Over fifty joggers braved bad weather forecasts this Saturday to turn up for a 5k run Barry Island on the occasion of International Parkrun day.
This is the occasion when every parkrun event in the world celebrates parkrun’s birthday - the day when the first ever event was held at in London's Bushy Park. It comprised just 13 runners supported by four volunteers.
Since then, 1,803,793 people have completed a parkrun thanks to 214,866 volunteers. The runners have run more than 90 million km (56 million miles) in 14 countries.
In the UK, there are now 418 5k parkruns plus another 124 2k junior parkruns. On a typical weekend, over 100,000 people across the UK enjoy a parkrun.
Since it started in May 2015, there have been 73 Barry Island parkruns, thanks to 247 different volunteers. 1,807 different runners, aged from 4 to 84, have already completed 6,672 5k runs covering a total distance of 33,360 km (20,773 miles).
Keen runner and Vale MP Alun Cairns participated in the run, and gave a speech beforehand celebrating the work of parkrun volunteers.
He described the local volunteers as “brilliant people” who make the runs possible “week in week out, rain or shine.”
Mr Cairns said, “Can you imagine a public sector department, a government agency running the parkrun, how complicated it would be, and how many full time staff they would have?”
He went on to describe the positive way that the parkrun had integrated with the community, running groups, local businesses and the local government.
Work is also progressing on bringing a 2k junior parkrun to the Vale of Glamorgan in the near future.