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Parkrun set to return at the end of October as Government finally gives green light for mass-participation event to return

Parkrun plans to restart at the end of October after the Government finally gave the mass-participation event the green light to return.

The free Saturday morning recreational run, which attracts more than 200,000 participants in the UK each week, has been suspended since March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, Parkrun organisers have now agreed a Covid-19 framework with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport which will allow the popular 5km event to come back later next month.

Parkrun plans to restart at the end of October after the Government finally gave the mass-participation event the green light


Tom Williams, the chief operating officer of Parkrun Global, told Sportsmail: ‘Our feelings right now are that the public health benefits of Parkrun significantly outweigh the public health risks of reopening Parkrun events.’

Parkun was founded in Bushy Park, London in 2002 and is now held in 715 locations across the UK and 20 different countries, with seven million runners registered worldwide.

The new framework for the event will see pre-race briefings limited to a maximum of two minutes and participants will be encouraged to keep a one metre distance where possible at the start line.

Venues will also be allowed to move their start and finish areas and add up to an extra 500m distance to increase the space where runners usually gather.

High fives, hugging and spitting will be banned during the run, while the results-capturing system has been rewritten so volunteers will record times and scan barcodes using their own mobile devices rather than using shared equipment.

The idea of spreading out start times from the usual 9am time slot was ruled out, however, because it would take away from what makes Parkrun so popular – the fact people can just turn up and run on the day.

‘We have developed our framework which goes a considerable way to reducing the risk further from an already relatively safe outdoor environment,’ added Williams.

The free Saturday morning recreational run attracts more than 200,000 participants

The free Saturday morning recreational run attracts more than 200,000 participants

‘There will be less time at the start line, less time at the finish line, an encouragement of social distancing and asking people who are symptomatic not to attend.

‘We have tried to keep the things that make Parkrun successful as a public health intervention. Most of the good community stuff is still there. There won’t be a hugely stark difference for you as a participant.

‘We know that the large majority of Parkrunners are ready to return and the public health benefits are well known and well accepted.

‘In the winter, people move indoors, become more isolated and mix less in a healthy environment outdoors, so Parkrun events are going to become more and more important by the week.

‘But we are also really well set up to accommodate localised lockdowns and restrictions, so we can close individual Parkrun events with very little notice, in collaboration with DCMS and Sport England.’ 

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