Harriet enjoys celebrations at superb Waterlooville junior parkrun

Waterlooville junior parkrun. Picture: Duncan Shepherd

She has completed 98 runs at Waterlooville juniors and is also a regular at Havant parkrun on Saturdays,

The first ever Waterlooville junior parkrun was held on October 4, 2015 and the event has gone from strength to strength since then.

It provides a great opportunity for children to meet and enjoy some fresh air while all the family can join in with the fun.

The volunteer roles are enjoyable and there is always lots of cheering and supporting as family members run alongside the juniors.

Many of the children are regulars and have become great friends while newcomers are always welcomed.

Event director Cathy Beresford has seen the Sunday morning 2k regularly attract a big crowd with a record attendance of 102.

She said: ‘We have been really pleased with the response.

‘Regularly we have 60 to 80 children and that’s fantastic. Many of our children are regulars and have been coming for two years now. We are very, very pleased with that.

‘The parents and family members have been brilliant. We very rarely have to look for volunteers because our roster is usually full in advance for each event.

‘I used to do parkrun on a Saturday and then I was a run director at the Eastney junior parkrun.

‘Jubilee park is near where I grew up and I felt it would be a perfect venue for the event.

‘It’s lovely to see more junior parkruns starting up as well. They provide lots of benefits for the long term. This is a good community event.

‘The children come from different schools so they wouldn’t normally meet otherwise but they are all great friends. As soon as they come here they are playing and having a good time.

‘It’s good for the parents also. Some people who are not runners can be a bit daunted by doing a 5k but the 2k is manageable.

‘They can run it with their children who really enjoy it because they can take their parents around their run with them.

‘We have a close family atmosphere and everyone is very supportive.

‘The only thing we would like is a bit more sunshine at the moment. The kids don’t seem to mind the rain but for the parents I’m sure they would prefer a bit of dry weather.’

Waterlooville junior parkrun is a 2k run for juniors only (four to 14 year olds). It is held every Sunday at 9am in Jubilee Park, PO7 6AW.

It is free to take part but important to be registered first on the parkrun website, then get your barcode printed out and scanned at the finish to give a finishing time and position.