We have pacers at Maribyrnong parkrun on the first Saturday of every month.

Each pacer aims to run at an even pace and finish as closely as possible to a target time (ideally a few seconds under the target time).

In odd-numbered months - January, March, May, July, September and November - the target times are 21 mins, 23 mins, 25 mins, 27 mins, 29 mins, 31 mins, 33 mins and 35 mins.

In even-numbered months - February, April, June, August, October and December - the target times are 20 mins, 22 mins, 24 mins, 26 mins, 28 mins, 30 mins, 32 mins and 34 mins.

To be a pacer:

• You should select a target time that's comfortably within your ability
• Unless you're an experienced pacer, you should use a GPS watch (Garmin, TomTom, Nike, Suunto, etc.) or a smartphone with a running app (Strava, Runkeeper, etc.) - something that can accurately tell you your pace while you're running (ideally you want average pace / lap pace, not just current pace)

If you're able to help out and be a pacer, please email maribyrnong@parkrun.com.

Our pacers for April 4, 2020 are:

• 20 mins: David Martínez
• 22 mins: TBD
• 24 mins: Collin Li
• 26 mins: TBD
• 28 mins: Anne Thomas
• 30 mins: Prasanna De Silva
• 32 mins: John Cooper
• 34 mins: TBD

Our pacers for May 2, 2020 are:

• 21 mins: TBD
• 23 mins: TBD
• 25 mins: TBD
• 27 mins: TBD
• 29 mins: Anne Thomas
• 31 mins: TBD
• 33 mins: TBD
• 35 mins: TBD

Our pacers for June 6, 2020 are:

• 20 mins: TBD
• 22 mins: TBD
• 24 mins: TBD
• 26 mins: TBD
• 28 mins: TBD
• 30 mins: Anne Thomas
• 32 mins: TBD
• 34 mins: TBD

Our pacers for July 4, 2020 are:

• 21 mins: TBD
• 23 mins: TBD
• 25 mins: TBD
• 27 mins: TBD
• 29 mins: Anne Thomas
• 31 mins: TBD
• 33 mins: TBD
• 35 mins: TBD

Maribyrnong parkrun will be holding an event as normal tomorrow (March 14), however please see below (and this link) for the latest update on the COVID-19 implications for parkrun.

parkrun's overall strategic position - which Maribyrnong parkrun will follow - is that where specifically recommended or required by health organisations, governments, or landowners, events will be cancelled. This includes where events may not quite reach the full criteria, such as where gatherings of over 1,000 people are banned; in this situation all events in that region will be cancelled regardless of event size.

The recommendations released by the Australian government this afternoon apply to static gatherings of up to 2 hours and do not apply to tomorrow's parkrun event, so the event will be proceeding as normal.

We're expecting a larger-than-usual attendance - as Albert (Melbourne) and Parkville parkruns have cancelled (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19) - so we would like an additional barcode scanner volunteer (ideally 2). If you can help out, please send us a Facebook message or email us at maribyrnong@parkrun.com.

We're adding a new volunteer role!

If you've been to Maribyrnong in the last few weeks, you may have noticed that our attendances are still climbing - so far in 2020 we've averaged 338 parkrunners per week and last week we had 397 parkrunners (our highest attendance ever).

We're going to be making a few changes soon to help us better manage events as we grow, starting with adding a "finish token support" volunteer role from this Saturday (February 15).

The finish token support volunteer's job will be to support the finish tokens volunteer, by:
- handing them the next stack of tokens when needed
- keeping void/refused tokens
- dealing with any dropped tokens
- generally acting as a set of eyes, ears and hands to assist

We're hoping this will take some pressure off the volunteers in the finish funnel and help things run smoothly.

The air quality has improved significantly overnight and Maribyrnong parkrun will be going ahead today as normal (except we will *not* be having pacers today).

See you at 7:50am for the pre-run briefing!

Melburnians will be aware of the poor air quality over much of the city at present due to the bushfires in SE Australia.

At this stage we are planning to hold tomorrow's Maribyrnong parkrun event as normal, however we're monitoring the conditions and a final decision will be made at 6:30am tomorrow - we'll post the final decision on Facebook and on our website (in the News section) shortly thereafter.

Assuming the event does go ahead, conditions are not likely to be suitable for chasing a PB. Government authorities provide advice on engaging in strenuous activity in conditions such as we're likely to encounter tomorrow and you should consult the relevant websites in assessing your plans to participate in parkrun. Those parkrunners with asthma, other lung conditions and heart conditions need to be extra careful.

For reference, EPA Victoria describes the air quality categories - and provides recommendations - here: https://www.epa.vic.gov.au/…/about-e…/air-quality-categories

Hopefully we'll see you tomorrow!

Please note - there will be no pacers tomorrow.