DAME KELLY HOLMES ATTENDS ONE MILLIONTH PARKRUN AT BUSHY PARK

Dame Kelly Holmes attended the one millionth parkrun event at Bushy Park in west London on Saturday morning. The milestone celebration marked 22 years since the inaugural event was held at the same location in October 2004, when just 13 runners and five volunteers participated. The original event was called the Bushy Park Time Trial. Holmes, an Olympic gold medallist in the 800 metres and 1500 metres, wore a "Celebrating 1m" t-shirt as she joined the large turnout.

Parkrun has expanded significantly since its inception, now operating over 2,800 events across 23 countries. Free, timed 5-kilometre runs take place every Saturday, with 2-kilometre junior parkruns held on Sundays. Parkrun founder Paul Sinton-Hewitt and parkrun Global chief executive Elizabeth Duggan participated in the landmark event. Runners held cards reading "thanks a million" and queued at finish funnels to record their times on the sunny morning in the capital.

Sinton-Hewitt stated that reaching one million events was "never in the plan" and that nobody anticipated the organisation would reach this milestone. He indicated the next million runs would arrive much faster than the first. Sinton-Hewitt said he does not involve himself in the day-to-day operations of parkrun and intends to retire from the organisation within approximately one year. In January, the King attended Sandringham parkrun in Norfolk as a spectator.