On his way to victory at Stoodley Pike – photo c/o Todmorden Harriers.
Those who’ve been following the results page may be forgiven for wondering ‘who’s this Jamie Parkinson then? I’ve never heard of him!’
After all, you don’t just decide to give fell running ‘a proper go’ by turning up to a race as a relative unknown and snatching 1st place from the likes of fell running legend Ian Holmes without some sort of established running provenance.
Except that’s exactly what our new member Jamie Parkinson has gone and done, with his recent impressive wins at Cragg Vale and Stoodley Pike.
Had more mischievous P&B members been in attendance, they may have been tempted to explain away his arrival by saying he’s our new work experience lad – he’s never run before but we’ve given him a week’s training to see how he gets on – just to add to the reputation of Stevie’s rigorous and infamous training methods.
In fairness to Jamie though, he’s off to such a cracking start, I thought it would be much better to get a proper introduction from him:
Wasdale might be long, but the holidays you get as a student are something else. Some spend it partying in Ibiza, others tag along with a research group… I decided to give fell running a proper go.
Having grown up on Dartmoor and then moved to the flatlands of Oxford to study Physics, it was something I’d never really had the chance to get into. Orienteering was as close as I’d got, but even then I often seem to spend more time scratching my head, wondering where I am, than actually running. I’d done a bit of athletics earlier in the summer though and it had gone quite well, so how much harder can it be when you put a hill in the way? Either way the view should be better.
The first task was to find a suitably sedentary desk job to rest my legs during the day (and pay the bills). With this done I just needed a club. A quick glance at the local race results and one name kept cropping up – Pudsey and Bramley.”
So there you go. We’re not quite sure how long this talented newcomer will be around before his academic career draws him back down South but I’m sure he’ll make a worthy addition to the club in the meantime.
A warm welcome to you Jamie and we’ll see you on the fells!