Milestone for Parkrun which 'ticks lots of boxes'

Weekly runs do wonders for physical and mental health, an avid parkrunner has said as the 500th event was held in Jersey.

Organisers had hoped to get 500 runners to mark the milestone and more than 600 people turned up for 09:00 BST to take on the 5km (3.2 mile) route which goes around the Les Quennevais cycle track and down part of the railway walk in St Brelade.

The island's Parkrun began in September 2015, with organisers saying about 21,000 people have taken part.

Alice Harvey, who has taken part in 389 parkruns in Jersey, said taking part offered a lot of positives and celebrated runners of all abilities.

"I think there were less than 100 participants for the first event, but I think word-of-mouth and the whole movement in the UK has grown," she said.

"There's lots of Parkruns everywhere now and it's for all abilities, everyone can come and it costs nothing which in today's world, you don't get much for free.

"You can talk to all sorts of people up here as well so it's not only good for your physical health, but definitely your mental health too, so it ticks lots of boxes."

Harvey added visitors she spoke to enjoyed doing Jersey's Parkrun, especially those who spot a red squirrel on the railway walk.

She said the run had a good mix of participants from families running together including people pushing buggies, runners chasing a fast time and others who just wanted to walk the route.

"It is a really great event because everyone is celebrated no matter their ability," Harvey said.

She added the volunteers who help out every week also play a massive part in the event.

"Parkrun doesn't run without volunteers and they're celebrated probably more than the runners themselves with a big clap at the start," Harvey said.

Caroline Parry, one of the run directors, started doing parkrun on the Couch to 5km programme.

She said: "I've been doing this for about seven, eight years - all of a sudden on a Saturday morning, I want to get up on a Saturday morning.

"It is just incredible, the feeling that you get from either doing it, taking part, being here is just amazing."

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