THE POPULAR Evesham parkrun is set to celebrate its 200th event and more runners are being encouraged to take part.
Since March 2015, Evesham parkrun has been organising free, weekly, 5km timed runs alongside the river between Hampton Ferry and the rowing club and on March 9 the 200th event will be staged when it is hoped 200 runners will feature.
“We’re really excited to have reached such a significant milestone and hope we can encourage lots of new runners to come and join in on March 9,” said Niki Speake, one of the event directors who makes sure each run takes place smoothly.
“It’s a wonderful sight to see so many people enjoying our beautiful parks and riverside each Saturday morning, come rain or shine,” added Eleanor Creedmiles-Nairne, fellow event director.
Parkrun has become something of a national and international phenomenon since its humble beginnings in Bushy Park, London, 15 years ago.
There are now 1,759 locations in 20 countries around the world, all of them built on the same principles of being free, 5km, for everyone, forever. This is made possible by the huge army of volunteers who give up their time to make each event happen every week.
The popularity and abundance of parkrun means many people like to travel to different events around the country to try out new courses and see new places.
Each week Evesham enjoys hosting ‘parkrun tourists’ who may have travelled a great distance just to take part. Runners from as far away as Australia and South Africa have been known to join in and it is not uncommon to have several runners from towns and cities around the UK coming along too.
It is open to everyone, from those taking their first steps in running to international-standard athletes, from juniors to veterans and people can choose to run, jog, walk or roll (in wheelchairs and pushchairs) the distance.
Five-year-old Khaleesi Whittiker recently completed her 62nd run in under 30 minutes, just ahead of Roz Hitchin who is in the 70-74 age group.
Register at parkrun.org.uk and print your barcode. The runs start every Saturday near Hampton Ferry at 9am.