Organisers of the first ever Conyngham Hall Junior Parkrun in Knaresborough on Sunday (20th September) have hailed it a success.
The new weekly event got underway with 113 young runners taking on the 2km course and 29 volunteers helping to make the inaugural gathering possible.
The idea for a Junior Parkrun in Knaresborough came from local mum Hannah, who first started looking into bringing the event to the town around a year ago.
Fellow Knaresborough mum Louise Lodh said there was a lot of work involved, from securing funding and recruiting volunteers, to getting the course set up and approved by Parkrun.
Louise said:
“It was really great to finally get going and have our first event. Parkrun is a great way to get the whole community involved in keeping fit and getting active and volunteering, so it’s really great to have our own junior event in Knaresborough.”
The event is designed for children aged four to fourteen, with youngsters able to walk, jog, run or even skip their way around the 2km course at their own pace, with the emphasis firmly on having fun and being active.
The Junior Parkrun takes place every Sunday at 9am, with children and their families asked to meet at 8.50AM on the path next to Henshaws for a briefing and warm-up beforehand.
Children need to register with Parkrun before taking part and bring a scannable copy of their barcode if they want to receive an official finish time.
They can also earn Parkrun wristbands after completing certain numbers of events.
Louise said the organisers are always looking for more volunteers to help make the weekly event possible:
“We’ve got a group of Run Directors who will help to arrange volunteers and run each event each week. New volunteers are always welcome and we’re very keen to hear from anybody who would like to get involved.”
The organisers have thanked Knaresborough Town Council, Harrogate and Knaresborough Round Table, the NYC Locality Fund, Pavers Foundation, Vistry Homes, Nidd Valley Roadrunners and Knaresborough Striders for helping to fund the new event and get it up and running.
They have also thanked Kingfisher Kiosk, which is situated at the finish line, and are encouraging families to support the kiosk after the run by grabbing a drink or snack.
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