There were plenty of well wishers on hand to help Weipa parkrun celebrate its eighth birthday on Saturday morning. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
A field of 58 participants pulled on their party hats, played pass the parcel and embraced warm early morning conditions to ensure Weipa parkrun celebrated an extremely happy eighth birthday on 19 July.
In the middle of a three-marathons-in-three-weeks campaign, Liam Cullin put the final touches on his Weipa Running Festival preparation by being the first male to greet the timekeepers in 24 minutes, 45 seconds.
Lizzy Bagnall was the first female home and hot on Cullin’s heels in a 24:50 result, with the top five finishers crossing the line within six seconds of one another.
With tourist season in full swing, it was hardly a surprise 15 of the field were first timers around the Weipa circuit.
Wilkee Querubin set the only personal best with a 28:32 effort.
Several significant individual achievements were also celebrated on Saturday morning, with Fiona Dyer notching up her 100th parkrun, while David Tuckwood, Michael Rowland and Yvonne Rowland recorded their respective half centuries.
Charlotte Buccholz also finished her 10th event in a morning of milestones.
A big group of volunteers donned the red vests and party pacer T-shirts to make the birthday one to remember – Jacqui Beament, Jane Ostler, Kira Beament, Leigh Jewell, Linc Beament, Luther Freiberg, Michael Collins, Michael Rowland, Nanthini Kanthan, Nigel Tait, Sam Aschenbrenner, Vide Freiberg and Zig Freiberg.
Weipa parkrun is held every Saturday morning at 7am at the shelter opposite the hospital roundabout on the corner of John Evans and Kerr Point drives.
There won’t be cake and presents every weekend, but new participants are guaranteed to have a cracking time.
It’s hard not to have smiles all round when you’ve got cake and pass the parcel as part of parkrun birthday celebrations. Photo: Cape York Weekly.
