Global running and walking craze, parkrun, will be held at a second location in Ballarat.
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Following the growth of Ballarat parkrun at Victoria Park, which started in June 2015, a new event has been created at Brown Hill.
The five-kilometre course along the Wallaby Track will offer participants a different experience to the Ballarat parkrun.
Wallaby Track parkrun event directors Aaron and Laurinda Coulter said after discussions with Ballarat City Council, the location along the Yarrowee River was the best option for a second parkrun.
"Being a bush setting, it offers quite a different experience to Ballarat parkrun with a few undulations, lots of beautiful scenery and the unique experience of a tunnel under the freeway," Mrs Coulter said.
"Beginning at the Brown Hill reserve means that we can run the five kilometre event without having to cross any major roads which keeps it safe for runners."
Parkrun is a free, weekly, five kilometre timed run which is open to the whole community. There are more than 350 registered parkruns around Australia with more than 604,890 runners registered.
Mrs Coulter said parkrun had a positive impact on people and their families.
"From helping overcome illness and injuries to inspiring people to run marathons and improve their health and wellbeing. There is no judgment at parkrun and you see elite athletes running the same event as the weekend warriors or people who haven't gone beyond a gentle jog in years," she said.
It's name suggests that it's a running event, but it's more than that, it's totally inclusive for people of all fitness.
- Laurinda Coulter
"We hope that the Wallaby Track will strengthen the community in Brown Hill and give people a reason to want to get out and be active and part of the community."
The decision to hold a second parkrun in Ballarat came following the growth and success of the Victoria Park event.
"Ballarat parkrun has become such a successful event which has continued to grow each year and has seen numbers regularly over 300 during the warmer months," Mrs Coulter said.
"With the volume of runners and walkers at Vic Park being so high, the discussions started to occur around starting a second run in Ballarat. This is a great sign of the wonderful running community in Ballarat and the way in which they have embraced parkrun."
The core group of three people working to launch the Wallaby Track parkrun has had significant support from parkrun Australia, the Brown Hill community and parkrun ambassador Bruce Purdie.
A small group is now working on finalising the new event's trials and launch.
"This has included lots of runs and walks along the track with various people to ensure the track is going to be OK for the event," Mrs Coulter said.
"We can't wait to hear people talk about how beautiful the course is and how lucky we are to have such a wonderful place to walk or run and we are looking forward to the kids having a blast making silly noises in the tunnel.
"Most of all though, we are looking forward to seeing a group of people out with friends and family being active and enjoying being part of our wonderful community."
A trial event will be held on Sunday, December 1 and Sunday December 8 at 8am, while the official launch will be held on Saturday, December 28 at 8am at Progress Park.
For more information and to register for parkrun, visit parkrun.com.au or to volunteer, email ballarat@parkrun.com.
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