On Saturday, April 24, locals gathered at the Narrabri West lake for the weekly parkrun.
The occasion was planned in conjunction with the local Joblink Plus and celebrated NSW Youth Week, since the date fell just days after the state-wide celebrations.
Participants were encouraged to dress up in superhero-themed costumes for this walk or run, with a celebratory barbecue on offer at the finish line.
Volunteers asked locals to “grab a friend and a cape, and come join us at the lake”.
The themed event was originally set for April 17, to mark the beginning of Youth Week, but was delayed a week due to wet weather.
While Narrabri parkrun has welcomed dressing up before, such as the Christmas theme they’ve tried in the past, this is the first time they’d encouraged superhero-wear.
Event director, Barbara Murphy, said the day was a success and her team is excited to plan more themed parkruns.
“We had around 50 people participate on the day, and we’d be keen to do it again,” she said.
“We’ve already talked with Joblink about perhaps running a similar event for next year’s Youth Week.”
Mrs Murphy said it was great to have another local organisation on board for this parkrun and hopes this will lead to more community collaborations in the future.
“Our core group of volunteers has been considering takeover events, where we’d welcome other local groups or businesses to takeover as hosts for one morning,” she said.
“For those events we could even set another theme, like crazy socks or fluoro clothing, to get even more people involved.”
There were plenty of keen walkers and runners in attendance on the day, and with them came a number of event milestones.
Two juniors, Ava and Mia, marked their 10th parkrun completed on Saturday, while Louise celebrated her 50th parkrun.
“We also had about six or seven personal bests broken on the day too,” Mrs Murphy said.
“Which is impressive since we were on track B, as our regular track A was still too wet, and it’s usually slower than the main route.”
But it wasn’t just locals hitting the track, with some participants from Brisbane and Abermain also in attendance.
Mrs Murphy reminds all locals that parkrun is free to enter and is a great way to get socially active.
“You don’t have to run, we have a lot of people who walk the track and have their weekly catch up with friends,” she said.
“And it’s suitable for all ages – doesn’t matter if you’re 4-years-old, or in your 70s and 80s.”
To register to participate or volunteer, head to the parkrun website.
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