A look at the Glengarriff 5k parkrun...

The Glengarriff parkrun began at the start of 2016 and attracted a lot of runners from the local area. As the novelty died away, the numbers have fallen to about 30 or so per week other than some peaks due to Operation Transformation and the Summer tourist season.

One of the problems with Glengarriff is that the village has a population of only about 1,000 people. As only a percentage of these would have any interest in a 5k parkrun, the local pool of runners is quite small.

The larger catchment area would include the towns of Bantry (pop 3,000) and Kenmare (pop 2,000) but this would require a round trip of about an hour for most runners.

It's not all about numbers of course but in general, the more runners that take part, the bigger the pool from which to get volunteers. The current event director has now stepped down and the future of the parkrun is in some doubt unless someone else takes on the role.

You can see the statement from Glengarriff parkrun below...
 

After a fantastic 18 months, it's time for our wonderful Glengarriff parkrun Event Director Nuala Carey to hand over the reins to someone else. Nuala has put in a huge amount of work to get the parkrun off the ground and we are so grateful for her fantastic efforts. Go raibh míle maith agat, Nuala! :)

The search is now on for a new Event Director. If you'd like to take on the challenge of steering an event that makes a big difference to Glengarriff's locals and visitors alike, get in touch by messaging the page and we'll be happy to talk the role through with you.

Like all the roles in parkrun, it's unpaid, and we'd like to thank our outstanding team of volunteers for the help they've given us since we started.

The fact is that, unless someone steps up, and unless our pool of volunteers grows, Glengarriff parkrun will have to be suspended for the foreseeable future. Some of our regular volunteers have work commitments that will keep them away for the next while, and others are simply being asked to help out more often than is reasonable.

Parkrun is an asset to any community, and it has been to ours. If we want to hold on to that asset, we need you and our community to invest time in it. If you can help on the kind of regular basis that will give Glengarriff parkrun a solid future, get in touch!