It was eight years in the making but, on Saturday 20 July, Bradley Stoke was finally able to join the parkrun family with the new event starting at Three Brooks Nature Reserve.
Founded in 2004, parkrun is a global not-for-profit organisation that facilitates a weekly, free 5k run in a local green space at 9am every Saturday morning, come rain or shine. Each event is organised by a local team and is run entirely by volunteers. It is widely recognised as a fantastic initiative for encouraging not only physical activity but also to help combat loneliness and other mental health conditions, and runners and walkers of all abilities are very welcome to take part.
Following the closure of Little Stoke parkrun in 2016 after councillors at Stoke Gifford Parish Council asked each parkrunner to pay a weekly fee to participate, which goes against the ethos of parkrun being free to access, there has been no adult parkrun in the area for eight years. However, the junior parkrun 2k event was allowed to continue at Little Stoke on Sunday mornings.
Volunteers have been searching for a suitable new venue, and negotiating the various permissions and risk assessments needed, ever since, and finally Three Brooks parkrun opened on Saturday.
Although inaugural parkruns are typically kept quiet so as not to overwhelm the volunteers and community as they settle into a new space, the enthusiasm for a regular parkrun at Bradley Stoke meant that this was a poorly kept secret and 414 runners and walkers enjoyed the beautiful nature reserve to join the first event on what turned out to be a lovely, warm summer morning.
Bradley Stoke-based teenager Freya Bradley finished in second place overall, with a very impressive time of 17 minutes and 8 seconds, and she is clearly a runner who could earn a place running for her country in the future. Freya was only a few seconds behind Callum Moore who was the first finisher overall, coming in at just under 17 minutes.
In total, 222 men participated and 186 women, including lots of children taking part with their parents and a participant in a wheelchair, showing that parkrun really is an inclusive and welcoming event for anyone who would like to enjoy some fresh air and exercise with a friendly and welcoming group.
However, organisers have asked that people consider waiting a few weeks before attending to allow the event time to settle down and for the volunteer team not to become too overwhelmed as they learn the ropes. Having taken such a long time to set up, there are also concerns of not wanting to worry any locals who might be resistant to the idea of parkrun and therefore not wanting to upset or worry them with initial big crowds.