Record attendance on parkrun’s third anniversary
ORMSKIRK Parkrun celebrated its third anniversary, and the arrival of spring, on Saturday March 25, by shattering its attendance record.
The previous record of 301 runners, only set in February was surpassed by a new total of exactly 400 runners out in the sunshine.
The usual 5km timed run around the grounds of Edge Hill University was followed by the annual awards ceremony, with prizes given to runners in various categories, some sensible and some not quite so, including several ‘spirit of parkrun’ awards for runners and volunteers who have embodied what parkrun is all about: friendliness, support for each other, and an added dash of good humour.
Run director for the day, Darren McMahon, said: “It was great to see so many turn up today.
“As runners flocked in before the run, we realized it was going to be a special day, but we had not anticipated reaching the 400 mark.
“We actually only have 400 finish tokens, so we’ll be asking parkrun HQ for an additional 100.
“The huge attendance really is a sign that parkrun is for everyone – all shapes, sizes and speeds are welcome here, including walkers, buggy pushers and wheelchair users, and we very much welcome visually impaired runners, with whom we can match our trained guide runners.
“Just as an indication of the variety of people attending parkrun, the quickest finisher recorded a time of less than 17 minutes, while our slowest was over an hour.”
Regular parkrunners Dawn Corlett and mother and daughter team Karen and Anna Hulme have been running at Ormskirk Parkrun since it started in 2014, and have now completed over 400 parkruns between them.
Karen said of the event: “We really like coming along to Ormskirk Parkrun on Saturday mornings.
“It is a wonderful community event and it is encouraging to see that participation is increasing all the time.
“It is also a great way to meet new people.
“We really enjoyed the third birthday celebrations.
“It was a beautiful spring morning, the sun was shining, and there was lots of cake too!”