What better way to spend the shortest night of the year than running laps around one of Sheffield’ steepest parks?

All photos courtesy of the Small Park Big Run FB page

At least 27 Striders were signed up for this year’s Small Park Big Run which ran from noon on Saturday until noon on Sunday.  The course is a loop of around one kilometre around Meersbrook Park, including a pretty challenging climb which many people opt to walk up.  On reaching the top the marshalls took great pleasure in spraying the runners with water.  It’s a bit like an extended hill session with a very long recovery section.

The aim is to have people running continuously for 24 hours, with Striders also attempted to have a constant presence on the course.

Temperatures were pretty high on the Saturday during the day so opting to through the night was possibly the sensible option.  It’s hard to pick out specific people amongst so many Striders, but Richard Rothwell was signed up for an impressive 11 hour slot from 7 p.m. on Saturday until 6 a.m. on Sunday morning, with the park lit up by many lovely lanterns.

The end of the event featured a Big Sing involving many of the local Sheffield choirs, and anyone else who wanted to join in – by this time the heat of Saturday had been replaced by heavy showers.

The run raises funds for two Sheffield based charities, the Sheffield Palestine Cultural Exchange and the Sheffield Palestine Women’s Scholarship.  The organisers report that in total there were  610 participants, 300 singers, they fed over 200 people, and were helped by at least 85 volunteers and welcomed friends from Gaza through live links not just once, but twice.

Quite aside from the wonderful community and solidarity, which has always been the main purpose of this event, they were pleased to raise nearly £20,000 to be split between the charities.

The next event will be the Big Ride for Palestine on August 9th – a 36 mile ride from Sheffield to Chesterfield and back.