An Unstoppable Force!

I could well be describing Bev here, in the pink, with my title as she is indeed a force for good in the Hobblers, and unstoppable.  However, it also describes the phenomenon that is Parkrun.  Parkrun was born in 2004 when 13 runners came together to run in Bushy Park in Teddington.  It took two years for the idea to go beyond Bushy Park and from there to grow in to what it is today with hundreds of thousands of people turning out across the world at 9am on Saturday morning to run together, and for free, in their local parks.  Volunteers run the events and sponsors provide the support.  The participants are people of all abilities and reasons for getting up early on a weekend: folks rehabilitating; folks aiming to lose weight; folks with mental health issues; lonely folks;  young and old; all ethnicities; runners and folks learning to run - the list is endless, but whatever their reason they and it are AMAZING!

Today the Keighley Parkrun staged its inaugural event around the parkland and newly renovated buildings of Cliffe Castle....in drizzle, but did the 454 runners care?  Not a jot!

And the Hobblers were there too.  If you look closely you can see the crocodile of runners ahead of Bev and me.