Parkrun events in Brighton and Hove given the go ahead to return on June 26

Hundreds of people took part in the free 5k events every Saturday before the pandemic and it was hoped they would resume on June 5. But last week parkrun UK announced it had been forced to delay the planned reopening of the events as the amount of landowner permissions given fell short of the numbers needed.

Now hoping to return on June 26, Brighton and Hove City Council has confirmed it is 'now satisfied' the parkrun events at East Brighton Park, Hove Park, Hove Promenade, Bevendean Down and Preston Park can go ahead.

Parkrun UK has added four of the events to its list of those with landowner permission, with only Hove Park not yet on the list despite the council's approval.

A council spokesperson said: “We have had a lot of very positive discussions in recent weeks with Parkrun organisers about the five local Parkruns that they are planning to restart. Following extensive consideration of the risks involved, we are now satisfied that the five Parkruns can go ahead on June 26 as the organisers have requested.

"Our outdoor events team will be liaising with the organisers and carrying out operational checks when the runs restart."

On deciding not to resume on June 5, Parkrun UK said that although more than 250 events now had landowner permission to return, the number fell far short of the critical mass needed to prevent overwhelming those that have been given the go ahead.

With more than three million registered parkrunners across England, and around 300,000 people taking part on a typical weekend, opening a small subset of parkruns was not viable, parkrun UK said.

With a number of landowners responding positively to discussions on whether permission would be granted for a later date, parkrun UK decided to target Saturday, June 26 to resume all 5k events across England. A decision will be made regarding the go ahead for this new date on Friday, June 11.

Nick Pearson, parkrun chief executive, said: “We will continue to work hard with landowners over the coming weeks to secure the permissions needed to return at the end of June.

“We are incredibly grateful to all of the landowners who have granted events permission to return so far and for the groundswell of support for parkrun over recent days.

“Although it is disappointing not to be able to return on Saturday 5 June, we are still optimistic that we can return parkrun events to nearly 600 communities across England very soon.

“We will do everything we can to ensure events restart on Saturday 26 June.”

Have you also read: Walk a stunning section of the Sussex coast to support Cancer Research UK | Brighton & Hove Independent (brightonandhoveindependent.co.uk)The Brighton Indy is back in print! Get your free copy this Friday at Brighton Railway Station. After that, the Brighton Indy will be on sale in shops for £1 every Friday.