Weymouth parkrun will be celebrating their one year anniversary on Saturday 30th August, with members lacing up for an early morning 5km run or jog around the Lodmoor Country Park and all for free.
Parkrun is the brainchild of Paul Sinton-Hewitt who held the first ever event at Bushy Park, Teddington in October 2004. The aim was for the parkrun concept to exist in every town in the world, allowing people to run for free in a safe, fun environment in their local community.
Today parkrun takes place in 9 countries including the USA, Australia and South Africa. In the UK, 525,252 members have signed up to parkrun to date, held across 284 locations on a Saturday or Sunday. Each event is hosted in a unique location from a park, to a beach or promenade.
Weymouth parkrun will be marking their 53rd event this Saturday at 9am. With over 1,300 signed up to the Weymouth parkrun, they’re looking for existing members and new faces to join in the run and set a new PB for attendance numbers and help beat the current one of 177 runners.
It’s a great opportunity for all the local community, male or female, young or old to come together on a regular basis to enjoy this beautiful park and get physically active at the same time.
Taking part is really easy, simply register before your first ever parkrun online and print off your barcode which you’ll need to bring along to each event. You only ever need to do this once. Then, set your alarm for Saturday morning and get yourself down to Lodmoor Country Park.
Whether you’re a complete novice looking to get yourself started on your own running journey or a seasoned athlete wanting to use it as part of your training schedule and improve your personal best, parkrun is more than just a run. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing, what matters is taking part. It’s all about inclusiveness, well-being and being part of a real local community. It’s why parkruns are never more than 5km – it’s a distance that anyone can complete.
So, what will you be doing this Saturday 30th August? Resist hitting the snooze button, grab your trainers and join in the first year celebrations at Weymouth parkrun.
Weymouth parkrun have confirmed that the theme for the first year celebrations will be beach party – so dig out those floral shirts and Hawaiian grass skirts. Plus, there will be celebratory cake for after the run. Who can turn down a piece of birthday cake?!
Head to Weymouth parkrun to find out more – www.parkrun.org.uk/weymouth / www.facebook.com/weymouthparkrun
Beck Wren
