Lace up and get running

Nearly 200 people joined the first official parkrun held in Warkworth on Saturday June 6.

Parkrun is a global initiative that encourages people of all ages to walk, jog or run a five kilometre course.

Warkworth event director Jeremy Hall said the inaugural event was a great success, attracting people from the surrounding area, as well as Whangārei and Auckland.

Hall became interested in parkrun after participating in the event in Orewa.

He said he would like to run the events every Saturday for the rest of the year.

“Participants range from serious runners who complete the circuit in around 15 minutes to others who walk and take about an hour,” he said. “There’s no pressure.”

Participants aged between four and 10 must run with an adult, and there is no upper age limit. The record is held by a person who completed a parkrun in Whangārei last year at the age of 102.

No booking is required, it is free, and people simply turn up and join the run.

“It’s a great community, a good place to meet and make friends – it’s a social club as well as a running club.”

The runs are held at Warkworth Showgrounds and start at 8am.