Town Mayor Visits The Spencer Park Junior Park Run

Did you know Rushden has it's very own junior parkrun?

Spencer Park junior parkrun is a 2k event for juniors only, from the ages of 4 to 14 years old*. The parkrun is held every Sunday at 9:00am and takes place at Spencer Park, Washbrook Road, Rushden, NN10 6UL. It is free to join in, but you are asked to register before your first visit on the main parkrun website – https://www.parkrun.org.uk/

You only ever have to register with parkrun once and this ensures that you can generate a runners barcode which participants print off and bring along with them on the day so they can register their run and receive their timings for each and every event they take part in. Parents and carers are encouraged to join in alongside the children too and the aim is to have fun as it is a parkrun and not a race, so please come along and join in whatever your pace!

The junior parkrun was created after Rushden Town Council, North Northamptonshire Council, Freedom Leisure and a local resident, Louise Kemp joined forces to bring the project to fruition and approached parkrun to create the free event in Rushden. On Sunday 18th July, Rushden's Mayor, Councillor Melanie Coleman was joined by her consort Councillor David Coleman to officially start Spencer Park junior parkrun #10. With Spencer Park basking in Mediterranean heat, 32 runners joined the event with four new to junior parkrun and despite the blistering heat a new fastest time for the course was set along with a few personal best times recorded by other runners.

Rushden Mayor, Councillor Melanie Coleman said "'A great sense of fun and community spirit greeted me when I arrived at Spencer Park at 8.35am. It was already warm but the youngsters , primary school aged, were all ready for the mornings run. What struck me was the enthusiasm from those taking part, the organisers, volunteer marshals, and children all ready to run with everyone there willing to support each other for this fantastic community lead event. This free, weekly event is so safe and well organised and a real bonus for Rushden and I'd encourage residents to join in. Thank you for asking me along and well done".

Louise Kemp, Volunteer Run Director who was the driving force in getting the junior parkrun started added "Thank you to the Mayor for attending the junior parkrun this morning and meeting our wonderful team of volunteers, without whom we wouldn't be able to host our parkrun. It is great to see so many children joining us at Spencer Park junior parkrun as we want to encourage children to exercise and enjoy it and to be able to do this in their own local park for free. Getting out in the fresh air for a 2K run or walk is a great way to start the day so we look forward to seeing more of you join us in future. We are always looking for additional volunteers to support us so if anyone would like to find out more about the volunteering opportunities then please feel free to contact me at spencerpark-juniors@parkrun.com

*Please note, under current Covid-19 guidelines the event is only open for ages 4 to 10 years old. For all of the latest information regarding Spencer Park Junior parkrun please visit https://www.parkrun.org.uk/spencerpark-juniors/