Monmouth Town Councillors (MTC) met with Parkrun organisers to assist in their aim to bring a running event to Monmouth.

Parkrun organisers Mark Williamson and Emma King spoke with MTC about the prospect of bringing a course to Monmouth. There have been previous attempts to get Parkrun to Monmouth - however a solid course has not been developed. Mark told the People and Planning committee that as a result of the Chippenham play park being repositioned a route has somewhat opened up for a free, weekly, timed event. An additional benefit to Monmouth having a Parkrun would be a boost to local tourist. Around 50 per cent of participants in Parkruns are tourists.Bringing the Parkrun to Monmouth doesn’t require funding from the council, as the funding has already been secured through the Welsh regional ambassador and Sport Wales.Chair of the meeting Cllr Terry Christopher said: "Personally, I think it’s a fantastic idea. I think it’s got major benefits, health and well-being, as well as being an additional attraction to the town during the year.Cllr Emma Bryn asked about what the Parkrun can do to encourage people to attend these events to use public transport, bike or methods other than personal cars. Mark reassured the council that on every Parkrun website there’s a link to the course page, which tells people how to get there by public transport, what public transport is available and advocacy for car sharing. He added that many runners cycle and walk to their courses.The average Parkrun in Britain has about 100 people and even smaller Parkruns - such as the one in Ross-on-Wye several weeks ago had 44 participants. These events are known to be popular and councillors and organisers are conscious of ways to reduce the traffic clogging up the town. The event usually starts off at 9am after a 90 minute setting up process. The last of the runners or walks usually cross the line at around 10.30am.Cllr Jane Gunter said: "I personally think this is an excellent idea and I think the Monmouth Town Council should fully support it."Parkrun is currently established in over 23 countries with over 2,200 events taking place across the globe. Post Covid, 17 of the 23 countries are back running and the weekend of December 11-12 1,700 runs took place - over a thousand of which took place in the UK.