Inside the race to save parkrun - and why people need it now more than ever
The 200,000 weekly devotees of the free 5k runs across England are left holding their breath while officials decide if events can restart
9 June 2021 • 11:47am
The restart date for parkrun has already been pushed back two weeks and organisers fear further delays
Credit: parkrun
The stopwatch on March 14 2020 stands frozen in time. As 140,000 runners, young and old, streamed out of Britain’s park gates on that unassuming Saturday last year, none of them knew it would be their last parkrun for 15 months.
Now organisers and fans of the free, weekly 5km event that takes place in 587 parks all over the country are hoping it will be able to return from June 26. But there are a few stumbling blocks along the route. Dozens of councils, previously champions of parkrun’s public health appeal in a pre-Covid world, have been accused of ignoring the science and blocking its return with red tape on everything