Running in Norfolk on a high!
15 November 2013
Earlier this month more than 150 people took part in the inaugural Blickling parkrun – Norfolk’s tenth parkrun and the second to be set up in the county in the last two months.
The other - Catton parkrun - saw its first event take place on Saturday 12 October, with a whopping 183 people tackling the multi-terrain 5K on the outskirts of Norwich.
The parkruns, which take place at 9am every Saturday, are a great way to take in the fantastic surroundings these places have to offer.
Catton Park consists of an historic 70-acre landscape, filled with a wild flower meadow and mixed woodland, while the Jacobean house with beautiful gardens and parkland at Blickling Estate (a.k.a ‘Bono’s House’ for all the Alan Partridge fans out there, and once the home of the Boleyn family) is one of Norfolk’s top visitor attractions and just a short drive from the sandy beaches of Sheringham and Cromer.
On the back of the Catton parkrun, Active Norfolk – whose running project is led by former Olympic marathon runner Paul Evans – started a 10-week beginners’ course. The course starts at 11am on Saturday mornings with the aim being that by week 10 all the beginners will be able to complete the Catton parkrun.
Paul and his team have been busy encouraging people to run in Norfolk and Suffolk and more than 2,000 complete beginners have got into running through Run England groups in those counties over the last 18 months, so it’s great news that these new runners now have even more opportunities to take part in organised 5K runs in beautiful settings.
The huge impact that the Active Norfolk and Suffolk Sport Running Project has made to beginner running across the two counties was recognised at the recent England Athletics Hall of Fame and National Volunteer Awards night where the project won Run England Project of the Year.
There are now more than 70 running groups across the two counties, and details of these, along with more than 2,100 registered running groups nation-wide can be found at runengland.org/groups.
Visit parkrun.org.uk to find out more about parkrun - a great way to add extra motivation and a social element to your running group in a fun, beginner-friendly atmosphere.
The National Trust looks after some of the most special outdoor spaces in the country, and running is a great way to enjoy them! Find out more about what the National Trust has to offer at nationaltrust.org.uk/running.
Photo by Jo Bosch
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