300th Marlborough Common parkrun, nearly two hundred take part in the 5km course

This morning – Saturday 11 April at 09:00 – runners, walkers, strollers (and a few dogs on leads) set out on the 300th parkrun held in Marlborough. It’s been the same nearly every Saturday morning – with a gap for the covid period – since that very first run on The Common about eight years ago.

Across this time it’s become popular, a fixture in the weekly (or fortnightly / monthly) calendar of many. Today there were nearly a couple of hundred participants on The Common. Rather than use the word ‘Runners’, ‘participants’ is more accurate as whilst most taking part do run, at their own pace, in their own style and achieving what they want for themselves, many will walk. parkrun is the epitome of sport in the community – it’s free, open to everyone, as competitive (or non-competitive) as every participant wants – but it is there, a great opportunity for regular exercise and meeting up with fellow runners / walkers, many of whom will become friends. It’s where ‘Sport’ can deliver ‘Health’ – physical, mental and social.

Is it competitive? It can be, it doesn’t have to be. It’s about participation. Taking part for your own reasons and to achieve whatever goal you set, be it a time or just getting round, or doing one run or walk every month. Every participant will get a time, each run is set with timing equipment that records times for participants which they can access if they wish. And then chart their progress. First home this morning was Andrew Ind, pretty quick time, but there were many behind who were taking twice, three times (or longer) to cover the 5km course. Time – doesn’t matter, it’s down to the person taking part.

But it’s free and accessible. And run – organised, marshalled and managed by volunteers, who are vital to parkrun. Enabling parkrun to happen and to have become the popular phenomenon that it now is, certainly in Marlborough, but also in the 900+ locations across the UK where events are regularly held.

For Marlborough there is a team of a dozen or so who make it all happen. There are six volunteers who take it in turns to be ‘Run Director’, and this week that fell to Angela (blue tabard in pic). parkrun relies on volunteers and will always encourage more to come and help, even if it’s just directing cars into spaces in the car park. Everyone plays a role.

It’s free, it’s open but to take part every particiapant needs to register – click here to reach the central parkrun registration page. To find out more about Marlborough parkrun – click here.