THE ORGANISERS of the popular Hanbury parkrun which was enjoyed by hundreds of runners on a weekly basis are having to look for a new venue for the weekly 5K event.
And they want to hear suggestions from runners about possible replacement courses in the Bromsgrove area.
The event attracted 2,900 runners during the 26 weeks it ran – from July 2 to New Year’s Eve – an average of 112 participants a week.
A statement on the Hanbury Park Run website thanked the runners for their support and their patience while another venue was being sought.
It also praised parkrun headquarters for its support, understanding and proactive approach and said the event had an extremely committed team of core volunteers who were determined to make the next venture work.
With regard to the cancellation of the race it read: “We have reached the juncture where we have to accept that there is no way forwards and a need to cancel the event.
“The plan is now to find a new home for our parkrun, which will take time and effort from all the core volunteers and we hope that you will bear with us whilst we try and identify a new venue that will be sustainable going forwards.
“The whole process will be like starting a parkrun from scratch, so there will be lots to do, and I hope you can appreciate these take time.”
It concluded by saying it would update the runners and other interested parties on any developments and progress.
A spokesperson for the National Trust, which runs Hanbury Hall, said: “We’ve really enjoyed being part of the Parkrun community and are sorry to see the event end at Hanbury Hall.
“We’ve been working with Parkrun to find a way to continue the weekly runs, but regrettably they’ll have to stop because of European regulations around the frequency of non-agricultural events crossing farmland.”
He added the monthly 10k runs operated by Hanbury Hall on the last Sunday of the month would still take place.
The runs are free to enter.
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