Celebrating a special anniversary at parkrun with 24-hour marathon

Parkrunners celebrated a special birthday at their event as hundreds joined in to mark the occasion.Lynn parkrun held its 13th birthday parkrun last Saturday, with 328 runners taking park- some of whom were at the very first run, held on September 10, 2011.That run saw just 61 runners come along – but over the years the number taking part each week steadily increased, with an incredible combined 12,969 now participating at Lynn since that very first run.

The birthday anniversary run saw several individuals turn out in fancy dress, with others bringing cakes and snacks along for a post-run celebration.There are were also a number of visitors present from far and wide, with one coming all the way from Thailand.Following the parkrun, a 24-hour marathon running event then got under way, with runners encouraged to return to The Walks to run for an hour or longer, at any time during that period.

Nearly 150 runners took part, covering more than 1,700 laps of the park. This was the ninth time the 24-hour event has taken place – and this year’s run raised just over £400 for the reconstituted Friends of the Walks group.Gary Walker, the Lynn parkrun event director, said: “The Walks is such an iconic setting for parkrun and is so well maintained that we felt it only right to do something that would help towards future improvements. “The parkrun community once again rose to the challenge, with the majority of the 147 runners taking part over the 24-hour period completing far more laps of The Walks than they had originally intended.“The enthusiasm of those taking part was infectious, with everyone pushing each other on, with runners of all standards of ability taking part throughout the day and night, contributing to the massive total of laps covered.”