Parkrun 'forced to delay' restart of 5k events in England over local authority issues

The return of parkrun in England has been delayed because of a lack of permission from landowners, organisers have confirmed.
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Parkrun UK announced today (May 21) that it has been forced to delay the planned reopening of 5k events in England on Saturday, June 5.

Although more than 250 events have been given the go ahead, organisers said this was not enough "critical mass" to avoid overcrowding and logistical issues.

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Nick Pearson, parkrun Global CEO said: "We will continue to work hard with landowners over the coming weeks to secure the permissions needed to return at the end of June.

"We are incredibly grateful to all of the landowners who have granted events permission to return so far, and for the groundswell of support for parkrun over recent days."

The events, which attract 200,000 people of all running abilities every Saturday morning, have been legally permitted under Covid-19 restrictions since the end of March.

Some private and local authority landowners, though, are still hesitant.

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Parkrun UK has announced that it has been forced to delay the planned reopening of 5k events.Parkrun UK has announced that it has been forced to delay the planned reopening of 5k events.
Parkrun UK has announced that it has been forced to delay the planned reopening of 5k events.
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"Although it is disappointing not to be able to return on June 5, we are still optimistic that we can return parkrun events to nearly 600 communities across England very soon," Nick Pearson added.

"We will do everything we can to ensure events restart on June 26."

A decision will be made regarding the go ahead for this new date on Friday, June 11.

Many high profile supporters have now joined the rallying cry for the inclusive, physical activity community events to resume, without any further delays.

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Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged borough councils and other landowners to pledge their support.

He said: "London’s borough councils and other landowners have played a crucial role in keeping Londoners safe, maintaining the city’s green spaces and carefully supporting the return of safe grassroots sport.

"I hope they will join me in supporting the return of Parkrun - and my City Hall team stand ready to work with London Councils, the Parkrun team and volunteer organisers to help make this a reality."

A full list of events that currently have permission can be found HERE.

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