Happy first birthday Stonehouse parkrun

ON SATURDAY, July 22, Stonehouse parkrun celebrated its first birthday.

A record 179 runners and walkers (and four dogs) completed the five kilometre course before tucking into birthday cake to mark the occasion.

They were joined by some of the local volunteers, as well as members of Stonehouse Town Council and Gloucestershire County Council who have supported the event.

In fact every Saturday morning something curious is happening at Oldends Lane Playing Fields.

It starts slowly - a yawning volunteer arrives and sets out cones.

Then another with stopwatches.

Soon the park is buzzing with chatter from the Lycra clad, dogs, kids and people who aren’t quite sure why they are wearing trainers instead of their pyjamas.

At 9am they burst into action - running, walking, jogging and pushing buggies around four laps of the park.

At the finish line cheering volunteers and friends wait to celebrate.

This is parkrun.

A weekly free, timed five kilometre walk, run or jog open to all abilities and organised by volunteers from around the community.

And it’s catching on in Stonehouse.

After a year of Saturday morning events, 1,571 people have taken part, running 25,335km between them.

Event Director John Tierney added: “It’s been amazing to see the community spirit on show every week from runners and volunteers. One year on I can’t imagine Saturday mornings without parkrun. If you haven’t tried it, please come down and get involved - you won’t regret it.”

Get involved

It’s free and easy to join in.

Register once on the parkrun website to get your barcode.

Pop your trainers on, bring your barcode and come along any Saturday morning.

There’s a short briefing at 8.50am and the run starts at 9am.

Children, dogs, pushchairs and most other things welcome.

For details and to register visit parkrun.org.uk/stonehouse/