Dodder Valley parkrun

🌙 Twas the night before parkrun…

Final checks made. Bag packed. Change of clothes. Overnight oats. Welsh leggings. Flag.
Euros and passport ready —

Passport & parkrun… What is this combination you speak of?!
Only an extreme day trip to Dublin, of course.

⏰ Alarm set for 12.45AM.
🚗 Meet the gang at 1.30AM.
⛴️ Off to Holyhead for the 4AM ferry.

Comfy seats found and three of the crew — Anna, Lucy & Elin — drifted off dreaming of parkrun.
Me? Not a chance. Too excited. Too much caffeine. Who knows.

A wander around the ferry, two brews, a tub of overnight oats, and before long we were pulling into Dublin at 7.30AM. The crossing wasn’t exactly a cruise ship, but it did the job considering the weather rolling in.

🇮🇪 A brand‑new parkrun flag collected.
🔤 The letter D secured for the alphabet challenge.
📅 And of course for — D Day

Our destination: Dodder Valley parkrun.
And what a welcome. Honestly, we couldn’t have been greeted more warmly if we’d turned up at our home events. Every single person made us feel right at home — especially Tony with his brilliant one‑liners.

The course itself is beautiful: looping paths, a few crossings where you spot the super‑fast runners flying back, and plenty of points of interest along the way. The first‑timers’ briefing was expertly delivered by Keith — who then went on to complete his 100th parkrun. Da iawn Keith — well done!

Every marshal and volunteer kept the cheers going all the way round and back to the finish. It was also brilliant to see so many walkers on the course — we highly recommend walking it to take in all the lovely views.

Post‑parkrun, we followed the core team across the road to Aherans Pub for a well‑earned brew, homemade cake, and a proper natter about all things parkrun & was given some excellent tourism ideas for our day in Dublin before heading home on the last ferry. We were truly immersed in Irish generosity, joyfulness, and overwhelming warmth.

Diolch yn fawr pawb — thank you everyone.

📊 Dodder Valley parkrun — Event #185 (06/06/2026)

Rest of report to follow in the comments

Yesterday was Super Saturday @ Dodder Valley parkrun 185…. We had Super visitors…. Super milestones….. Super birthdays….as always Super Volunteers…. and some super pictures from Maike&Roisín

See you at 9.20 for first timers briefing with Keith and RD Theresa @9.25…see you soon🏃‍♀️🏃🏽🏃🏻‍♂️

Parkrun 184 in Dodder Valley…. 30May2026 …Where everyone had a spring in their step in the sunshine ☀️

Dodder Valley parkrun #184
Report by Leigh

With reports from across the island of rain, Dodder Valley parkrun thankfully escaped for event 184 - happy days! ☀️ With Olive at the helm, she made sure it remained the case & even extended the sunny vibes over to the post parkrun retreat to the beer garden in Ahernes! 😎

What a fabulous start to the long weekend, with a welcome (for some!) drop in recent temperatures that saw 174 finishers over the line. Of those, 16 were 1st timers to DVP - you’re very welcome! 😁 Big shout out to the Porterstown Panthers! 🐆 Even better - 8 of those 1st timers took part in their very first parkrun itself! Fáilte romhat to Gearoid, Damian, Dylan, Anna, Ruairi, Josh, Koray and Catarina! We really hope you’ll be back to join the ever growing & much-loved parkrun family! 💕

A fantastic 32 participants recorded PBs today—wohoo! Huge congrats to ye! Special mention to Ruth Mellett, who smashed a PB of 22.46, the highest female age grade % and the glory of 1st female home! 🩷 Love it! Jevae St Lewis was the 1st male over the line grabbing 1st in a time of 18.52 and also celebrated his 25th parkrun milestone! 💙 Brill!

Speaking of milestones, we have a few to mention here!

Also celebrating 25 were Shane Devlin & Claire Oliver! Mary-Claire Coakley rocked up 50 and Beatric Edewor grabbed an impressive 150! Outstanding goals right there! 🥳

Even more milestones to mention among our dedicated volunteers! Our wonderful Adelwale donned the high-vis 10 times today & our super enthusiastic, always on hand, Lochlann has now volunteered 25 times! 🎉 We thank you all each week for putting your name forward so we can keep this community event going! 👏🏾👏🏻

We had 5 brand new first time volunteers this week – thanks a mil to Temitope, Keith, Jason, Kathy and Michelle! We know they wanted to see what all the hype was about! Why don’t you sign up and see for yourself! ✍🏼

Finally, a special mention to the brilliant flash mob cheer squad at the bridge, who gave everyone a fantastic boost just after 1km. Please tag yourselves—we really appreciated it! Such a joy 😊

With the sun still shining, we wrap up on another fantastic Saturday morning at Dodder Valley parkrun. Until next week, same time, same place, same faces and some new ones - over and out! 👋🏼

1000 parkruns! Wow! What an outstanding achievement! Well done and congratulations Darren! 👏🏼

This weekend, Darren Wood will become the first person ever to join the 1,000 walk/run milestone club 💛

That’s 5,000k covered over 22 years, a milestone that would still take around 19 years to achieve even with perfect attendance every Saturday 🤯

Darren tells us more about his journey 👉 parkrun.me/76zkv

🌳

Tomorrow looking good… prepare well… 9.20 for 1st timers briefing with Kathy…. 9.28 RD briefing … see you soon😀🏃‍♀️🏃

If tomorrow is as good as today be prepared!!!

And the same apply’s in our fabulous Dodder Valley park….. see you Saturday 😀☀️

Dodder Valley parkrun #183 23 May 2026 by Leigh

The day started out ‘Golden’ and kept on giving … ☀️ sunshine, blue skies with wisps of streaming clouds joined by a gentle breeze, welcome to help cool the brows of parkrunners and volunteers alike on this glorious morning in Dodder Valley Park. 😅

166 runners and walkers filtered in steadily to the start line, ready to take on their weekly Saturday morning parkrun before our RD, Yvonne, handed over the reins to Alan, RD in training, to deliver the all important pre run brief. But just before that all took place, we had a big announcement to share! 📣 Our amazing, King of the funnel, Reggie, was celebrated and thanked as he reached the outstanding number of 200 volunteer credits. 2️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ The round of applause echoed throughout the crowd; a well deserving nod acknowledging this achievement. 👏🏼

Without hesitation, Alan counted us down and we were off, to run with gusto chasing a PB - are you one of the 30? We took in the gorgeous surroundings while passing and thanking the dedicated, enthusiastic marshals as the cheered on runners and walkers. 🦺 Today 28 volunteers were at hand and with a few last-minute adjustments here and there, they made sure the event took place without any issue.

After 5000m on foot, the first male finish was Dovydas Sankauskas coming in at 18:57 and less than a minute behind was the first female finisher just under the 20 minute mark at 19:52. 🥇 Well done to you both and everyone else who completed their parkrun today. 🏅

Luiz paced runners hoping to finish at 25 minutes. Lee Kirby celebrated his 300 parkrun! Congratulations to you! 🥳 6 people showed up for their very first parkrun, Ana, Temitope, Mark, Jennie, Samantha and Yanling! Welcome to the parkrun family! 😁 And judging by the smiles on their faces as they passed through the funnel to collect their first token, they will be back! We had visitors from Dundalk, Wales, Cambridge, Oldbridge, Shankhill and Templemore. We hope the good rep of DVP was upheld and you come back to us again and spread the word!

Until next week, let the sun keep shining! 😎

Photo drop of Dodder Valley parkrun #183 23 May 2026