IGNORING the obvious distractions, no less than 233 took part in the Longrun Meadow parkrun on Christmas Day.

The turnout was substantially up on last year, when 75 brave souls trudged through flood water, and those who did make the effort were rewarded with a crisp but sunny morning.

Connie Baker received her parkrun T-Shirt for completing ten runs while Kevin Willcocks and juniors Milly Monteiro and Ben Davies celebrated Christmas by completing their 50th run. James Denne was first over the line in 16m 53s on his first appearance while Robert Tuer of Hercules Wimbledon AC was second in 17m 53s. Rob Sage of Les Croupiers RC was third in 18m 12s. Hannah Taunton of Taunton AC was first wom-an home and seventh overall in 19m 28s. Lotte Carritt was second in 20m 49s and Caroline Norris third.

Saturday saw the final parkrun of 2014 which attracted 41 first timers in a field of 198.

First man home was David Awde in 17m 29s. Second was Archie Waltonin 17m 31s and third Jonathan Tipper in 17m 36s. All three recorded personal bests.

Hannah Taunton was again the first woman with a time of 19m 54s. Second was Ruth Holmes in 21m 17s and third Caroline Norris in 21m 27s.