Wakefield Thornes parkrun celebrates 10 year anniversary as runners and volunteers look back to first race

On Saturday, September 21, 2014, the first parkrun at Thornes Park was held, seeing 252 runners run, walk or jog a 5k course around the Wakefield park.

Now, 10 years later, the Thornes parkrun finish line has been crossed 100,000 times and half a million kilometres have collectively been covered.

Brendon Wain, a runner who took part in the first run, said: "It was a great introduction to parkrun for me.

"It was my first one ever, and the original Thornes parkrun is still my favourite course.

"I was 16 at the time and it was great to get stuck in with all the grown ups. Met a lot of people there throughout the years and I still enjoy popping back from time to time.”

Phil Gibson, a volunteer at the 2014 parkrun, said: “As I had no experience of volunteering at parkrun, I was convinced nobody would turn up.

"I volunteered for a while and then decided to have a run one week. 340-ish parkruns later I’m still here.

"Parkrun is pretty addictive, whether you want to run, jog, or walk, everybody is welcome. We have people at Thornes who volunteer week after week; these people are fantastic and parkrun would not be possible without them, so we owe them all a massive thank you.”

Parkruns take place each Saturday at 9am, and welcome runners, joggers, walkers, spectators and volunteers to get involved in the free community event.

The Thornes Park 10-year anniversary coincides with the 20-year anniversary of parkrun itself, which first launched in London’s Bushy Park on October 2, 2004.

Enthusiasm for parkruns has since evolved on an international scale, with events taking place in recent years in dozens of countries including Malaysia, Canada, Finland, and Germany, and custodial estates such as HMP Haverigg in Cumbria.

You can find more information about Wakefield Thornes parkrun on their website or via the Wakefield Thornes parkrun Facebook page.