Parkrun comes to Crowland
Runners of all abilities from South Holland have a new challenge ahead of them with the arrival of parkrun at Snowden Field in Crowland, writes Luke Williamson.
The event takes place weekly on Saturday at 9am, inviting all runners to take part in the 5km course.
Organiser Adam Caress first came up with the idea of having a parkrun event in the area when visiting his brother, Jamie, last year.
"We completed the Durham parkrun together which was the first parkrun event I had attended," Adam said.
With a sport development background, Adam believed he could run an event locally and set his sights on Snowden Field.
"I remembered training with Nene Valley Harriers on the Snowden Field and knew that venue had hosted cross country on it before.
"I got in touch with Crowland Parish Council to seek permission to use the field weekly for our parkrun," Adam continued.
"We are proud to be the first to host a parkrun event in South Holland. We are a progressive council and we have the amazing facilities and we want to use them more."
Adam also got in contact with the parkrun HQ who assigned the Snowden Field event an ambassador, Katie Smith, who helped the organisers with the entire set up process.
"This involved measuring the course, funding the £3000 for all the new equipment (South Holland District Council, Switch Electrical and Halmer Harriers all contributed towards this total) and recruiting new volunteers to form the core organising team," Adam said.
Coun David Kempton, Chairman of Crowland Parish Council, said parkrun has run smoothly in its opening events.
"We are proud to be the first to host a parkrun event in South Holland. We are a progressive council and we have the amazing facilities and we want to use them more," he said.
"Anything that helps improve the health and wellbeing of our constituents is something we are going to be interested in."
Parkrun was started in 2004, with the first event being the Bushy Park parkrun, founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt.
Since then, the event has become a global success, with Denmark hosting the first event outside of the UK in 2009.
At the latest event, 131 runners attempted the course which was a record for the Snowden Field event.
Volunteers help the event run as smooth as possible with Adam and the core organising team of Tony Harker, Colin Apps, Laura Whale, Lance Hemmings, Simon Eldridge, Chris King, Tom Joyce-Knowles, leading the way.
"There is no commitment for volunteers to help every week but many of the roles can be performed before or after the event so volunteers can also complete the parkrun," Adam explained.
"There haven't been many problems with the event. The parking was our main concern but the number of people have been manageable so far," Coun Kempton added.
Potential participants can check out the event's website, www.parkrun.org.uk/snowdenfield, to find out more information on taking part or volunteering at the next event.
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