Parkrun: Free weekly 5k events set to return in over 500 locations on 26 June - BBC Sport
Parkrun events set to return in over 500 locations on 26 June after gaining approval from a large number of local authorities.
Last updated on .From the section Athletics

Parkrun events are set to return in more than 500 locations on 26 June after approval was gained from a large number of local authorities.

Organisers had said they were "fearful for our future" and asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to intercede.

The free 5km events were due to resume on 5 June but were delayed after only a third of landowners gave permission.

The new restart date is subject to the UK government's coronavirus roadmap announcement on 14 June.

Parkrun's chief operating officer Tom Williams said: "We are celebrating today, as we now know that Parkrun will return in England before too long."

Organisers required a significant number of landowners to give permission for the weekly runs to return to avoid overcrowding at the mass participation event if only limited venues were available.

They said last month that 250 locations in England had given them permission to return, but that this fell "far short" of the number needed to prevent overcrowding at the areas given the go-ahead.

Cabinet ministers Robert Jenrick and Oliver Dowden, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and World Athletics president Lord Coe all backed the return of the event, which was suspended in March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• None Motherland returns for a third season of playdate politics and PTA terror
• None Was Lord Byron the most scandalous celebrity of the 19th century?