South Shields parkrun returns this weekend, with hundreds expected to take part

The much-loved event along South Shields’ coastline will be held for the first time in more than a year on Saturday, July 24.

Kicking off outside of the Sand Dancer pub at 9am, the run will follow the usual 5k route as before the pandemic, finishing on the Leas near to the Bamburghpub.

Colin Robson, event director for South Shields parkrun, expects “around 300 athletes” to take part in Saturday’s race.

“We are very excited to get back to parkruns every Saturday and reconnect with our community and visitors to the town,” he said.

"We are very confident of delivering a Covid-secure event following the guidelines put together by parkrun UK.”

Runners can expect to see changes in the way volunteers interact with the athletes in order for the event to run in a Covid-secure way.

This will mean that volunteers will use apps on their phones instead of stopwatches and scanners to record times at the finish line.

Runners who want their time recorded will still need to register with parkrun and bring their personal barcode to get scanned at the end.

The pre-run brief will also be shorter in order to minimise people being close to each other for a prolonged period of time.

Parkrun organisers have also confirmed that anyone can turn up on the day to take part in the event as there will be no pre-run registration.

Parkrun events are free and take place each week, organised and operated by volunteers, with some areas operating junior 2k events on Sunday mornings for children aged from four to 14.

Runners need to register online at https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/ before going along to their nearest event.

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