The Riverbank Parkrun group celebrated its 100th event run on Saturday the 15th of July, at 8 am along the Riverbank Park. The group, an offshoot of the international Parkrun groups, was established in October of 2019, and after numerous obstacles including flooding and covid lockdowns has continued to thrive, successfully reaching its 100th run.
Parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. Parkrun is a 5-kilometre track and takes place every Saturday morning. Parkrun is designed as a social outing and general health exercise, so, as a result, there is no ‘last place’, and is open to all.
Event director for the Yass Riverbank Parkrun Amanda Miller has told the Yass Valley Times about the event, and how residents can get involved in future runs.
On the groups’ history, Amanda notes that the initial event gained a good amount of attention from not just locals but Canberra residents and those interested in the international event, however, due to barriers such as covid and flooding along the Riverbank Park, the event has unfortunately encountered numerous obstacles and cancellations. However, the group persevered, and are excited for the coming celebration, having just established a new running course.
“People came from Canberra, different places around Australia really just to come to our launching event. What we’re hoping is we’ll get more people in the community to come down… and hopefully by doing that we’ll be able to get the word out through the community,” said Amanda.
“The idea behind it is to be accessible to everyone, so it’s a social thing. It’s a routine. It’s for all abilities so we encourage anyone to come take part, whether they’re running, jogging, or walking, just to try and get out once a week for a 5 kilometre walk, and bring friends, family or whoever you want to bring with you. The idea is just that it’s a safe and free community event, run by the community for the community”.
Amanda thanked the volunteers who helped set up previous events, keeping the group running over the last few years and for the 100th event.
“We’ve got a really good volunteer base that comes and help us run each event so that the participants can take part safely and enough people to cover the essential roles”
For those interested in any future runs, Amanda encourages them to “come and give it a go – we’d just love to see more people take part and know that we’re there”.
Griffin Palen
