Exciting news Goulburn, parkrun is coming to town!
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From 8am Saturday February 10 Goulburn will have its very own parkrun event, making use of the new Wollondilly walking track. Goulburn will make the 265th location in Australia and the 1524th worldwide (and counting).
So just what is parkrun? First and foremost, it’s free!
Parkrun, (styled as parkrun) is the name given to a collection of timed five kilometre running events that take place every Saturday morning, in 18 countries and across five continents. It is clearly taking the world by storm!
Not to confuse the issue, parkrun is not just aimed at runners. Walkers, pram pushers, dogs (one parkdog per person and on a short leash) and kids are also welcomed with open arms. However, kids under 11 must be within an arm’s length from their parent/guardian at all times. For safety, scooters, bikes, skateboards or roller blades are not permitted.
These events are run each Saturday by volunteers. Runners are required to register (only once) online (https://www.parkrun.com.au/register/) ‘in advance’ for a unique athlete number and to print their own identification barcode, for use when taking part. If you don’t have a barcode, you will not receive a time.
Runners’ results in each event are processed and uploaded online after the run by volunteers. Each registered runner has an individual page catalogeuing the details of each event in which they have participated. After each parkrun event, you can also opt to have your results emailed directly to you.
It is urged that at some stage everyone play a part in a volunteer role from time to time. If everyone could at least volunteer two or three times per year, this will allow parkrun to continue well into the future. Without this support, Goulburn Parkrun will not succeed!
Many locals in Goulburn are already die hard parkrun fans. They travel far and wide most Saturdays to do so. Some have run/walked over 100 events already and counting. Parkrun awards free milestone t-shirts for adults, kids and volunteers.
Parkrun appeals to a wide range of community members. Olympian Martin Dent can often be seen in action at the Canberra events, he even showed up at Bowral one morning to show us how it’s done. Recently, I met parkrun supporter and leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten at Batemans Bay. My wife often walks at these events at a leisurely pace. My daughters and I both run with friends in an attempt to beat both our previous best times and each other.
Such is the addiction of this fantastic community event, Angela Hookham, who is bringing this event to Goulburn, was instantly hooked after her first parkrun in Bega. It was there on that winter morning the seed was sown and Angela began to undertake the steps needed to bring this exciting weekly event to our town.
Everyone is welcome at Goulburn parkrun, no matter their style or lack of, or whether they walk or run.
So, with all this information on hand, it is time to get fit and active Goulburn.
To do list: Register prior and print out your barcode (it won’t work from phone screens). We hope to see you all for the official 8am start in four weeks time at Marsden Weir car park (off Fitzroy St). Before then, there will be two ‘trial’ events, one on Sunday, January 21, and another on Sunday, February 4, both starting a 9am.
For additional information go to parkrun Australia at: http://www.parkrun.com.au/ or like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/goulburnparkrun/.