'People travel across the world for slowest Parkrun'

Trevor Rawson says the Great Yarmouth North Beach event is the slowest in the UK, attracting mainly tourists

People travel from all over the world and across the UK to take part in the UK's slowest Parkrun on a popular coastal beach, organisers say.

The first Parkrun happened 20 years ago but the Great Yarmouth North Beach event is a relative newcomer to the phenomenon, having started in February 2020.

It grew in popularity between the Covid lockdowns and has become a hotspot for people looking to get in some exercise while enjoying the beach.

"You don’t have to run here," said director Trevor Rawson. "You can walk around, enjoy yourself and have a laugh and a joke with the volunteers."

Mr Rawson said the terrain was "very different" to other park runs as it is held entirely on the beach

The event has an average finish time of 38 minutes and 44 seconds - about 10 minutes behind the UK average.

“We’re about 60% tourists here, they come from all over the country, in fact all over the world," Mr Rawson said.

"It’s known as being the slowest event in the UK."

He said the event gets more walkers than runners and that the focus is on creating a sense of community and wellbeing, rather than finishing times.

"We’ve built a community within a community," he said.

"A regular group of people that run, a regular group of people that volunteer.

"You don’t have to run here you can walk around, enjoy yourself, have a laugh and a joke with the volunteers and have a good time."

The odd seal is known to pop its head up and keep an eye on the race, Mr Rawson said

"It’s not about hard effort and running," Mr Rawson said.

He said the terrain of running on the beach was "very different" but that participants loved it.

"We've got a beautiful beach here, beautiful wildlife, beautiful flowers and fauna," he said.

"We've got all sorts going on in and around, just on the outskirts of the Golden Mile.

"We get seals pop up and watch what we’re doing."