Thetford Parkrun celebrated its 150th run by making the event the 2015 Christmas Jumper Run.

Thetford & Brandon Times: Thetford Parkrun celebrated its 150th run by making the event the 2015 Christmas Jumper Run.Thetford Parkrun celebrated its 150th run by making the event the 2015 Christmas Jumper Run. (Image: Submitted)

A total of 122 runners and 19 volunteers participated. Matt Cornish was the first finisher in a time of 17 minutes, 33 seconds while the first lady was Sandra Bower, 20:42. The first Christmas jumper over the line was proudly worn by Peter Elliott in 21:03. The idea of the event is to help all standards and ended when the 122nd and final completer came over the line in just over 55 minutes.

The run’s director and starter was Mel Floyd who has been the inspiration behind Thetford running for a number of years.

This week she was presented with the EDP Stars of Norfolk and Waveney Award for Sporting Achievement of the Year 2015.

The Thetford Parkrun is held every Saturday at 9am, starting and finishing at Thetford Priory. It is a great social event where new friends are made and people can get fitter at their own speed, with like-minded people. Whether you’re an elite runner or you want to walk the 5km, all are made welcome. Times and places are recorded and sent to each runner so that they can try to improve their personal best times. All of this is for free – there is no fee to join or take part.

The first Thetford event was held on February 23, 2013, with 89 runners. The number of runners is sometimes over 200 and the average is 133. To find out more or to sign up for Parkrun go to www.parkrun.org.uk/thetford/ or www.parkrun.com. Once you join and download your barcode you are able to run in any parkrun event around the world. Over 64,000 runners participate in parkrun each week.