Runners set off on first parkrun at Great Denham

Runners have been training for the event which took place on Saturday, February 17, around the country park and meadows, starting at the play park at 9am.

Toby Chinn, the race director, gave a briefing and talked about making history in small ways.

The race started with 240 runners, who started to thin out at the first corner.

At the finish line there was a lot of support and cheering from the marshals and the local community, and the first runner, Ian Halpin, came in at 17:01 providing an excellent benchmark for this first event.

A parkrun spokesman said: “The volunteers were friendly and did a fantastic job in organising the event. As the runners were leaving they were busily chatting, pleased and excited by the event and course and were making plans for future events.”

The event will now take place every Saturday morning at 9am. All welcome but please register at the parkrun website.