There’s a very special event taking place in Aspatria tomorrow.
It’s the 100th parkrun at Bower Park and organisers are looking for a bumper turnout to celebrate the occasion.
parkrun is a 5k event which is completely free for participants of all standards.
The 50th run was celebrated last September with a record turnout of 76 runners, walkers, pram pushers and dog walkers tackling the circuit at the home of Aspatria RUFC.
Organisers would like to top that figure tomorrow when the century is reached with a 9am start.
Geoff Toogood brought the idea to the rugby union club over two years ago. but the official start was delayed by COVID restrictions. It has now been going two years with 100-up on Saturday.
He was on holiday in Australia when Geoff first came across the idea of a weekly parkrun and he thought that Bower Park would be an ideal venue to host one.
“We have been heartened by the level of support from the local community and also from people outside the area who find the run a great way to start a Saturday whilst on holiday in the area.
“We have a great group of volunteers who now organise the event and the rugby club have been very supportive in providing the venue and its excellent hospitality facilities.”
It’s not a race but times are recorded and the average finishers each week has been logged at 31.
The average finish time is just over 30 minutes although the fastest times recorded have been Scott Nutter at 16.16 in December 2021 and Joanne Harvey at 19.01 in November 2021.
The event starts at Bower Park this, and every Saturday, at 9am.
