Parkrun events delayed until July 24 following lockdown decision

The free 5km Saturday morning runs were due to restart on Saturday June 5 before issues around accessing running spaces pushed their return to June 26.

Parkrun UK said in a statement on Monday evening: “A huge amount of work has been done in recent weeks to ensure we have permission to return from the large majority of landowners.

“Whilst this delay is disappointing, we respect the fact that a significant number of these permissions were contingent on the country moving into Step 4, and we will therefore target a new reopening date of Saturday 24 July.”

Organisers had previously said the decision to proceed with events from June 26 was subject to any changes in the road map announced by Boris Johnson.

It comes after Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick and Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden wrote to all councils in the UK last month urging them to permit weekly Parkrun events to resume in their areas.

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