HUNDREDS of local people started their weekend by battling the muddy conditions of Prudhoe’s Riverside Country Park.

Just short of 300 runners took part in the first parkrun event in the town, splodging around two laps of the route to complete an early morning 5km run.

Parkrun is a free global initiative to get people out running at 9am on Saturday mornings, and it took a lot of hard work by local volunteers to bring it to the Tyne Valley.

But the hard work of the large team paid off, with serious runners, recreational ones and newcomers, both old and young, enjoying the launch event this weekend.

At the head of the core team is the enthusiastic Holly Kelleher who was overwhelmed with the support from local runners.

Through her involvement with Prudhoe-based triathlon club Castle Tri, she runs a monthly Couch to 5K group at Druridge Bay parkrun and mentioned to a friend back in February she would like to bring one to Tynedale.

With the help of many people along the way, the team raised the required £3,000 to launch the event.

Holly said: “I feel quite emotional about the parkrun launch.

“I never imagined so many people would turn up and so many came over and introduced themselves as people who had at some point sent me a message or email or money, and I realised what a long journey we’ve been on and how hard earned our parkrun was by the whole community.

“At the risk of sounding sentimental, it feels like a community parkrun and it feels like we have given a gift to Prudhoe where people have another reason to come to our town and see what a beautiful place we live in.”

The ethos of parkrun is to get as many people as possible running, and the Prudhoe event certainly ticked the box.

There were children as young as five-years-old taking part alongside those in the 70s, with three generations of the Burgess family taking the opportunity to exercise right on their doorstep.

Usually heading to Blackhill on Saturday mornings, five-year-old Isaac joined mother Beth and grandmother Mary for the short walk down the road for the Prudhoe event.

Mary said: “Isaac ran all the way and never stopped once, and it is great to have these events as it doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are, and it’s a safe environment with people checking you are there.

“We usually go to Blackhill so it is amazing to be able to walk down and not have to travel, and we are very grateful to all the people who have made this possible.”

Local runner Alison Malcolm returned to the Riverside Park to take part in a run 30 years after first doing so.

She was involved in the 10km Run for the World event in 1986, and was keen to come back and join in with the latest run hosted there.

She said: “Today’s event was good, probably because I knew it was shorter! I just felt I had to come and do it when I saw it advertised. There was a small child running in front of me the whole way, which was a bit embarrassing as she was only five, but that just shows the range of people from young children right up to people in their 70s.”

Wylam-based runner Donna Maughan regularly uses the route as part of her weekly training schedule, and was pleased to be sharing it with a lot of other like-minded people on the day.

A recreational runner, she gets out two or three times a week and will be aiming to join in the parkrun every other weekend when work commitments allow. She said: “It was a fantastic event and an absolutely brilliant turn out, and it is so fantastic having this on the doorstep.

“It was a brilliant course albeit a very muddy one, but that just adds to the challenge.

“You see more and more people out running these days, and this type of event will only inspire more to get out too.”

While most were running for fun, there were more serious runners looking to record good times.

Earning the accolade of setting the fastest time at the first event was Morpeth Harrier Mark Snowball with 17 minutes and 29 seconds, followed by runner-up Andy Green (18:15), of Tynedale Harriers.

Prudhoe High School pupil Jack Boaden put in a fantastic run to record a new PB over 5km, his time of 18:17 seeing the 15-year-old with the third fastest time overall.

Peak District visitor Elizabeth Leason (20:47), of Glossopdale Harriers, was fastest female runner.