At its start on the seafront by Marina Gardens Hastings Parkrun follows a seafront 5k (3.1mile) out-and-back route to The Source. All Parkruns are free to enter and completely inclusive regardless of age, ability or gender. The Parkrun ethos is all about inclusion.

In widely varying temperatures and weather conditions, battling (and sometimes enjoying) windspeeds as variable as the tides, almost 17,000 different entrants have completed the 423 events at Hastings to date – with the numbers regularly around the 300-mark – with an average finishing time of 29 minutes and 39 seconds.

The crucial element, though, is a volunteer posse of 30-plus that each week turns out whatever the weather, committed to making Parkrun happen. Many of those are current or former Parkrunners and most if those are regular volunteers. What Hastings Parkrun needs now, however, is a larger pool of volunteers.

Parkrun statistics also suggest that the number of runners and walkers outnumber the volunteers by around 10-to-1 – which suggests that participants might consider volunteering once for every 10 times they run or walk. Do YOU do the Parkrun? Could YOU skip a week and do your bit?

Hastings Parkrun attracts hundreds to Marina Gardens every Saturday at 9am – but needs more volunteers.

Nationally, Parkrun recently celebrated 20 years since the first the very first gathering of friends for a timed but friendly run organised by Paul Sinton-Hewitt in Bushy Park near Teddington, West London.

Since then the idea has grown into a movement for runners and walkers that takes place, usually at 9am, every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 22 countries across five continents. Today, the movement proudly claims to have brought increased happiness and fitness to thousands. Many say that Parkrun has transformed their lives by encouraging them to be active and, at the same time, to make new friends.

Parkruns are regulated and the number of volunteers needed at each course are determined by Parkrun itself. The events cannot happen without a full quota of volunteers. Some recent events – including the 20th anniversary Parkrun on 5th October when 440 people took part – have only gone ahead because of last-minute volunteering.

All volunteer roles are shared and supported. Just as in Parkrun itself, everyone is invited to help.

Children and dogs in short leashes are welcome. Hastings Parkrun would also like more volunteers to join them – and keep the event alive every Saturday morning.

For further details, visit www.parkrun.org.uk/hastings/ or email [email protected]

Hastings Parkrun needs you