'Melton Parkrun is as much about the coffee and cake as the running'

Dozens of people gather for the weekly Parkrun, which is as much about the coffee and cake in the cafe afterwards as improving personal bests.

A real community spirit has been nurtured over the eight years the event has been held at the town’s beautiful, sprawling park.

Runners of all ages, from teenagers to pensioners, meet to run 5km and it’s all free.

As well as the obvious health and fitness benefits, lots of new friendships have been made.

Liz Parkinson, the co-organiser with Richard Gray, told the Melton Times before the start of Saturday’s latest run: “People come to it for lots of different reasons, some do it for health and fitness, some are training for other events and some just enjoy the atmosphere.

“We have a core group every week but we also get tourists and first timers each week.

“For many of us, it is as much about going to the cafe afterwards for a coffee and a cake.

“We are so lucky to have such a wonderful cafe to go to afterwards.”

John Houghton, who also runs with Stilton Striders, loves the atmosphere of Parkrun: “It is a great way of getting into running and it’s a great community.

“We always have some new runners each week and it is lovely that they get a round of applause from everyone.”

Anne Craddock, who is part of the core volunteer group, commented: “I enjoy the community aspect of it.

“There are people who can’t run but they come along every Saturday because they want to help out and it gives them a sense of purpose.”

Another regular, Vicky Lowe, said: “The social element is just amazing. This Parkrun has got a lot of people into running, particularly women who hadn’t run before.”

One of Saturday’s newbies was Liz Mitra, who wanted to get fitter after a milestone birthday.

She told us before the start: “I am 60 so I’ve decided to do things I’ve never done before.

“I went on the treadmill in the gym on December 1 for just a minute and it was so tough.

“But I’ve built it up and this week I ran for 20 minutes.

“I came here because I know the park and everyone says how friendly the Parkrun is.”

Lots of couples run together every week, like Derek and Deanna Kerr.

Deanna said: “It’s such a friendly event and it is so well organised and professional.

“It’s absolutely great to be part of it.”

Saturday’s run attracted two ‘tourists’ - runners in the area affiliated to one of the 778 other Parkruns organised across the UK - from Harlow in Essex and from Bristol.

The runners set off at an impressive pace on two loops of a route around the country park.

They clattered over the footbridge next to the majestic lake before heading under a bridge and ploughing up a steep hill, which prompted some to walk and take a breather for a bit.

One of the volunteer marshals was keen visually-impaired runner, Leigh Pick, who was with her guide dog Geoffrey.

She told us: “I volunteer because I try to give back to the sport as often as I can.

“I require a guide runner when I run for Stilton Striders so I volunteer here to give back for the help I get.

“Parkrun is a great atmosphere - some run to improve their times and others are just here for the cake at the end.”

Andy Nicholls welcomed everyone at the start with a short speech about the regulations and to highlight the day’s new runners and ‘tourists’.

He said: “We usually get about 140 runners every Saturday of all ages.

“For a long time we were a bit of an island in Melton in terms of Parkruns in Leicestershire.

“But now there are Parkruns at Watermead, Belvoir Castle and Loughborough Dishley Parkruns in the area too.”

Ten members of Stilton Striders attended last weekend to act as pacemakers.

And their efforts helped 17 Parkrun members to achieve personal bests.

Andy also organises a Melton junior parkrun every Sunday at 9am.

It is also free and is a 2km run for youngsters aged between four and 14 at Play Close park in the town.

Saturday’s adult Parkrun started in 2015 and has been held every week except for the lockdown periods of the Covid pandemic.

Even then, members were so keen to keep up with their running and to maintain social links that many of them took part in a ‘virtual Parkrun’ where they ran alone and logged their times with the Melton group.

Health and safety is an important focus for those who run Parkrun and fundraising has now generated more than £900 to pay for a second life-saving defibrillator.

The portable AED device assists anyone who has a sudden cardiac arrest and can deliver an electrical shock if required to help restart the heart.

Donations from members contributed to the final figure.

Co-organiser, Liz, added: “It is great news that we will now have access to another AED.

“They are straight forward to use and we will be looking to organise some training so more people are able to use it.”

For more details on Melton Parkrun go online at: www.parkrun.org.uk/meltonmowbray or follow the group on their ‘Melton Mowbray parkrun’ Facebook page.

Go to www.parkrun.org.uk/playclosepark-juniors to find out about the local junior Parkrun.