New junior parkrun launches at Wilson’s School!

A new junior parkrun for children aged 4 to 14 launched at Wilson’s School on Sunday 3 November, with over 40 children joining the first event. This free, weekly, 2km run or walk will now take place every Sunday at 9am.

The Wilson’s School junior parkrun is a collaboration between dedicated volunteers, Wilson’s School, the local parkrun ambassador, and Sutton Council. Held on the school’s grounds at Mollison Drive, Wallington, the event provides a safe setting where children of all abilities can participate.

To take part, children need to be registered on the parkrun website to receive a barcode, which they can use to track their progress. Each junior parkrun event begins with a warm-up and finishes with a celebration at the finish line. Children receive a token at the end, which is scanned along with their barcode, and their results are then emailed to them. By joining in regularly, children can also earn wristbands to celebrate their parkrun achievements.

Tim Lissimore, Associate Head at Wilson’s School, said: “We are pleased and proud to host such an important community event, particularly as so many of our staff and pupils are keen parkrunners!”

Dr Suraj Mani Paudel, Event Director and Run Director at Wilson’s School junior parkrun, said: “I am extremely delighted and proud to be involved with this brand new junior parkrun in Wallington, and would like to encourage our community members to be part of its wonderful volunteering team to make it an enjoyable parkrun for our kids.”

Councillor Barry Lewis, Leader of Sutton Council and Chair of Sutton's Health and Wellbeing, said: “Getting into running when you’re still at school is a fantastic building block for young people to take an interest in their health and well being now, and take that forward into adulthood. Running with your friends is a great way to have fun and keep fit!”

The Wilson's School junior parkrun team is looking for more volunteers to help steward their new parkrun events - for more information on joining or volunteering, please visit the Wilson’s School junior parkrun volunteer page or email wilsonsschooljuniors@parkrun.com.