Record-breaking turnout as thousands get moving for the Centenary parkrun weekend

Thousands of people across Stoke-on-Trent came together for a record-breaking parkrun weekend to celebrate the city’s Centenary.

Over two days - Saturday 14 June and Sunday 15 June - 2,387 people took part in one of four parkrun events, making it the biggest city-wide parkrun celebration the city has ever seen.

All four events smashed previous attendance records – with 335 people joining a parkrun for the first time. 

At Trentham Gardens, 1,434 runners took part, making it the second largest parkrun in the country that day.

Hanley Park welcomed 530 runners, while the junior parkruns saw 243 children in Longton – the second largest junior parkrun nationally that day – and 180 in Burslem Park take part.

The record-breaking weekend was made possible with the help of 140 volunteers - whose support, friendliness and dedication added to the incredible atmosphere. 

To mark the city’s 100-year milestone, all runners and volunteers received a special commemorative Centenary medal.

Liz Tideswell, regional parkrun ambassador for Staffordshire and part of the team at Hanley parkrun, said: “I'm incredibly proud of the teams at Trentham Gardens, Hanley, Longton and Burslem.

“They all coped incredibly with such large numbers of participants, showing their dedication, enthusiasm and community spirit. It was great to collaborate with the City Council on this - thank you to everyone involved in making it happen and well done to everyone who took part.”

The Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Steve Watkins, said: “The Centenary parkruns were a spectacle and a true celebration of what makes Stoke-on-Trent special.

“It was inspiring to see thousands of people, whether they were doing their first parkrun or their 100th, come together to mark this incredible milestone for our city. The community spirit and positivity across the weekend were amazing and all the participants and volunteers made sure it was one of many highlights on our Centenary programme of events.”

The Centenary parkruns were part of a year-long programme of events celebrating 100 years since Stoke-on-Trent received city status. To find out more about the events taking place throughout the year go to sot100.org.uk. 

To learn more about leisure services in Stoke-on-Trent, visit https://activestoke.co.uk/

To learn more about parkrun and the weekly events you can register to participate or volunteer, visit the website: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/.