By Matthew Sims
Runners, joggers and strollers of all ages celebrated the 9th birthday of the Frog Hollow parkrun in Endeavour Hills in style last weekend.
The party theme was out in full force as 118 members took on the course at David Collins Reserve with support from 13 volunteers on Saturday 10 June.
Frog Hollow parkrun event co-director Lynette Pritchard said it was a special milestone to celebrate, especially following previous birthday celebrations being cancelled due to the Covid pandemic.
“Since the launch of Frog Hollow parkrun, 4,567 parkrunnerss have completed 32,601 parkruns covering a total distance of 163,005 kilometres,” she said.
“There were 98 runners and 14 volunteers at the launch.
“Since then, we have evolved and changed but we have kept the same family friendly vibe since the start.”
By 2020, the event had grown to attracting more than 100 runners a week, with six to eight volunteers filling roles each week.
Ms Pritchard said the record number of runners was 327 on Christmas Day in 2019.
“Of the parkrunners who scanned their barcodes, twenty-six have gone on to complete 250 or more parkruns,” she said.
“Nine have completed between three hundred and three hundred and ninety-nine parkruns.
“Six have completed four hundred or more parkruns, with the person who has completed the most currently on 459.”
Ms Pritchard said the success of the event was due to the efforts of their volunteer base.
“Without our wonderful volunteers, parkrun simply doesn’t happen,” she said.
“Almost every week, somewhere in Australia an event has to be cancelled because of insufficient volunteers.
“We don’t want Frog Hollow to be one of them.”
The Frog Hollow parkrun runs for free every Saturday, with the first timer briefing at 7.45am and event briefing from 7.50am, with the first runners starting at 8am.
For more information, visit www.parkrun.com.au\froghollow
