Castle Park parkrun in Bishop’s Stortford celebrating 300th event on Saturday December 28
Castle Park parkrun will celebrate a huge milestone tomorrow (Saturday December 28) as it reaches 300 inclusive events for people of all abilities.
The parkrun in Bishop’s Stortford has grown steadily over the last seven years and a community of around 400 participants now come together each week to test themselves on the 5k course.
There have been special events for Christmas and Hallowe’en as well as visits from High Sheriffs of Hertfordshire and the Paralympian Noel Thatcher.
The parkrun also regularly welcomes parkrun tourists from other parts of the country and further afield - indeed, a large number of runners from a global parkrun tourist group helped to set the event’s record attendance of 515 on February 8, 2020, just a few weeks before the initial Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.
And nothing would be possible without the hard work and dedication of the band of volunteers who ensure the event is safe, fun and inclusive for everyone in all weathers.
The event was moved from Hatfield Forest and the first Castle Park parkrun took place on Saturday September 30, 2017 - timed perfectly to feature on the front page of the Indie’s launch edition four days later on Wednesday October 4.
The fastest men’s time was set on only the second weekend as Ian Kimpton covered the 5k in 15min 37sec. The quickest women’s time, of 17.20, was registered by Annabel Gunmow on June 1, 2019.
The average finish time is 29.16 and has gone down every year, with everyone from elite-level runners to fun runners and people taking on the distance for the first time taking to the start line.
The runners do virtually two laps of a circuit, heading from the bandstand to Grange Paddocks leisure centre along the railway path. The event used to be run in a clockwise direction, but it was reversed one Hallowe’en and proved so popular that it is stuck.
The organisers would love to welcome even more people - runners, walkers, spectators and volunteers - to the Castle Park parkrun every Saturday at 9am. Find out more at www.parkrun.org.uk/castlepark.
