Cardiff parkrun is a

parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior parkrun) ...

event that takes place every Saturday morning at 9am in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. The parkrun was the first in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and has become the second largest in the UK. The run was started on 16 Feb 2008 and celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2018 with its largest ever attendance.

The course

The course is an out and back run on the

Taff trail The Taff Trail ( cy, Taith Taf) is a popular walking and cycle path that runs for between Cardiff Bay and Brecon in Wales. It is so named because it follows the course of the River Taff. Along much of its length, it follows the National Cycl ...

along the

River Taff The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with th ...

, within

Bute park Bute Park and Arboretum () is a park in Cardiff, Wales. It comprises of landscaped gardens and parkland that once formed the grounds of Cardiff Castle. The park is named after the 3rd Marquess of Bute, whose family owned the castle. History and ...

, and on tarmac footpaths.

Charlotte Arter Charlotte Arter (born 18 June 1991) is a British distance athlete. Arter comes from Cumbria but represents Wales in athletics, having qualified via the residency rule. Arter previously worked for Cardiff University, managing their high performan ...

set the women's parkrun world record time at the course on 5 January 2019 with a time of 15 minutes and 50 seconds. The men's record time for the course is 14 minutes and 24 seconds set by Leuan Thomas. The event director set up nearby Grangemoor parkrun in 2015 and a third parkrun in Cardiff is planned to reduce congestion on the course.

Suspension

The event was briefly suspended in 2011 by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

for health and safety reasons. The suspension was criticised by Kevin Brennan, the local member of parliament, and the

Wales Online Media Wales Ltd. is a publishing company based in Cardiff, Wales. As of 2009 it was owned by Reach plc (formerly known as the Trinity Mirror Group). It was previously known as the Western Mail & Echo Ltd. History The ''Western Mail'' was fo ...

portal remarked that there is a parkrun in war-torn

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The suspension was lifted several days later without interruption to the event.

Notable participants

, Welsh athlete and women's parkrun world record holder *

Helen Jenkins Helen Rebecca Jenkins, ''née'' Tucker (born 8 March 1984) is Two-time Triathlon World Champion (2008 & 2011) Helen Jenkins is one of Britain’s most celebrated triathletes having represented Team GB at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012 & 201 ...

, Welsh Olympian *

Iwan Thomas Iwan Gwyn Thomas (born 5 January 1974) is a Welsh sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 metres, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is a former European, Commonwealth Games and Wo ...

, Welsh Commonwealth champion *

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British ...

, double Olympic Champion

References

{{reflist Parkrun

The course

Suspension

Notable participants

See also

References