Its philosophy is explained on its website as “a free, fun, and friendly weekly 5km community event.”

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But being a champion sportsperson is also no reason not to take part.

On Saturday, 28 December, Gloucester’s regular parkrunners and walkers were joined by two former Olympians and someone who has run a marathon in less than 2hrs 30mins.

One former Olympian was Damian Martin who was born and bred in Gloucester.

Damian played professional basketball for the Perth Wildcats, and was a member of the Boomers basketball team at the 2016 Olympics.

He won the NBL’s Best Defensive Player Award six times.

This was only Damian’s second parkrun, and his first in Gloucester.

In 2008, Bree Bryant, who now lives in Melbourne, was selected as a diving member of the 2008 Australian Olympic team.

She competed in the 3m and 10m synchronised events, and won a silver medal before a crowd of 20,000 people.

The crowd was not quite as large when Bree joined 79 others for her 268th parkrun – her third in Gloucester.

After retiring from diving, Bree looked around for ways to stay fit and decided that running was for her.

“The challenge of running and pushing yourself, the satisfaction of achieving a goal or getting a personal best (PB), and now being a mum of two little kidlets running is the best ‘me’ time,” Bree told Running Mum’s Australia in 2019.

Her husband Tim has taken part in 186 parkruns, and has completed a marathon in 2hrs 25mins 20secs.

Tim finished first in this Gloucester parkrun in the record time of 15m 43secs, which was also his PB.

It was a good day for PBs, with 20 competitors achieving theirs.

Times ranged from 15m 43secs to 49m 53secs, demonstrating what an inclusive event parkrun is.

For ten participants it was their very first Gloucester parkrun.

By John WATTS