Out & About Autumn 2019

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Parkrun UK is 15 years old in October and has become a worldwide phenomenon. LIAM HEADD joined the runners at Greenham, where Newbury parkrun celebrated its 400th run in the summer, to find out why it is so popular

O n October 2, 2004, a new event made its debut at Bushy Park, Teddington, London and nobody could have imagined then how big it would become. Parkrun is a free 5km running event, which takes place every Saturday morning at more than 1,400 locations in 23 countries across five continents. It was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt and originally started off as a series of events called UK Time Trials, before adopting theits current name in 2008. As a result of its phenomenal success, Mr Sinton-Hewitt was appointed a CBE in 2014, for services to Grassroots Sport Participation. The first Newbury parkrun took place on February 11, 2012, at Greenham Common, which every Saturday morning is now filled with runners of all ages and abilities. Greenham is one of 89 parkruns in the South East of England. One of the race directors of the Newbury run, Jeff Bird, is delighted to see the large numbers that turn out every Saturday. He said: “We have between 500 and 600 people that come out each week and it’s grown a lot this year, which is good because it normally drops off after January. “Anyone can run, it’s not aimed at anyone in particular,” he said. “We have dog walkers, people with pushchairs and people aged from four or five right up to their 70s and 80s.”

Taking part is simple. Once you have registered online you print off a unique barcode, which is scanned each week along with a token, which is handed to you as you cross the finish line. The results are posted on the website where you can then track your progress. You can use your barcode at any parkrun in the world. Every parkrun is organised in the same way. The only person you are racing is yourself. To find out more about parkrun Newbury visit www.parkrun.org.uk/newbury/ Number of events: ...................................... 146,543 Number of runners: ............................... 2,137,072 Number of runs: ...................................30,057,669 Number of locations: ..........................................646 Number of clubs: ............................................. 6,408 Number of PBs: ...................................... 5,229,291 Average runs per event: ................................. 205.1 Average number of runs per runner: ..............14.1 Average run time: ...................................... 00:28:42 Total hours run: 1,641years 185 days 14hrs 54min 18secs Total distance run: ........................ 150,288,345km

These were the statistics in August, 2019, before Out&About went to print. They change each week

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