Durham parkrun

14/10/2026

Good afternoon all, hope your week is going well. Our roster for this week is looking a bit sparse, we are in desperate need of timekeepers, barcode scanners and tokens supporters. If you can help please e-mail to the usual address, or comment below.
Many thanks
Greta RD for Saturday

01/10/2026

Hello all. We could do with a few more volunteers for Saturday morning. In particular, a second funnel manager and some barcode scanners.

If you can get around in 20mins or so and can carry your phone - then you can run AND scan - so double parkrun stats for that one if any of the quicker participants fancy helping out there.

Please drop us an email [email protected] - or just add a comment below - and we'll be ready with a smile and a blue volunteer vest for you on Saturday morning. ☺️

Thank you,
Stephen - Run Director this weekend

27/09/2026

Thanks to all our participants and volunteers for a successful event yesterday! The results are now online: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/durham/results/2026-09-26/

We have had a report of a black soundcore earbud lost in the token scanning area – if anyone happens to have found one, please let Lucy know in the comments!

26/09/2026

Many thanks to Jan () who put together a superb video blog on what Durham parkrun is like.

It's from 19th September 2026 on a beautiful blue sky morning in Durham. 14 minutes long, it gives an insight into:

1. Maiden Castle Sports Centre where each event starts
2. What the run briefing is like and what the volunteers do
3. A nicely edited review of the route - from Maiden Castle, over the bridge(s), around the sports field and then finishing at the Racecourse ground
4. The walk back to the start
5. Cake and the Sports Centre cafe

Definitely worth a watch - check it out below...

🏃‍♂️ Durham parkrun – Harriers Club Takeover! 💜What a fantastic d...

21/09/2026

Enjoy the lovely run report from Natalie

Durham parkrun Event No. 668: 19th September 2026

Saturday 19th September was the second of back to back tourist parkruns for me due to taking my daughter to University Open Days.

Saturday’s University Open Day was Durham & given that Durham parkrun starts from the University Sports Centre I wasn’t going to miss out on the opportunity of getting another cheeky parkrun in ahead of the University visit.

Due to the distance from home (Towcester, Northamptonshire) to Durham this meant driving up on the Friday afternoon (after another University visit en route). It also gave us the opportunity to have a look round the city centre in the evening. I’m so glad we did as we both loved the oldy worldy of it with the cobbles, Cathedral (all lit up), the Castle & the Market Square.

Despite rain overnight Saturday morning was dry, a little wind & a reasonable 17°. I was glad as I’d completely forgotten to pack a long sleeved layer ☹

Having driven the few miles from our overnight accommodation to the south of Durham I parked up near the Finish before making my way to near the Start at the Sports Centre. I made myself known to Greta who was the day’s RD. The area was already busy with Volunteers as there were a number of people from Durham City Harriers & Athletics Club who were pacing at the event. More about them in a bit.

Whilst waiting for the main briefing & subsequent start I came across Shirley & Dick Myers who I’d met at York parkrun the previous Saturday. Yes very coincidental that we were doing the same two parkruns especially as they’ve been holidaying in the North East area from Kingston, Ontario, Canada since the start of the month. Safe travels back home to the both of them this coming week!

Once Greta had given her briefing she handed the mic over to one of the members of the Durham City Harriers & Athletics Club. Not only were members of the Club pacing but they were also holding a cake sale in aid of Breast Cancer Now. This was in memory of Gill Goss a fellow member of the Athletics Club who sadly passed away this year.

If you’d like to still donate then please click on the Just Giving link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/page/gill-goss-1

Having run with the 29 minute Pacer at York the previous Saturday resulting in my fastest ever parkrun PB I decided that I would try the same approach at Durham. So I sought out Matt who was pacing at 29 minutes.

After a slow start (due to the volume of Runners – 423) we picked up the pace so that we could aim for a 29 minute finish time. Sadly for me this time round I was finding this pace a bit too much by the third kilometre. Possibly as the course is of mixed terrain (grass & “gravelled” path) rather than concrete & still feeling somewhat tired from the previous day’s drive & not a good night’s sleep.

As I let Matt go on ahead of me I got into stride with Paul who was pacing at 30 minutes. Again I struggled to keep up but must have found a little extra in me that I managed to pass him not far from the finish & end up with a respectable time of 29:50. Whilst I didn’t match my previous week’s PB of 28:22, I was still really pleased with my time. I’d also made progress towards completing both my Stopwatch Bingo and Position Bingo challenges. So, definitely not a total write-off! 😊

A massive thank you to all the 49 volunteers (I was the 50th) who made Durham parkrun Event No. 668 possible. We wouldn’t be here without you. In particular I must say a special thank you to both Matt & Paul who between them got me round the Course & allowed me to achieve my third sub-30 parkrun of the year.

If the University of Durham becomes my youngest’s University of choice hopefully I will be back. Durham parkrun is lovely (especially along the river banks) & as it’s a relatively flat course it means that a pretty decent finish time is possible.

Natalie

21/09/2026

Festive parkruns!

Last year, Durham held its inaugural Christmas Day parkrun and one thing we are already being is asked “will it be back for 2026?”

Honest answer - we aren’t sure!

This year, Christmas Day falls on a Friday so Boxing Day will also be a parkrun day (same for New Year’s Day and the 2nd Jan).

A lot of our regular volunteers take a well deserved rest over the festive period so we are really reliant on people coming forward.

So two questions:

1. Do the good people of Durham want another Christmas Day parkrun?

2. Would you be able to volunteer for one of them (25th December, 26th December, 1st January, 2nd January)?

Please comment below / drop us an email if you can help [email protected]

19/09/2026

What a super morning. All cakes were sold. 🎂🍰🧁🥮🍥

A reminder of the JustGiving page url below
(Nice to see some lovely comments on the donation page too) 🙏

https://www.justgiving.com/page/gill-goss-1

17/09/2026

Hi all,

A couple of things...

There will be a cake sale at the finish on Saturday to raise money for Breast Cancer Now. This is in memory of Gill Goss, a fellow runner and member of Durham City Harriers & Athletics Club who sadly passed away earlier this year.

If you fancy a bit of cake after your run/walk, remember to bring some cash. There will also be QR codes at the stall to donate via the JustGiving page. There is a link to the donations page in the comments to find out more.

Also, as the Harriers will be there in numbers for the event, they will be providing pacers for the run - one pacer for every minute between 19 and 35 minutes. So if you want a specific time, find the runner with your target time on their vest and run alongside them.

15/09/2026

Important parkrun reminder / volunteer plea for 19th September - Durham University open day.

No parking at Maiden Castle. Park opposite at Houghall College (DH1 3SG) or at the end of the course at Green Lane (display your barcodes!) If you can walk, cycle or use public transport, please do.

Arrive early to get parked - there'll be signs and volunteers (if you can, please volunteer for this by emailing [email protected]) to direct you from Maiden Castle to Houghall College.

Post parkrun cafe stop!

1860 Bar & Kitchen at the rowing club (helpfully situated near the end of the course) will be happy to welcome you after your run. Also, bring some cash to donate to a charity cakes at the end of the course (more info to follow!)

Please avoid the Maiden Castle cafe so they can focus on welcoming prospective students and parents...

On that note, are you visiting Durham on Saturday for the university open day? We'd love to welcome you to our parkrun.