Running is open

Last week parkrun CEO Nick Pearson announced that the events' comeback was on hold again. That's disappointing for many runners, but the parkrun statement wasn't all bad news for those of us wanting to get out for a run.

Good news: There's an increasing amount of scientific evidence that COVID-19 transmission risks from organised outdoor physical activity are significantly lower than indoor activity. The latest research, published just last week, showed transmission is 18x less likely outdoors than it is indoors. So there's hope that organised running events will continue to be exempt from the "rule of six" and local authorities will start to re-open their open spaces.

Bad news: parkrun itself is off the cards for the forseeable future. During this time of increasing restrictions nationwide, it is clearly hard to gain the required consensus to re-open a series of events which regularly attracts 350,000+ runners. It also seems likely the additional cost of making every parkrun across the country "COVID-19 secure" is a bridge too far right now.

Good news (part deux): For many commercial Race Organisers putting on safe, fun events is what they do, even when the definition of "safe" changes. And many races that have taken place in "COVID-19 secure" conditions recently are getting great reviews. They aren't just safe, they are also lots of FUN.

So:

• Don't let the parkrun news put you off getting out there for a run by yourself (or in accordance to your current local regulations).
• Don't let it stop you entering races with COVID-19 Safety Plans in place. Look for the blue tick next to events on findarace.com.

There are hundreds of events happening up and down the country giving thousands of people the opportunity to get that race day feeling we have all been missing out on.

Here's what runner's have been saying about recent events they've taken part in:

findarace.com Kew Gardens 10k - 12th September 2020

The Fox Ultra - 19th September 2020

Goodwood - 27th September 2020