Bathurst parkrun celebrates its 300th edition at Peace Park

The weekly Saturday morning run at 8am has become a staple in the lives of many Bathurst residents.

The selling point for the free volunteer-run event is that the five kilometre distance can be run or walked for whatever individual goal people want to achieve.

For some it's been a means to kickstart a more active lifestyle or stay connected with the community while for others it's the perfect training tool for major athletics events.

People representing all those different goals turned up for Saturday's milestone event.

Run director Jenn Arnold said it's been a treat to witness the growth of Bathurst parkrun from its first event back in July 2016.

"We've had just over 600 people volunteer over those 300 parkruns. There are people who participate in parkrun in ways other than running or walking it. There's all sorts of options," she said.

"When we started parkrun it was so quickly well received and welcomed by so many different types of people in the community.

"It wasn't just the dyed-in-the-wool runners that were coming along. There were lots of families, older people and those who have never run before who wanted to be a part of it."

Bathurst parkrun has enjoyed its share of memorable moments over the course of its 300 editions.

The run smashed its attendance record during February's World Athletics Cross Country Championships weekend and has become a way for people to start their Christmas morning in an active way.

It's even been a place to celebrate a wedding.

"Having the big crowd of 511 runners when the World Cross Country Championships was a huge achievement," Arnold said.

"But it's even the little moments, like seeing some of our younger runners who might have been 10 or younger when we started parkrun now leading the charge.

"There's been stories of people meeting at parkrun, and we had a wedding held with Wayne [Cole] and Belinda [Wright] just after a parkrun one morning, and were married by another parkrunner who was a marriage celebrant.

"There's also the story of Anne [Drummond] who continued running and walking at Bathurst parkrun during the entirety of her cancer treatment. Having people around her, supporting and motivating her made a difference.

"It's impacted people's lives in many ways."

Drummond was the tail walker for Saturday's 300^th run and is just five more weekends away from bringing up her 250^th Bathurst parkrun.

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