Party atmosphere planned as Thurso junior parkrun gets set to celebrate first anniversary
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Organisers of an event that aims to get youngsters in the far north active are hoping for a party atmosphere for their first anniversary on Sunday.
Junior parkrun is part of a global movement that sees children around the world running or walking a local 2km course every Sunday morning.
The Thurso event – officially called Millbank Boating Pond junior parkrun – is gearing up for a fun birthday event this weekend to mark the occasion.
And the volunteers behind the run are hoping to encourage more children to take part for this special event – with the promise of sweet treats for all finishers.
The parkrun stats show that the event has an average of 16.3 finishers each week.
Marie Cuthbert, the event director at Millbank Boating Pond junior parkrun, says it has been an amazing first year.
“We have a regular group of juniors who take part and they are a great bunch of kids,” she said. “They all support each other getting around the 2km, and I love to see them giving each other high fives as they pass each other.”
Donna Stewart is an ambassador and one of the run directors for the Thurso event. She explained that the children can earn wristbands for reaching milestones for the number of junior parkruns they have completed.
After 11 events, they earn a half-marathon band, 21 finishes earns them a marathon band, and after 50 junior parkruns they get an ultra-marathon band.
Six-year-old Ellie, who has completed 36 events, says junior parkrun is good fun and “I feel good when I get personal bests. I have made some new friends at junior parkrun. The volunteers are good at cheering us on.”
Kieran (9) has completed 33 junior parkruns and, asked what he thinks of junior parkrun, he said: “Ten out of 10. I love it. It’s fun to run with others, even if I don’t know them. And I love beating my personal best.”
Ava (11) has completed 35 junior parkruns and says she loves how friendly parkrun is, “everyone is really happy and cheers you on when you run”.
Donna said that nine of the regular participants have earned their marathon band while a further seven have reached the half-marathon milestone. “And there’s a bit of a competition between them to see who’s going to be first to get their ultra band for doing 50!”
However, she explained that it’s not about getting the fastest time. “It’s a fun event where there’s no pressure on the kids to perform, so it’s about participation rather than what times they get,” Donna said.
“We have kids come and walk it, they can run, or run-walk, it’s whatever they want to do to get round. It’s also a safe environment for juniors to take part independently because we’ve got the marshals and the volunteers, so generally after the first week they really relish that they can come and do something independently.
“And it’s free as well – I think that’s a really important aspect of it. The kids, whatever background they come from, they can come down and get involved.
“The feedback we get from the parents is that it’s a really supportive environment and they don’t feel it’s competitive. The kids aren’t hurried, the time’s irrelevant. A lot of sport can be quite competitive for juniors but it’s not like that, it’s just about getting round.
“It would be great to see more kids coming along and getting involved.”
There will be cakes and sweets at the end this Sunday for the children who take part, as well as teas and coffees for the volunteers.
Event director Marie added that she is thankful for all the support that the volunteers give to junior parkrun. “To allow the juniors to run independently there is a marshal every 100m, which means that we need a minimum of 13 volunteers each week to take part,” she said.
“We have an amazing group of volunteers of all ages from teenagers to those in their 70s and their feedback is that they love the atmosphere at juniors and seeing the kids take part. It is such a good way to start your Sunday morning.”
Donna added: “We’ve got a core group of people who come along and help, and we’ve got parents as well that come and help, but it’s always good to have a broad range of volunteers we can call on.”
Junior parkrun is at the boating pond on Sunday at 9.30am. Parking is available at the swimming pool opposite the park.
The route involves two laps of the pond with a couple of doglegs to make up the 2km distance. Those wishing to take part who haven’t done so before should register at www.parkrun.org.uk/register/?eventName=millbankboatingpond-juniors and get a parkrun barcode which records your finishes.
