Parkrun in the Rheinaue 40 runners at first Parkrun

Bonn · The first Parkrun in NRW took place in the Rheinaue at the weekend. The 5km free run will take place every Saturday at 9am. The idea for the weekly sporting event comes from England and has spread across the globe.

 40 runners ran through the Rheinaue and were timed free of charge.

40 runners ran through the Rheinaue and were timed free of charge.

Foto: Privat

40 runners showed up in icy temperatures on Saturday at the start line in the Rheinaue, Martin-Luther-King-Straße 40, between the baseball stadium and the halfpipe, to be part of the first Parkrun in NRW. In future, the free run is to take place every Saturday at 9am. On days when other events are planned in the Rheinaue, there will be alternative routes.

Those helping with the Parkrun are easy to spot because of their bright high visibility vests. After a short introduction, the starting gun goes off just after 9am. Signs and cones mark out the 2.5 kilometre long route for the runners. Two circuits are run so that participants end up doing five kilometres – those who want to can also simply walk. Times are recorded and allocated to runners using a barcode, which participants print out at home, and small chips, which the organisers hand out before the run.

Children are just as welcome as dogs. “There is also no last place,” emphasises Elke Gunderman, organiser of the Parkrun in Bonn. A helper with a red high visibility vest signals the end of each run. As well as running, it is about getting to know people and exchanging experiences. The weekly sporting event has spread from England across the entire globe. There are already more than 200,000 runs worldwide. “We are the fifteenth in Germany and the first in NRW,” says Gundermann proudly. Together with colleagues, the enthusiastic runner from Bonn responded to a call from Parkrun Germany on Facebook and agreed to bring the event to Bonn.

Further information under: www.parkrun.com.de/rheinaue

(Original text: Elena Kuss. Translation: kc)

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