Health and Fitness / parkrun
Celebrating 15 years of parkrun at Ashton Court
Hundreds of people turned out in the sun on Saturday morning to celebrate 15 years of Ashton Court parkrun.
Bristol’s first parkrun began in 2011 with around 80 weekly entrants, and has blossomed to around 500 turning out each Saturday.
For the uninitiated, parkrun is a 5km event that is free to enter and can be completed either by running or walking or a bit of both.
There are now plenty of parkruns across the Bristol area including at Eastville Park, Blaise Castle and Mangotsfield, as well as 2km junior parkruns every Sunday morning at Greville Smyth Park, Victoria Park, Kingweston, Horfield Common and Eastville Park.
First over the finish line on Saturday morning at Ashton Court – whose infamous route is uphill for the first half and then back downhill for the second – was YouTuber Max Kelly with a time of 16 minutes and 18 seconds.
Runners and walkers of all ages were at Ashton Court parkrun’s 15th anniversary event from children to an 89-year-old – photo: Molly Pipe
For Fi Lang, who was there at the very first event at Ashton Court in 20111 and who has since surpassed the 500 parkruns milestone, parkrun’s acceptance of everyone is what makes parkrun so appealing.
“It’s really inclusive,” she said. “There are no barriers to entry.
“There’s a real sense of community at Ashton Court, but if you go to any parkrun anywhere in the world there’s that same sense of community.
“It’s the best thing since the NHS.”
Alan Wilcox met his wife at Ashton Court parkrun – photo: Molly Pipe
Ashton Court parkrun has an added layer of meaning for Alan Wilcox, who was also at the first ever one and has now run 706 parkruns.
Alan met his wife Sheila at this parkrun. She was one of the other runners and the two started dating, eventually getting engaged – at an Ashton Court parkrun.
“It was her birthday, so I got her some flowers and got down on one knee against that tree,” he said, pointing to a spot just ten metres from the starting line.
When the time came to get married, Alan and Sheila even tied the knot at Ashton Court, but at the mansion not at the parkrun.
“It’s just a lovely place,” Alan said.
Ashton Court parkrun founder Geoff Keogh agreed: “It ticked all the boxes in terms of space and having a cafe. The only box it didn’t tick was the one for flatness.
“But we have grown to love our hill. It’s the hill we love to hate.”
Main photo: Molly Pipe
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