Ipswich celebrates 10 years as Suffolk's first Parkrun

Robin Harper has been taking part in the Ipswich Parkrun for 10 years

A runner who took part in the inaugural Parkrun in Suffolk and hundreds since will return to the start line on Saturday as the event celebrates 10 years.

Ipswich Parkrun started on 8 September 2012 and was the county's first of the free 5km (3.1-mile) events.

There are now 15 Parkruns across Suffolk.

Robin Harper said the sense of "community" had led him to take part in 415 of the 447 Ipswich events.

Parkrun is a free, five kilometre event for runners of all abilities that takes place in dozens of locations across the UK every Saturday at 09:00 - all run by volunteers.

Mr Harper, a 46-year-old handyman, said he was already an established runner when he went with other members of his running club, Felixstowe Road Runners, to have a go at the first Parkrun at Chantry Park in Ipswich.

"We discovered very quickly that it was very good and it's important to state that it soon became apparent that the run was secondary to the people and the community," he said.

Mr Harper said Parkrun was as much about the "social side" as it was about the run itself

The run in Chantry Park, was the first timed 5km (3.1 mile) event to be held in Suffolk

He said he initially continued to go back to try to get a "better time on the same course" but then it became about meeting people and making new friends.

"You get the run done and then spend an hour having a cup of tea and chatting to people - it's the social side of it," he said.

"A lot of my friends I met at Parkrun."

'Fantastic milestone'

Paul Sinton-Hewitt, founder of Parkrun, said the 10-year milestone was "fantastic for Suffolk"

Since the Ipswich event was launched in 2012, a further 20 Parkruns have been established in Suffolk, including six junior Parkruns.

• More than 2,000 take part in the events in the county every week and more Parkruns are under development

• As of 14 August 2022, a total of 4,257 Parkruns have taken place in Suffolk with 8,850 people volunteering 81,351 times

• This has allowed 84,459 individuals to complete 615,599 runs covering almost 2.9 million kilometres

• An estimated 10% of the Suffolk population over the age of 16 have at some point taken part in a Parkrun in Suffolk

Since 2019, 25 GP surgeries across Suffolk have registered as Parkrun practices and are actively referring patients and encouraging staff to attend their local events with a view to them benefitting from a more active lifestyle.

Paul Sinton-Hewitt founded the Parkrun concept, which started in Bushy Park in Teddington in Greater London in 2004 and has since spread to hundreds of locations across the UK and the world.

He said the 10-year milestone was "fantastic for Suffolk".

"It's incredible to see communities coming together to be together, social and active in the great outdoors. We look forward to seeing the continued growth of Parkrun in Suffolk over the coming years."

Mr Harper, who completes the timed events in about 20 minutes, said although he had taken part in 21 Parkruns in other locations in the last decade, he had remained loyal to his home event.

"To ignore the local event and travel one, two, three hours for the sake of it, isn't for me," he said.

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However, he said it was "great to see" he growth of Parkrun in the county.

"It's been really good to see people pick up the baton and set up an event in their own community - we're spoilt in Suffolk now," he said.

Despite the postponement of Sunday's Ipswich Half Marathon following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, Parkrun confirmed its anniversary event was still on.

However, organisers said it would be more low-key, with plans for cake and champagne being put on hold, and a volunteering takeover by Ipswich Town Football Club Foundation and club mascots would be rearranged for another date.