Parkrun set to return this weekend across Sussex

In a statement sent to more than three million members of the weekly 5km races, Parkrun head of event delivery Helen Hood announced a “large majority” of the events in England will reopen on Saturday, July 24.

All Parkrun events are required to follow the organisations Covid framework, which has been developed in collaboration with Sport England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

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The framework includes protocol including sanitising hands, scanning barcodes, distancing and a virtual volunteer app.

“As part of this framework, all participants and volunteers are required to self-assess for COVID-19 symptoms prior to attending, and not to attend if at all symptomatic,” Helen said.

“Please do note that a small number of events are cancelled for various reasons and some events do not have permission to return yet, so we strongly recommend checking your local parkrun event page and/or their associated social media prior to making plans or travelling.”

Helen said the framework, which also include no spitting or high fiving, will continue to be in place in all locations for the foreseeable future.

The running event, which was founded by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in 2004, has weekly events at more than 20 Sussex sites including East Brighton Park, Hove Promenade, Preston Park, Littlehampton Promenade, Bognor, Horsham, Seaford Beach, Eastbourne and more at 9am every Saturday.

Helen said many of their teams would benefit from building their volunteer community.

“Please check out the future roster on your local event’s website, look out for any social media requests for help, sign-up to volunteer emails and grasp the opportunity to experience the joy of volunteering,” she said.

“And in preparation for the return of parkrun in England, we would encourage you to familiarise yourself with our COVID-19 codes.”