200 Saturday Mornings - Volunteering With Bridgette Duffy

With sunshine returning and numbers swelled by visiting runners, last weekend was a lively one on the Palm Creek course. I also took the opportunity to catch up with Bridgette Duffy, who recently reached an incredible milestone, of dedicating 200 of her Parkruns to volunteering.

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A true triple threat, that morning Bridgette marked the day as Run Director, Event Day Course Check and Volunteer Co-ordinator, highlighting the dedication and love she felt for the community fitness event

“I’m pretty pleased,” Bridgette said. “I’m happy to be able to help the community, and it’s a good cause, getting people out, seeing them running, and starting their weekend off beautifully.”

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Her passion for Parkrun is evident when asked why she took up volunteering at them.

“I like running for starters,” she said, “but I just think it’s great for our community to have an event where families can come too. It’s a great way to get fit and healthy for everybody, and it’s just a really nice community event.”

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Bridgette’s volunteer journey began back at the original TYTO course in Ingham, before the course was relocated to Palm Creek.  

“That’s when I started my volunteer journey with Parkrun. I just thought, ‘I like to come to Parkrun, and we all need volunteers to help out and keep it going. If we don’t put our hands up, nobody else is going to, you can’t expect anybody else to’."

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When asked about her favourite events, Bridgette said Palm Creek holds a special place.  

“I love this one, probably of all the ones I’ve done. I really liked Yeppoon, it was a lovely Parkrun, but I haven’t done too many different ones.”

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As the wind picked up, and the last people were crossing the finish line, I asked if she had any bucket list Parkruns she wanted to try, and for future plans, she smiled saying that she doesn’t have a specific one in mind but would “love to do one overseas.”

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Parkrun Results: 28th March 2026

Palm Creek #118 – 31 participants
Fastest time: Julian Lee (18:53)
Final finisher: Julie Mac Pherson (56:46)
PBs: Carter Hague (18:59), Matthew Turner (28:06), Todd Cockburn (28:37), Sophie Parker (29:40), Kira Turner (34:26)
First-timers: Jackson Mathews (23:37), Darcy Toholke (23:47), Sheridan Davis (56:44)
Volunteers: Bridgette Duffy, Amanda Towner, Donna Panzenbock, Matteo Mancuso, Julie Mac Pherson

Cardwell #380 – 19 participants
Fastest time: Luke Tamblyn (22:26)
Final finisher: Graeme Lake (53:54)
PBs: Bruce Boland (40:36)
First-timers: Liam Matthews (23:20), Steve Upton (25:58), Jacqui Lefebvre (34:00), Chris Page (38:52), Astrid Clancy (44:46), Brendan Clancy (46:19), Sue Patch (53:33)
Volunteers: Kerry Snell, Luke Tamblyn, Jan Ferguson, Terry Curtin, Graeme Lake, Anita Davina

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