Parkrun’s coming back! Organisers reveal the Saturday morning 5ks will resume on June 5 if the government’s roadmap out of lockdown goes to plan… with 200,000 joggers ready to return
- Parkrun organisers want the nationwide running event to return on June 5
- The weekly events attract more than 200,000 joggers each week in parks
- Parkrun has not taken place since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic
Organisers of parkrun have announced the free 5k Saturday morning events will restart in England on June 5.
The mass-participation runs, which were attracting more than 200,000 joggers nationwide each week, have not taken place in this country since March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
But the timetable for parkrun’s long-awaited return has now been set out, with plans to come back after step three of the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown.
Parkrun organisers are hoping the Saturday morning 5k event can return on June 5
Parkrun chief executive Nick Pearson said: ‘Excitingly, for the first time in six months, we now see a realistic timeframe for the return of 5k events in England.
‘Our 5k events need to all come back at the same time, with the definition of ‘all’ probably being something north of 90 per cent.
‘This is due to the relatively large attendances, and significant opportunity for tourism, meaning that if only a subset of 5k events opened they would very likely be overwhelmed with unmanageable levels of attendance.
The nationwide event, that normally attracts 200,000 joggers each week, hopes to come back after Step Three of the UK Government’s roadmap out of lockdown
‘Based on the published guidance, our 5k events could technically return from April 4. However, due to the other national restrictions in place, the expected level of infection at that time, and a number of our 5k events regularly exceeding 1,000 participants, we do not believe it would be appropriate for them to return this early.
‘We have determined that step three presents the most realistic time for our 5k events to reopen. At this stage, and with the return of other large gatherings at both indoor and outdoor events, we expect there will be a much greater confidence in, and support for 5k parkrun events returning.’
The Sunday morning junior parkrun will also return on April 11.
Tom Williams, parkrun chief operation officer, added: ‘I’m not going to get carried away until we’re stood on the start line but there is a date and that really lifts your spirits.’