WHAT a success the first ever Ruthin parkrun turned out to be.
There were over 200 competitors taking part at the first parkrun in the town, which was held on Saturday.
Although the layout of the 5k course at the Memorial playing fields, with its 360-degree turns, is not conducive for very fast times there were some excellent performances from the 221 participants.
First home, in a very nippy 16 minutes and 46 seconds, was Owain Morris from the Cardiff-based Les Croupiers club.
Just one second behind was Nathan Williams (Vale Royal), whose father Gareth (also Vale Royal) finished fifth overall and was the first over-50 runner in 19.18.
Gareth, who has represented Welsh Masters in cross-country internationals, was born and brought up in Ruthin and attended Ysgol Brynhyfryd, where his father was a teacher.
First lady on Saturday was Linda Truett (Buckley), who was fifth overall in 19.30.
The 200-plus runners included numerous prolific parkrunners interested in trying out the latest addition to the calendar.
Event director Sally Smith said: “Saturday's inaugural parkrun was a huge success, especially when so many participants turned up!
"Both the course and the volunteers held up very well!
"The atmosphere was incredible and that’s all down to the volunteers.
SEE: Ruthin will be 11th parkrun venue in North Wales
"Ruthin Memorial Playing Fields parkrun is a free, weekly, timed 5k event every Saturday morning in Ruthin.
"Everyone is welcome to walk, jog, run or volunteer!"
More information is available from https://www.parkrun.org.uk/ruthinmemorialplayingfields or find the Ruthin parkrun on social media under #loveparkrun.
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