Parkrun in England will not return until at least 24 July as runners says delay to restart is ‘baffling’

Parkrun joggers have said they are baffled that the restart of the events has been delayed again until at least 24 July despite the health benefits.

After nearly a year of setbacks to the free weekly events across the UK, the outdoor group races will be postponed until organisers receive “permission to return” to parks “from the large majority of landowners.”

While studies indicate the average R rate per event is just 0.057, the events have been postponed for most of the year in the UK.

The free-to-enter runs have attracted three million runners across the world since they began in Bushey Park in 2004, including 30-year-old Chris Doonan.

Mr Doonan and his partner took part in Parkrun “pretty much every week” in Bramley, Leeds and Bradford before the pandemic began. He entered his last run on 14 March last year.

“You get to recognise faces and they’re always willing to have a chat,” Mr Doonan told i.

“There’s absolutely no sense of competition. Yes, you get your speed freaks who’ll do the whole thing in about 17 minutes, but often I’d say a good third of participants don’t run at all, they just walk it and have a natter on the way round. The last person over the line will usually get a bigger cheer than the first.”

He said he is “slightly baffled” as to why it has taken so long to resume Parkrun.

“I’m not a scientist or a public health official, but I do find it slightly baffling that getting it restarted has proven such a slog, especially when many of the landowners in question are local councils, who surely must see the potential benefits?” Mr Doonan said.

“We’ve stumbled across a means of getting thousands of people a week to exercise, it costs practically nothing, we know being outdoors is relatively low risk and exercise reduces your risk from coronavirus, not to mention reducing risk from other health issues and benefits to mental health.

“I don’t want to overstate it – in the grand scheme of things, given everything that’s gone on over the past 18 months, it would be pretty crass to suggest not being able to run round a park once a week is the worst thing ever, but I do miss it,” he added.

Charlie Le Rougetel, 50, has competed in the Wormwood Scrubs event for the last seven years. She said if the run had returned as planned on 26 June, she would have “happily taken part.”

Ms Le Rougetel ran her last Parkrun on 15 February 2020, her 200th to date.

“I caught Covid early so I missed our on the last Parkrun before lockdown, but I miss it every single week,” she told i.

While she understands that “Parkrun organisers want to do everything they can to keep their participants safe,” she knows it’s “such an important part of the week for people’s physical and mental health.”

“Initially, I went to get fit and get back out running regularly again, but it quickly became much more than that.

“The wonderful thing about Parkrun is the community. You meet amazing people and the one thing you have in common is that you run. It’s only later you find out what they do for a living, what their backgrounds are, class, race, age, gender, just doesn’t come into it,” she added.

For Alex Chisnall’s sons Elliott and Theo, Parkrun has restarted.

Junior Parkrun resumed in Burnley for runners up to 10 six weeks ago, meaning seven-year-old Elliott and five-year-old Theo could get back to running with their dad.

“My sons both really missed it when it wasn’t on,” Ms Chisnall, 36, told i. “We are all so happy now that it has returned.

“My husband runs the course with Theo, and Elliott usually runs with friends. Me and the dog have more of a spectator approach. We are so proud of their achievements, its great to see so many smiling faces at that time on a Sunday morning.

“Elliott started Junior Parkrun when he was four, he’s now seven. He received his 100 run certificate a few weeks ago. They made such a fuss of him, and now a few children at his school have signed up to do it.

“It is such a shame that it has been cancelled again, as I know a lot of people find real motivation by the group experience. The sessions could be broken down into smaller groups, but as it is run solely by volunteers, it would be difficult.”

Parkrun UK said in a statement on Monday evening: “A huge amount of work has been done in recent weeks to ensure we have permission to return from the large majority of landowners.

“Whilst this delay is disappointing, we respect the fact that a significant number of these permissions were contingent on the country moving into Step 4, and we will therefore target a new reopening date of Saturday 24 July.”