On their marks for Telford family parkrun fun

While many people are sitting around the breakfast table contemplating what to do with the weekend, Tony and Alison and their four children – Maggie, 10, Charlie, eight, Freddie, seven, and Heidi, five – are in their running gear getting ready to run around Telford Town Park.

The family, from Dukes Way in St Georges, are among the hundreds of people involved with the parkrun movement, which sees runners take to the town park or the Quarry in Shrewsbury to run 5km.

Alison had regularly run as a teenager and competed in cross country events while growing up in Stoke-on-Trent. She decided to take up running again six weeks after Heidi was born – and it is a decision which has seen the whole family get hooked.

Alison was among the volunteers who helped launch Telford parkrun – and until recently she completed the course each week pushing Heidi around in a pushchair.

She said it was a wonderful way for the family to enjoy an activity together and stay fit and healthy at the same time – even if they do complete the course at their own individual pace.

Charlie has completed 100 parkruns, while Tony and Alison have both run the Paris Marathon.

"I didn't think the children would be able to manage 5k at first," said Alison. "But they really surprised me. They had to run a bit, walk a bit and run a bit at first, but within a few weeks they were doing the full course. It is all family time."

They are not alone in getting the parkrun bug. Among the regular participants is 77-year-old Jim Hussey, who completed his 100th run on May 30.

Mr Hussey, from Shelley Drive, Sutton Hill, said: "

It doesn't cost anything. You come out and it's early in the morning so by 9.30am most of them have finished, you go back home and the rest of the day is yours."

He added: "In my time I've run from John O'Groats to Lands End and from Skegness to Blackpool in relays. This was when I was 44, and at that time a reporter asked the organiser 'isn't he a bit old for that?'. I'm still going strong now."

Event organiser Kim Fawkes has helped to organise almost 100 of the runs, including the first one, which took place on February 16, 2013.

She said more and more people are becoming interested in the event – 58 people took part in a beginners' event in April.

She said: "It's been running just over two years now and it's just growing and growing. We're getting around 300 runners each week, which is amazing when you think when we started we were pleased with 180.

"It's a great event with all different ages and abilities, and people running and walking."

Chris Richards, the man responsible for bringing parkruns to the county, said he was thrilled with how it has taken off.

He said: "I joined my father on a parkrun and I was caught off guard by how many different people there were of all ages and abilities. After doing this I wanted to do another so I looked for a parkrun in Telford to find that there wasn't one and that the nearest was in Walsall.

"So I set up a Facebook campaign and discovered that many people were interested in having a parkrun in Telford.

"After several meetings with the NHS and Telford & Wrekin Council, in February 2013 we finally were granted the funding to start the parkrun.

"In the first six months 1,040 people registered online for the run. I really didn't expect to see that many. Now we see more than 200 people each week taking part.

"Although the runners are a huge part of the events, we wouldn't be able to have a run every week without volunteers and I am outstandingly grateful to them all," he added.