The new junior parkrun at West Lothian Cycle Circuit has got off to a great start, thanks to members of Linlithgow Athletic Club.
Provost Elizabeth Park cutting the ribbon on 16th July
Many club members will already be aware of this, but the new parkrun finally launched, following a lot of time and effort that was put in by a number of our members. Particular mention goes to Neil Anderson, Ian Fyfe, Ann Allman, David Main Reade and Eleanor Fyfe who are part of the ‘core’ team.
Also - did you know that parkrun requires a sizeable chunk of cash to set up a new event?
It’s true that parkrun is always free to the participants, but the organisers need to provide money to get it started. In this case, the startup costs were £4,000. This covers the initial cost of kit, and the administrative changes to be made on the parkrun website. Also, to be fair to parkrun… they are committing to maintain the event on a perpetual basis.
Linlithgow Athletic Club put up half these costs, using funds that were raised via our successful annual 10k. This type of investment is entirely consistent with our ethos of encouraging wellbeing through running, within the local community. We also give thanks to LCDT for providing the cycle circuit free of charge each Sunday morning.
So after months of planning and preparation, the opening weekend saw 86 runners. These numbers held up well on the second week, with 67 participants.
As always, parkrun relies on goodwill and assistance from the community - especially volunteers. If you think you could help out occasionally, please drop a note to westlothiancyclecircuitjuniors@parkrun.com - they will be delighted to hear from you.
And of course, if there is a 4-14yr old in your house who would benefit from fresh air on a Sunday morning - then you can get them registered at https://www.parkrun.org.uk/westlothiancyclecircuit-juniors
Long live the junior parkrun!
(all photos edit: Roddy Simpson)
