Athletics
27 August, 2025
Parkrun celebrates seventh birthday
More than 80 participants braved the cold on Saturday morning to celebrate the seventh birthday of Horsham's Wimmera River parkrun.
Numerous runners, walkers and volunteers dressed up for what was the 304th running of the 5km event.
Jackie Exell, co-event director of the Wimmera River parkrun, says the weekly event is available for anyone to get involved, whether they want to run or not, outlining the various health benefits it can provide.
"We know that our dedicated runners are going to turn up regardless because they're all crazy, and good on them, so we really target it towards the volunteering aspect and the walkers as well," Exell said.
"The title can be deceiving, parkrun - it's not all about running, so we sort of say to people, 'grab a friend and go for a walk, and head out for a coffee afterwards or bring a coffee with you."
"It's really important for that mental health aspect, as well as that physical exercise, and you don't have to be able to do the five kilometres either. We've got plenty of volunteering opportunities that don't require people to walk.
"If you know someone sitting at home alone, or you may be new to town and want to make friends, volunteering or participating is a really good way to do that."
The local parkrun was first held on August 25, 2018, organised by Candice Muszkieta and Andrew Sostheim, with Sostheim currently sharing race director duties with Exell.
With 3413 people having taken part in the parkrun over the last seven years, Exell praised the numerous volunteers for allowing the event to remain strong.
"We've got a really amazing core group of volunteers," Exell said.
"They're happy to come along and volunteer, and we encourage everyone to give it a go. "Parkrun doesn't happen without volunteers, so we do encourage everyone, even if it's once every six or eight weeks, to give volunteering a go, just to help out your local parkrun.
"You get credits the same way you do as participating, so when we talk about milestones before the start of each run, you get credits for volunteering the same way you get credits for participating."
Wayne Toet was the first finisher of Saturday's parkrun, crossing the line in 18 minutes and 8 seconds.
The Wimmera River parkrun takes place at Sawyer Park every Saturday at 8am.
Anyone interested in participating or volunteering, please visit https://www.parkrun.com.au/wimmerariverhorsham.
