The Sussex Newspaper - Great news for a great county!

The inaugural Eastbourne Parkrun attracted a staggering 120 people last Saturday with some runners travelling all the way from London to take part.

The new 5km Parkrun, which takes place at Shinewater Park, will now become a regular fixture in Eastbourne’s sporting calendar taking place every Saturday at 9am.

The free Parkrun has been brought to Eastbourne by Parkrun Event Director Stuart Pelling following many other successful courses around the country and runners can take part for free competing against their own personal clocks every weekend.

Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism and Leisure, Cllr Neil Stanley said “It is fantastic to hear how well Eastbourne’s first Parkrun went on Saturday and the huge number of people who took part is very promising. The course is fairly flat, which makes it ideal for runners of all abilities and paces. With plenty of sporting events coming up in 2012, the Parkrun is a great way to keep fit every week and prepare for some of Eastbourne’s more gruelling sporting events!”

Saturday’s first Parkrun attracted an impressive number of runners from Eastbourne and surrounding towns and villages with one entrant cycling all the way from London to take part!

The Parkrun is completely free to take part in but runners must register first at www.parkrun.org.uk/eastbourne. With several runners already talking about last weekend’s run, more than 200 people have now registered in total and Event Director Stuart is looking forward to building the numbers each week.

Stuart said “I was really pleased with how Saturday’s run went and it has been really useful to get feedback from the runners so we can continue to make improvements to the course. With more and more people registering every day, it is exciting to be able to offer a regular activity for runners in Eastbourne and the nearby area.”

Once they register, runners will be sent a personalised barcode and must bring this with them on the day. They will be emailed their results each week, making it easy to track progress.

With the first run now over, the first course records have been set with Tim Lunnon completing the course in 18.29 minutes and Sue Fry, from Seaford, the first female to finish in 20.08 minutes.

For more information and to register for this weekend’s Parkrun go to www.parkrun.org.uk/eastbourne.