ORGANISERS of Levengrove parkrun say the success of the event is down to its “inclusive and welcoming’ nature”.

The run was set up in late 2019 by a team of committed volunteers, who only managed to organise 14 events before parkruns worldwide were forced to pause in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the volunteers were determined to keep the spirit alive, however, until parkrun eventually returned to Dumbarton in August.

Volunteer Anna Napier told the Reporter about the positive reaction to the return of parkrun.

She said: “We made a real effort to keep our community spirit going online and virtually when we couldn’t get together in person at parkrun for what would turn up to be 17 months.

“While it wasn’t as good as meeting up in-person, we kept each other going through our Facebook page and WhatsApp chats, spurring each other on to keep active in whatever we could.

“What’s been lovely since we started back in August this year is just how many local people and dedicated parkrunners alike have welcomed Levengrove parkrun back with open arms (but no hugs or high fives for now).

“We were able to start back this year but the core volunteer team were a bit nervous that we’d either get no-one turning up or that we’d be overwhelmed and not have enough volunteers to cope.

“Thankfully, neither happened and despite global travel restrictions and far less ‘parkrun tourism’ happening, we’ve been so buoyed by the people who’ve come forward to volunteer and everyone who has turned up to take part.”

Despite the name, Anna says volunteers are looking for walkers to take part in parkrun next year.

She said: “Next year we’d love to see more walkers coming along to parkrun. We have a few who’re dedicated and take part every week but we would love to see more people coming along, walking at their own pace and enjoying beautiful Levengrove Park.

“Every parkrun has a ‘Tail Walker’ so no-one is ever last. It’s the Tail Walker’s role to walk, jog or run at the pace that the last participant is at.

“They’re there keeping folks at the back safe and providing encouragement where needed. It’s possible to walk 5k (which is roughly 3 miles) in around an hour so if you walk the course you can still be finished and in the cafe having a cuppa before 11am.

“We’re also bringing back our Levengrove Couch To 5K group from January. That’s an informal group (not affiliated with parkrun) that get together 2-3 times a week to work their way up from walking to being able to jog a full 5k.

“The programme takes nine weeks and starts with as little as 30 seconds of jogging at a time.”

Anna is encouraging anybody to get involved with parkrun, whether as a jogger or a volunteer.

She added: “People really value the opportunity that parkrun brings them every single week. It’s free, it’s entirely volunteer-run and you get to spend time with people in the outdoors. It’s what we all needed after being stuck at home.

“We pride ourselves on Levengrove parkrun being inclusive and welcoming.

“We want people to go away feeling great about themselves whether they’ve volunteered or taken part in parkrun for the first, or the 500th time.”

The Levengrove parkrun starts at 9.30am every Saturday. To find out more visit the run’s Facebook page.