- News represents significant victory for organisers
- Plan will hinge on government easing lockdown
Parkrun organisers will announce on Friday afternoon that it can return on 26 June in England following a huge rush of late approvals over the past 24 hours, the Guardian can reveal. The news will delight the 300,000 regular participants in the free 5km-timed event, and marks a significant victory for organisers who had feared an impasse that would take months to settle.
As of Friday morning, parkrun now has permission from 506 out of 589 local councils and landowners across England. That figure is markedly up from last month, when just 250 had granted permission, forcing parkrun to postpone its planned return by three weeks. Crucially parkrun now has enough events in major cities, including London, Manchester and Newcastle, to resume without fears of overwhelming some parkruns.
