though I believe he did not actually vanish into the crevasse that has opened on the back straight. Thankfully no serious injury was caused as he could be seen volunteering and sporting a multitude of bandages and plasters at junior parkrun this morning. On the subject of first aid it was great to see the parkrunner who was taken to hospital a couple of weeks back joining us again. They kindly brought sweets, fortune cookies and biscuits as a thank you for the support and care they received on the day. The goodies were very well received and were much appreciated, one of the fortune cookies bore the very apt message “in a crisis offer assistance not advice”.



While some regulars may have been away, our numbers were kept up by tourists from Spain, Andover, Chippenham, Durham, Eden Project, Grove (Wantage), Guildford, Harcourt Hill, Itchen Valley, Maidstone, Market Harborough, Oxford, Peckham, Pomphrey Hill and Southampton. In all 419 of us ran, jogged or walked to complete the course, assisted by 47 volunteers.

11 people joined us for their first ever parkrun, just outnumbered by 15 who completed their all-important second run. Welcome to them all and we hope this is the start of a regular Saturday morning habit for you.

Milestones included:
Stuart Wakefield, Nick Tickell, Tracy Titcombe and Marie Sole (25)
Madhav Mwg (100)
Shaun Rahman-Corey and Susie Mallett (200)
Trevor Caffull visiting from Market Harborough (250)

First finisher was Michael Passmore in 17:10 with Florence Jeffries, a junior runner, the first female finisher with a PB of 20:46. There were 36 people who achieved PBs. Conditions were tough, it felt as if we were running in a Saharan dust storm and camels may have been sighted in the adjoining fields, unless of course they were a mirage. Congratulations to everyone who got round the course and a big thank you to the hiviz heroes who were on duty in the heat.

We return to Lydiard for parkrun on Saturday 15th at 9am. Here’s hoping for slightly kinder temperatures and some rain to lay the dust…

Anne Ray

Ah number 743 a prime number but not a lucky one. What’s a lucky prime number you ask? Well they are prime numbers that ...
01/08/2026

Ah number 743 a prime number but not a lucky one. What’s a lucky prime number you ask? Well they are prime numbers that survive a special elimination sieve and if you want to know more you’ll have to look it up. Other lucky things, or rather people, are the 448 of us who got to take part in parkrun this morning so huge thanks to the 47 (another prime number which happens to be lucky) volunteers who made it happen. New volunteers are always welcome and they are needed at Sunday junior parkruns as well if you can help out.

August the first is Yorkshire Day. I’m not sure if we had any visitors from that beautiful county but we did have some from Malaysia, Australia (Queensland), France (Lyon), Spain, Holland [if people from Poland are Poles are people from Holland Holes?] or should I say The Netherlands?, Brighton,Chichester, Whitstable, Wimborne, Eastville and Ashton Court. There were 72 runners, or maybe walkers, visiting Lydiard for the first time and for 27 people it was their very first time having a plod round.

In 1992 on this day, Linford Christie won the 100m gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics and moving fast today were the 61 people who got PBs. I suppose it might have helped that it was much cooler today that it has been lately but congratulations to all of you.

Shout outs
25 parkruns : Josiah Horne, Christopher Horne, Robert Stockill, Mike Pringle, Phoebe Holding, Stuart Sims, Pam Lentschner
50 parkruns : Jenni Stedman, James Lentschner, Dominic Day
100 parkruns : Matthew Nicholas at Lydiard for the first time

A very big shout out and thanks to Nicky Stokes for her 250 th volunteering – not just here (pacing 32 today) but also at GWR Park Junior Parkrun where she is Run Director tomorrow.

And birthday good wishes to Grace for her 11 th birthday today.

Finally, sad news that today is the last outing for Ray’s shoes as they are so worn down.Did you see him kicking up dust as he flew past? I’m looking forward to seeing the new pair next week.

Ann C

We've been told that they would like to offer free tickets to all Lydiard Parkrunners. Just arrive at the gate with the...
31/07/2026

We've been told that they would like to offer free tickets to all Lydiard Parkrunners. Just arrive at the gate with their park run membership to gain free entry ....

Volunteers: due to incompetent Volunteer Coordinator reasons, we still have spaces for lots of pacers: 20, 22, 27, 30, 3...
30/07/2026

Volunteers: due to incompetent Volunteer Coordinator reasons, we still have spaces for lots of pacers: 20, 22, 27, 30, 32, 40

We also really really need another funnel manager because otherwise the results might go all skewiff, sorting them out which might be suitable punishment for the dipsy Volunteer Coordinator but there's a risk that the dipsiness might spill over into the processing of said-squiffy results and who knows what that might look like?

Finally, we could do with another barcode scanner, but if that doesn't happen then the queue to get scanned might just take a bit longer but if that happens, you can have a lovely chat with the people nearby.

If you can help with any of these things, drop the friendly-but-scatty Volunteer Coordinator an email [email protected]

26/07/2026

Run Report for Lydiard parkrun Number 742

Wow! What a vibrant vacation vibe at Lydiard parkrun today.

Just before nine, 490 runners and walkers, supported by 55 volunteers, were buzzing like flower-happy honey bees round the Forest Café.

Was it the excitement brought to parkrun by happy school-free juniors; or was it the joy that tourists and First Timers (all 79 of them) felt by being with us in our favourite park; or was it simply that an all-round summer sunshine-induced holiday happiness was in the air?

Whatever it was, there was certainly a good feeling on the start line today.

And despite the buzz, we managed an appreciative hush before ever-upbeat RD Emma welcomed a host of parkrun vibe-loving visitors from – wait for it – Blyth, Calne, Cheltenham, Chichester, France, Galway, Germany, Grantham, Hungerford, Maidenhead, New York, Peterborough, Pomphrey Hill, Wales, Warrington, and Weston Super Mare, making Swindon a City of parkrun Culture that’s for sure!

The Lydiard parkrun sign had a queue of happy tourists taking their pics. We welcome them one and all and hope they’ll spread the good word of Lydiard parkrun and also be back one day.

Wonder if they noticed our ever-encouraging marshals posted round the course? At Colin’s Corner, a friendly voice called out, ‘Come on. Smile! You are meant to be enjoying it!’

Well, I don’t know about you, but when this ageing run report writer is trying his hardest to run 5k as quickly as he can, smiling and enjoyment are the last things on his mind. That comes in the finish funnel, or much later, in the shower, or better still, with the first l***r of the weekend.

Sixty-six people who are probably smiling and feeling just fine without the help of water over their body or alcoholic beverages are the 66 participants who got themselves new PBs and our congratulations.

Also getting a well done from us are the following milestone makers. Michaell Hill on making it to 400 runs; Tracey Coleman to 150; and Elizabeth Brakespeare-Jones to 25. And volunteer milestones were reached by Greg Wells to 250, Derek Whittle to 200 (and 50 runs) and Adam Coxon to 100, all of whom, along with their fellow volunteers, get massive thanks from us.

It was good to see the brilliant blue-shirted 5k Your Way team, who rightly remind us that our personal health is an important project, were with us today.

The next time you can be with us, helping your health, is in a new month no less, at 9am on Saturday 1st August.

Till then, keep well, keep moving, and keep cool.

Matt Holland

[email protected]

Address

Hook Street
Swindon
SN53PA

Opening Hours

9am - 11am

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