When Conwy parkrun beat Covid to reach the World Cup Final.

SPECIAL FLASHBACK FEATURE: When Conwy parkrun beat Covid and reached the World Cup Final.

Exclusive report by Don Hale.

https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com

 

Last Saturday, Conwy parkrun and hundreds of similar parkruns across the UK, fell victim to Storm Darrah, with event organisers quickly taking the essential and important decision to cancel for the second time in the past three weeks.

This temporary lull in busy parkrun and local running events however, reminded me of the torrid time of Covid, which struck in 2020, and continued for much of the next 18-months, with a long series of events postponed.

This was a time however, when due to restrictive circumstances, Chester parkrun officials introduced a unique and innovative online competition to try to find the most popular parkrun globally, with a special World Cup of Global Tourism event, encouraging parkrun participants and their supporters, to vote online for their favourite location.

The response was extraordinary, and it became a fascinating knock-out challenge staged over several rounds, with thousands of people voting and attracting twenty-four teams from popular tourist locations from around the World, including some based in Australia, Germany, Holland, Norway, and around the UK. 

Later though, it seemed quite bizarre, and perhaps a shade unfortunate that two teams situated just 30-miles apart in scenic North Wales, should eventually meet in the Grand Final 

Newborough Forest from Yns Mon finally won this epic local derby parkrun battle over their North Wales rivals Conwy, to win this prestigious global tourism prize, with both teams recording a record number of votes.

It was perhaps also confirmation that the spectacular scenery, and the warm, friendly welcome always offered to visitors in normal times, was fully appreciated worldwide. 

In a dramatic 24-hour final staged online, Newborough led for most of the way, and backed by tremendous Island support, fully deserved their victory. The eventual finalists had proved their popularity throughout, with each team celebrating outstanding successes on their journey to the finals, with both defeating quality overseas opposition. 

Conwy beat Bibra Lake from Australia, Amsterdam, and Barry Island before eventually facing Newborough, who had previously knocked out Welsh rivals Swansea Bay, Georgengarten from Germany, Yeppoon from Australia, and The Eden Project.

The choice for supporters of both parkruns had been made even more difficult in this match, as people were only allowed to vote once via Facebook, or Instagram, and the fact that many runners often took part in 5k runs at both locations.

For Conwy though, it was probably a ‘Bridge Too Far’ after completing two tough matches the previous week, including a close, record-breaking semi-final encounter with Barry Island only the day before. 

The competition though, had proved a massive hit during those troubled times, and created a tremendous amount of interest throughout the parkrun community. And although some early matches only attracted a few hundred votes, this new concept quickly gained momentum, with a record 2,700 voting in Conwy’s semi-final tie, followed by over 4,300 people supporting both teams in the final.

Newborough Forest eventually won this spectacular World Cup Final by just 300 votes, but their deserved lap of honour and celebrations remained on hold until lockdown restrictions were lifted. They were worthy winners, and both teams proved a credit to both the global parkrun community, and especially to North Wales!

The World Cup of Parkrun Tourism 2020 – round by round results:

1st round results:

The Eden Project 68-28 Richmond, Ashton Court (Bristol) 12-80 Bibra Lake (Western Australia), Stavanger (Norway) 47-55 Amsterdam, Rother Valley 25-81 Edinburgh, Riverside (Chester-Le-Street) 72-22 Queen Elizabeth (Horden, Hants), Newborough Forest (Anglesey) 103-10 Brockenhurst (New Forest), Fountains Abbey (Yorkshire) 61-43 Fell Foot, Swansea Bay 25-69 Barry Island. 

Round 2: Lovstien (Norway) 38-63 Barry Island, Normandy Hall (North Lincs) 60-31 Cardiff, Georgengarten (Hannover, Germany) 38-67 Newborough Forest, Yeppoon (Australia) 49-29 Riverside (Durham), Amsterdam 55-12 Doddington Hall (Lincoln), Whitley Bay 27-47 The Eden Project, Edinburgh 53-43 Fountains Abbey, Bibra Lake (Australia) 45-53 Conwy.

Quarter finals: Normandy Hall 26-57 Barry Island, Amsterdam 47-100 Conwy, Yeppoon 12-95 Newborough Forest,The Eden Project 51-50 Edinburgh.

Semi-finals: The Eden Project 46 -115 Newborough Forest, Barry Island 1,200-1,500 Conwy.

World Cup Global Tourism Final: Newborough Forest 2,300 – 2,000 Conwy.

*This is a link to the original blog post: Don Hale Blog: Newborough Forest won the virtual World Cup Parkru... https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2020/12/newborough-forest-win-virtual-world-cup.html?spref=tw

*Other Covid stories and Conwy parkrun: Don Hale Blog: Covid restrictions prevented Conwy parkrun from ce... https://donhaleblog.blogspot.com/2022/01/covid-restrictions-prevented-conwy.html?spref=tw