Parkrun returns in England

“Following detailed conversations with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Sport England, and Public Health England, I am delighted to announce that we intend to reopen parkrun and junior parkrun events in England toward the end of October this year,” said CEO Nick Pearson in a statement.

“In early August we published our COVID-19 Framework, which details how parkrun events will be delivered where there remains an underlying level of COVID-19 in the community. This Framework represents what we feel is the safest we can make parkrun events, whilst, at the same time, respecting the principles that allow parkruns to positively impact the health and happiness of those they engage.

“Since then, we have sought feedback and suggestions from the global parkrun community, across 22 countries, as well as from public health bodies and governments around the world.

“Furthermore we commissioned a rapid review of the evidence by Canterbury Christ Church University, which concluded that, with appropriate evidence-based mitigations in place, it is possible to deliver outdoor events and activities across a range of sectors, and of varying sizes and formats, in a way that does not significantly increase risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“During this time we have also been closely following developments around the level of COVID-19 infection across the UK, and its impact on health. According to data published by the Government and the Office for National Statistics, it is clear that, at this moment in time, the number of infectious people in the UK is relatively low, and the numbers of people in hospital continue to fall.

“Based on the above evidence, and the mitigations presented in our COVID-19 Framework, we feel that the risk of parkrun events significantly contributing to the spread of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom is small.”