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Athletics: Study suggests return of parkruns could be close

Aberdeen parkrun. Picture by Kenny Elrick
Aberdeen parkrun. Picture by Kenny Elrick

Although there is still no date for the return of parkruns in Scotland, new research suggests there would be a low risk of catching or transmitting coronavirus at one of these events.

The study, which was carried out by Professor Clive Beggs of Queen Mary University of London, examined data published by the Office for National Statistics.

Professor Beggs said: “Our analysis was undertaken using Covid-19 prevalence levels for March 2021 and the results revealed that parkrun events are likely to be safe.

“This finding appears to be supported by the evidence from the various road races that have been held around the world during the pandemic, which have been characterised by a noticeable lack of infectious outbreaks.

“Based on this, it would seem to me that running events are probably already safe in the UK, and getting safer every day as prevalence falls and the vaccine rollout continues.”

Nick Pearson, CEO of Parkrun in the UK said: “I believe the implications of this report are huge for how we view the risks associated with running events and outdoor sport in general.

“The chances of infection taking place at organised, risk-assessed, outdoor events are minimal, even with up to a few thousand participants.

“The benefits, particularly now, of getting active far outweigh the close-to-zero risk of virus transmission in outdoor settings.”