England’s parkruns plan for return by end of October, says boss
THE organisers of parkrun have announced that the running event is set to make a return to England.
Parkruns see groups of people get together for free, weekly runs and take place around the world – including many in Gloucestershire.
However, earlier in the year parkrun events were cancelled due to the pandemic – but now the chief executive of the organisation has announced that it is set to make a return.
In a post on the event’s official website, Nick Pearson said that the team “intend to reopen parkrun and junior parkrun events in England toward the end of October”.
He went on to say that “the risk of parkrun events significantly contributing to the spread of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom is small” but he also said that parkruns could not yet resume in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland due to the different restrictions in place.
Mr Pearson said: “Following detailed conversations with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Sport England, and Public Health England, I am delighted to announce that we intend to reopen parkrun and junior parkrun events in England toward the end of October this year.”
He continued: “Over the coming weeks we will be working closely with landowners and stakeholders across the country so that we can best address their concerns and support their own positions relating to gatherings at their venues.”
He added that a survey of parkrunners had revealed that confidence was growing and that the latest figures suggested “almost 80 per cent of UK parkrunners would return in four weeks’ time given the opportunity”.
The parkruns in Gloucestershire are at Cheltenham Pittville Park, Cheltenham King George V, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucester North, Gloucester City, Kingsway, Cirencester, Forest of Dean, Lydney, Mallards Pike, Newent, Stonehouse, Stroud, Tetbury, Tewkesbury and Wotton-under-edge.
We’ll be working closely with landowners and stakeholders across the country so we can best address their concerns
Nick Pearson, parkrun CEO